Professor Hardinger has been a faculty member in the UCLA Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry since 1997. His professional career began at Drexel University in Philadelphia, which (after five years of published undergraduate research) afforded a BS in Chemistry in 1982. He then moved to Purdue University, and earned a PhD in Organic Chemistry in 1988. Two subsequent years as a postdoctoral scholar at Renssalear Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York were followed by his appointment in 1990 as assistant professor at California State University. In 1997 he achieved the "forbidden transition" and moved to UCLA as Lecturer followed by promotion to Senior Lecturer in 2004. At UCLA his main teaching interests have been introductory organic chemistry courses in the physical science majors series as well as the life science majors series. His professional interests include development of new teaching tools and methods, both in print and electronic media. An introductory organic chemistry textbook (Organic Chemistry - A Thinking Student's Approach) is currently in development.

Trained as a synthetic organic chemist, Professor Hardinger's interests have shifted to the development and effective delivery of introductory organic chemistry, in both the life science and physical science tracks. A variety of teaching tools continue to be developed and applied, including traditional lecture, PowerPoint, web content, conceptually rich print media, electronic discussion tools, and others. In preparation is an undergraduate organic chemistry textbook Organic Chemistry - A Thinking Student's Approach, which uses a novel approach to help students (especially aspiring health science professionals) learn to think like chemists. Exploring and exploiting effective methods for course content delivery to a large student audience with a broad range of backgrounds and interests remains an exciting and rewarding challenge.