About Me

I am Cammy Kao. I consider myself an educator of young people. My professional activities include writing artbooks that teach personal lessons and lessons about science, tutoring in physics and math, and supporting a public middle school in diverse ways.

Born in 1970 in Midland, Michigan, to Taiwanese parents, I spent my teenage years in Lake Jackson, Texas. I did my undergraduate studies in chemical engineering at Rice University. Afterwards I obtained a PhD in chemical engineering from Stanford University. My jobs in science included an assistant professorship at Stanford in the early 2000s. Recently I became certified to teach math in Texas public schools in grades 4-12. Direct experience then allowed Cammy to distinguish classroom teaching from tutoring, both time-honored, as performance compared to coaching.

Outside of work, I take art classes from Chu Okoli at the Houston School of Art & Design. As a child, I loved taking art in Midland’s public schools. In 2024, I resumed art classes when reading about Paula Rego: Rego found her dominant artistic medium, soft pastels, in her mid-fifties.

Curriculum Vitae

Camilla Mei-Fang Kao

NICKNAME: Cammy

EDUCATION AND CERTIFICATIONS

1997 Doctorate of Philosophy of Chemical Engineering from Stanford University in Stanford, California. Adviser: Chaitan Khosla.
1992 Bachelor of Science Magna Cum Laude of Chemical Engineering from Rice University in Houston, Texas.
2025 Texas Teacher Certifications in Mathematics Grades 4-8 (115) and in Mathematics Grades 7-12 (235). Total Scaled Score of Test "115 MATHEMATICS 4-8": 298. Total Scaled Score of Test "235 MATHEMATICS 7-12": 278.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Artbook Writer, self-employed, from 24 Jan 2026 until the present.

  • Combining, with visual art, personal lessons and lessons about science.

Hourly Lecturer, Degreed, at Lanier Middle School in the Houston Independent School District in Houston, Texas, from 15 Dec 2025 until the present.

  • Aiming to support the school in diverse ways.

Math and Physics Tutor, self-employed, virtually from 14 Jan 2024 until the present.

  • Tutoring an elementary schooler and now middle schooler who lives in Palo Alto, California.

Math Teacher at Lanier Middle School in the Houston Independent School District in Houston, Texas, from 21 Jul 2025 until 15 Dec 2025.

  • Taught 6th grade math.

Clinical Teacher at Neff Elementary School in the Houston Independent School District in Houston, Texas, from 23 Jan 2025 until 16 May 2025. Mentor: Amy Chea.

  • Trained in 5th grade math.

Special Assistant to CEO at Kainomyx Inc. in South San Francisco and in Palo Alto, California, from 22 Feb 2021 until 14 May 2021.

  • For a biotech startup company, supported the CEO, James A. Spudich, in identifying and securing grants for funding.

Senior Faculty Administrator of Biochemistry at Stanford University in Stanford, California, from Aug 2018 until 19 Feb 2021.

  • Supported the department chair, first Suzanne R. Pfeffer and then Aaron F. Straight, and the department faculty of the Department of Biochemistry in the School of Medicine by conducting high-level administrative tasks and projects, including ones that the professors normally would do and that capitalized on my scientific background.

Lab Ops Manager of the Stanford Site at the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub in Stanford, California, from 11 Apr 2018 until 10 Dec 2018.

Health and Safety Specialist in the School of Engineering at Stanford University in Stanford, California, from 9 May 2016 until 10 Apr 2018.

Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at Stanford University in Stanford, California, from May 2000 until 31 Dec 2006.

  • Conducted research and teaching in the area of biotechnology, specifically about Streptomyces bacteria.

  • Individually mentored a team of 10 doctoral students. Published scientific papers and wrote grant proposals.

  • Received a NSF CAREER Award and a NIH R01 grant.

Postdoctoral Scholar of Biochemistry at Stanford University in Stanford, California, from June 1997 until May 2000. Adviser: Patrick O. Brown.

  • Conducted research on the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae by using DNA microarrays.

  • Received a Damon Runyon Walter Winchell Postdoctoral Scholarship.

VOLUNTEERING

Volunteer at Neff Elementary School in the Houston Independent School District in Houston, Texas, from 27 Nov 2023 until 23 May 2024. Coordinator: Veronica Alch.

  • Individually assisted fourth-graders recently arrived to the United States to learn English.

Volunteer at Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital in Houston, Texas, from 29 Sep 2023 until 7 Jun 2024.

SELECTED AWARD (SCIENTIFIC)

1997 Pharmacia Biotech & Science Prize for Young Scientists, awarded for best thesis in Molecular Biology, a Regional Winner for North America.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS (SCIENTIFIC)

  1. C. Kao, L. Katz, C. Khosla.  “ Engineered biosynthesis of a complete macrolactone in a heterologous host. “  Science (1994).

  2. C. Kao, G. Luo, D. Cane, C. Khosla.  “ Engineered biosynthesis of a triketide lactone from an incomplete modular polyketide synthase. “  JACS (1994).

  3. C. Kao, G. Luo, D. Cane, C. Khosla.  “ Manipulation of macrolide ring size by directed mutagenesis of a modular polyketide synthase. “  JACS (1995).

  4. C. Kao, R. Pieper, C. Khosla.  “ Evidence for two catalytically independent clusters of active sites in a functional modular polyketide synthase. “  Biochem. (1996).

  5. D. Weaver, N. Karoonuthaisiri, … C. Kao.  “ Genome plasticity in Streptomyces: identification of 1 Mb TIRs in the S. coelicolor A3(2) chromosome. “  Mol. Microbiol. (2004).

  6. C. Kao, C. Kao, R. Furr.  “ Why is safe science good science? “  Chem. Health Saf. July 2018.

  7. C. Kao, R. Furr.  “ A unifying principle for a researcher learning safety: Reduce uncertainty! “  Chem. Health Saf. September 2018.

PERSONAL ACTIVITIES

Member of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston in Houston, Texas, from 14 Jan 2025 until the present. Senior Minister: Colin Bossen.

Friend of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston in Houston, Texas, from 29 Sep 2024 until 14 Jan 2025. Senior Minister: Colin Bossen.

Student at the Houston School of Art & Design in Houston, Texas, from 22 May 2024 until the present. Instructor: Chu Okoli.

Date of Birth: 22 Feb 1970
Place of Birth: Midland, Michigan
My residence changed from Los Altos Hills on Wednesday, May 10, 2023, to Houston.