Professor Zwier graduated from Calvin College (1977) with a B.S. in Chemistry and earned his Ph.D. in Chemical Physics from the University of Colorado-Boulder (1981) under thesis advisors Professor Stephen R. Leone and Professor G. Barney Ellison. He carried out postdoctoral research at The University of Chicago (1981 – 1983) before joining the faculty at Calvin College, where he was Assistant and Associate Professor of Chemistry (1983 – 1988). He then joined the faculty at Purdue University, where he served as Assistant Professor of Chemistry (1988 – 1993), Associate Professor of Chemistry (1993 – 1997), and Professor of Chemistry (1997-2006). He served as Department Head in Chemistry from 2004-2008. In 2007 he was named the M.G. Mellon Distinguished Professor of Chemistry.