Hanna grew up near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and went to undergrad at Grinnell College, where she studied chemistry, biology, and science education. As a graduate student with John Hartwig, she studied the preparation and catalytic activity of Rh and Ir-substituted carbonic anhydrases and heme enzymes. As a post-doc with Scott Miller, she studied Rh-catalyzed hydrogenation and conjugate addition for late-stage functionalization of the antibiotic thiostrepton. In 2019, she started as an assistant professor at Davidson College in North Carolina, where she teaches organic and biochemistry courses as well as an advanced seminar on enzyme and pathway engineering. The main thrust of her research at Davidson has investigated the intersection of mutagenesis and kinetic and thermodynamic control to alter the selectivity and scope of transaminase enzymes. Since starting, her research group has included 43 undergraduate students. Recent graduates are/will be continuing to study chemistry at Georgia Tech, Michigan, Rutgers, and UC Berkeley.
Email: hakey@davidson.edu