The Department of Chemistry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign boasts an alumni network of more than 10,000 people across the globe. As students in Chemistry at Illinois, they pursued their scientific curiosity, and as alumni their impact is felt around the world. Here are some of their stories.
Omar M. Yaghi (PhD, '90)
The 12th person from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to win the Nobel Prize, alumnus Omar M. Yaghi (PhD, '90) said it was as a graduate student at Illinois that he learned from his PhD advisor Walter Klemperer how to do rigorous science and become a scientist that can break new ground, not somebody who follows other people’s discoveries.
Taeghwan Hyeon (PhD, ’96)
As director of the Center for Nanoparticle Research in the Institute for Basic Science at Seoul National University in South Korea, Dr. Taeghwan Hyeon (PhD, ’96, Suslick) is a pioneer in the field of nanoscience and has worked tirelessly throughout his award-winning career to develop groundbreaking discoveries.
Juan Velásquez (PhD, '11)
Juan Velásquez (PhD, '11) is living his dream serving as the director of Chemical Biotechonologies at Merck & Co. in New Jersey, where he has led efforts in enzyme discovery and engineering for the synthesis of pharmaceuticals targeting cancer, HIV, and cardiovascular diseases.