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Dear Friend of Chemistry,
It is my pleasure to invite you to read about the happenings in UW Chemistry during the past academic year. In this issue, you’ll find introductions to new staff and faculty and learn about the many achievements in research, academics, service and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (... Read more
We are delighted to announce that Dr. Douglas Reed will join us as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry.Dr. Reed received his B.A. in Chemistry and Physics from Harvard University in 2012. He was first introduced to inorganic chemistry by working with Professor Ted Betley, where he studied the electronic properties and coordination chemistry of multinuclear transition metal clusters. He then received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley in 2018 under the direction... Read more
Dr. Rajakovich arrived in January 2022 and established her UW lab; we’re pleased to introduce her and her research
Lauren Rajakovich was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her undergraduate studies took her south to North Carolina, before returning to Pennsylvania for her graduate education. She then went north to Massachusetts for her postdoctoral training before moving to the west coast to start her faculty position at the University of Washington in January 2022.
Lauren attended an all-... Read more
We are pleased to announce that Assistant Professors Dan Fu, Cody Schlenker, and Ashleigh Theberge have been promoted to associate professor with tenure, effective September 16, 2022.
Prof. Dan Fu
Professor Dan Fu’s research program focuses on the development of precision chemical and functional measurement tools to study living biological systems and address challenging biomedical problems. Leveraging recent advances in lasers, ultrafast spectroscopy, and optical imaging, the Fu group... Read more
We are pleased to announce that Associate Teaching Professors Andrea Carroll and Colleen Craig have been promoted to teaching professor, effective September 16, 2022.
Prof. Andrea Carroll
Professor Andrea Carroll has taught 43,225 student credit hours in the past five years, including Preparation for General Chemistry, General Chemistry I, General Chemistry III, as well as the lab components for the entire general chemistry series (142/152/162) and accelerated general chemistry series (143/... Read more
We are pleased to announce that Associate Professor Alshakim Nelson has been promoted to professor, effective September 16, 2022.
Professor Nelson and his interdisciplinary research team focus on the development of new stimuli-responsive materials and bio-hybrid materials for use in additive manufacturing. The Nelson group utilizes synthetic polymer chemistry and supramolecular chemistry to control macromolecular architecture and composition, which govern the viscoelastic properties of... Read more
On campus, the Pride flag was raised on June 1 at the War Memorial Flagpole near Odegaard Undergraduate Library and Kane Hall and will be up for most of the month of June. Here in the Department of Chemistry, the flags you spy on office doors and behind desks might be smaller, but this Pride Month, Chemistry faculty and staff want our LGBTQIA2S+ students and postdocs to know that “We are here,” and “you have an ally.”
Larry Goldman, Associate Teaching Professor
I’m delighted to work in such a... Read more
Reflections on working, researching, learning, and living amid a pandemic as members of the Department of Chemistry.
Stefan Stoll, professor
This past academic year, the Department was again given the opportunity to run a faculty search. We advertised an Assistant Professor position in all areas of chemistry and interdisciplinary fields involving chemistry. By the deadline of September 30, 2021, we had received well over 300 applications. The pool of applicants was overall very strong. The... Read more
Reflections on working, researching, learning, and living amid a pandemic as members of the Department of Chemistry.
William Wu, B.S. 2022Thinking back to four years ago, I still remember the day of the freshman welcome party of the chemistry department. It seems that we have some more/less people today. This is not because we break the law of conservation, but because our chemistry department is an open system, in which we thoroughly exchanged our ideas, our feelings, and our dreams. There... Read more
Spring 2020 was the first full quarter of what was quickly dubbed “Zoom University.” As we remember all too well, schools and businesses were closed to fight the COVID-19 virus.
Ashley Dostie, a doctoral candidate in the research group of Assistant Professor Ashleigh Theberge, was assigned as a teaching assistant to two courses that quarter—Principles of Chemistry III (CHEM 221) and Meso and Microfluidics in Chemical Analysis (CHEM 425/525). Principles of Chemistry III “can be a challenging... Read more
Updated on November 28, 2022 – 11:35 am(This article is based on a report written by the Diversity and Equity Steering Committee in Academic Year 2021-22.)
The Department of Chemistry has been known to be a welcoming place with a collegial atmosphere and collaborative environment where interdisciplinary research can thrive. Our mission is to create new chemical knowledge and prepare the next generation of scientists in a safe and inclusive environment. We invite you to read a brief... Read more
The human body is constantly reacting to an ever-changing environment. Negative events often elicit a stress response, such as the immune system arming itself to fight off infection or inflammation due to a traumatic event. Whatever the cause, the response can be complex and multi-faceted as collections of genes are turned on or off via a process known as transcriptional regulation, and the effects are often transient. Attempting to track a whole set of important transcriptional changes... Read more
A team at the UW reports that living yeast cells can actively regulate a process called phase separation in one of their membranes. During phase separation, the membrane forms distinct zones that segregate lipids and proteins. The new findings show for the first time that, in response to environmental conditions, yeast cells precisely regulate the temperature at which their membrane undergoes phase separation. The researchers believe that phase separation is likely a “switch” mechanism that... Read more
The National Science Foundation announced on Sept. 9 it will fund a new endeavor to bring atomic-level precision to the devices and technologies that underpin much of modern life, and will transform fields like information technology in the decades to come. The five-year, $25 million Science and Technology Center grant will found the ... Read more
Researchers in the Robinson and Dalton groups, along with collaborators at NLM Photonics, Polariton Technologies, the University of Leuven, and ETH-Zürich recently achieved record electro-optic material performance of over 1000 pm/V documented in a cover article for the Materials Horizons special issue in honor of Prof. Seth... Read more
In the Department of Chemistry, we believe that diversity and inclusivity are integral to excellence and acknowledge that important work is being done by our students and postdoctoral researchers in this space. It is a pleasure to announce the inaugural recipients of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leadership Awards, selected by the Chemistry Diversity and Equity Steering Committee in spring 2022. These awards of $500 were... Read more
Welcome to new staff in the Department of Chemistry!
Mark Hertle, Grants Manager Started September 2021 Mark earned his Ph.D. in Developmental Biology from University College, London, and Cancer Research UK, and an A.B. in Zoology from the University of California, Berkeley. Mark was a science teacher and program officer prior to most recently working as a lead grants manager in the UW School of Medicine. He enjoys his rescue dog’s frequent interference in house remodeling projects.... Read more
Content will be added on this page as alumni submit updates, so check back periodically! If you have an update, please let us know. Last update: 11/07/2022
1970s
Isiah M. Warner (Ph.D. 1977) retired from Louisiana State University after an illustrious 44-year career in science and academia. His retirement and career highlights are featured in LSU College of... Read more
What will our recent graduates be doing when they leave the UW? We look forward to expanding this page quarter by quarter!
Content will be added on this page as students graduate, so check back periodically! Last update: 11/28/2023
Emma Cave (Ph.D. 2023) will be starting a position as senior scientist I at Group14 Technologies in July 2023.
Progyateg Chakma, Ph.D. is going to Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for a position as a postdoctoral research associate. Progyateg conducted... Read more
1930s
Robert Houston ‘36, ’43, Marin County, CA, age 105, 8/5/2021
1940s
John Barton Sr. ‘40, Vancouver, WA, age 100, 1/26/2019
Arnold Nielsen ‘44, ’47, Santa Barbara, CA, age 96, 9/25/2019
J. Leland Daniel‘45, Richland, WA, age 96, 6/21/2021
Marian Boehr ‘46, Wilsonville, OR, age 94, 4/25/2021
Robert Newton ‘47, Brady, TX, age 98, 4/18/2021
Barbara Allan ‘49, Seattle, WA, age 94, 8/7/2021
Charles Terhune ‘49, Renton, WA, age 98, 7/6/2021
1950s
Henry Curtis ‘55, Centralia, WA, age 91... Read more
By Joel Thornton, Jason Surratt, John Offenberg, and Jinny Riedel
We are deeply saddened to share that Theran Riedel, Ph.D. '13 passed away on March 12, 2021, after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 37 years old. We hope to convey the gratitude and appreciation we feel to have been able to work with Theran through his professional career, during which, although unfairly short, he made substantial impacts in the field of atmospheric chemistry. Theran made his scientific achievements... Read more
A year in review of honors and achievements by UW Chemistry faculty, staff, and postdoctoral scholars.
Jump to StaffJump to Postdoctoral Scholars
FACULTY
James De YoreoElected Member, National Academy of Engineering
Matthew R. GolderCAREER Award, National Science Foundation... Read more
A year in review of honors and achievements by UW Chemistry graduate students.
Jump to University and External Awards
Excellence in Chemistry Graduate Awards
These fellowships were awarded in Autumn 2021 and are funded by various donor-supported gift funds as indicated by each awardee’s name.
Fernando Banales Mejia, Boris and Barbara L. Weinstein Endowed Graduate Fellowship in ChemistryCrystal Chung, Howard J. Ringold Endowed Fellowship in... Read more
A year in review of honors and achievements by UW Chemistry an Biochemistry undergraduate students.
2021-2022 Chemistry Scholarship and Book Award Recipients (December 2021)Undergraduate Research Awards (June 2022)Top Scholars in Chemistry for the 2021-22 Academic Year (July... Read more
Jump to MSACST Degrees
DOCTORAL DEGREES AWARDED
Summer 2021, Autumn 2021, Winter 2022, and Spring 2022
Todd Johnathan Anderson, PhD Chemistry New Microfabricated Tools for Electrochemical Imaging and Sensing (Professor Bo Zhang)
Ryan Beck, PhD Chemistry Examination of Defect-Induced Properties in Nanomaterial Systems (Professor Xiaosong Li)
Janna Leala Berman, PhD Chemistry New Selenium Catalyzed Reactions and Computational... Read more
Our capacity for excellence in research and teaching is a direct result of hundreds of friends and alumni coming together to support the department’s work each year. With your help, we are educating the next generation of leading scientists, advancing the field of chemistry, and accelerating vital scientific discoveries.
In the past year, your gifts have made a tangible impact on:
Recruiting the top graduate student applicants by providing generous fellowship support
Strengthening research... Read more