2026-05-19 - Just over two years ago, graduate student Jonathan Bajko was one of the first Ph.D. students to join the research group of faculty member Joomyung “Vicky” Jun, who had just joined the Illinois Chemistry faculty.“From day one, he had to be a mentor,” Jun wrote in her nomination of Bajko for a mentoring award. “Johnny has played a central role in creating both infrastructure and intellectual...Posted: 2026-05-19
2026-05-19 - When Jubyeong Chae decided to pursue a Ph.D. in chemistry, he said he wanted to do more research and take on new challenges with great faculty members and colleagues.Working under the advisement of Prof. Liviu Mirica, Chae has explored new challenges as a graduate student in his research group. Chae’s research has focused on nickel-catalyzed alkyl–alkyl cross-coupling reactions using 1,4,7-...Posted: 2026-05-19
2026-05-19 - Seth Putnam remembers putting the leads of a 9-volt battery in water and watching the bubbles form from splitting water, one of many simple experiments he did as a kid with his grandfather, Bradford Mundy, an organic chemistry professor at Montana State University.Still experimenting with electricity as a graduate student in chemistry, Putnam has focused his thesis work in the field of...Posted: 2026-05-19
2026-05-15 - An aspiring physician who wants to do Alzheimer’s research, Vito Failla describes graduating as bittersweet.“Being able to make my family proud by reaching this milestone in my life feels great. It does feel a little sad with this chapter closing in my life, but I am excited to see what the next chapter has in store for me,” said Failla, a chemistry major in the Class of 2026 who will...Posted: 2026-05-15
2026-05-15 - A chemistry major in the Class of 2026, Michaela Klein won’t miss the Illinois campus after graduation, because she will be pursuing a second degree in Atmospheric Sciences at Illinois.“There are many routes my future can take, but currently, my career goals are becoming an aviation meteorologist and obtaining a pilot’s license,” said Klein, who was a member of Outdoor Adventure Club (OAC)...Posted: 2026-05-15
2026-05-14 - In August, Abby Calixto starts her new job as a scientist for Eli Lilly and Company in the Manufacturing Science Department in Indianapolis.“I am so excited to be crossing the finish line of my undergraduate years here at Illinois,” said Calixto, a Class of 2026 chemistry graduate. “What once felt like never-ending studying, exams, and projects has all passed in the blink of an eye. It feels...Posted: 2026-05-14
2026-05-14 - Getting involved in research completely changed the trajectory of Mary Choy’s undergraduate experience at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.“I cannot emphasize enough how meaningful that experience has been for me,” Choy said. A senior majoring in chemistry and earth, society, and environmental sustainability, Choy graduates in May and will pursue her Ph.D. in polymer...Posted: 2026-05-14
2026-05-14 - As an Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California Los Angeles, alumnus Soumitra Athavale (Ph.D., '19) has been working to engineer iron-containing enzymes that could change the way drugs are made by using sustainable and environmentally friendly systems to replace ones that use precious metals, compressed gases, and specialized ligands.His work was featured...Posted: 2026-05-14
2026-05-19 - Each year, the Department of Chemistry recognizes the exemplary achievements of seven graduating students during the May Convocation ceremony. All the awards were established by a gift to the department, and some are in memory of an individual. All of the awards include a $1,000 monetary gift to the recipients and recognize specific student achievements, including scholarship, research, teaching...Posted: 2026-05-13
2026-04-22 - Three University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty members have been elected members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the oldest honorary societies in the United States. Deana McDonagh, Kenneth Suslick and...Posted: 2026-04-22
2026-04-13 - Six students in the Department of Chemistry have been awarded National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships.Current graduate students selected as NSF Graduate Research Fellows are Giuliana Rose Judge, Sophia Yuxin Liu, Abigail Rose Miller, Alexandru T. Niculescu, and Joshua L. Pack. And Adriana Grace Schroeder, a chemistry undergraduate student who finished her degree last fall, was...Posted: 2026-04-13
2026-04-08 - Prof. Prashant Jain has been awarded a 2026 Langmuir Lectureship by the American Chemical Society Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry and the Langmuir journal.Jain was selected for the honor for, among other things, "pioneering multielectron redox catalysis by plasmonic surfaces and producing new insights into surface-mediated chemical...Posted: 2026-04-08
2026-03-31 - The Great Lakes Region of The American Chemical Society honored Illinois chemistry alumna Lydia E. Moissides-Hines (M.S., ’69; Ph.D., ’71, Applequist) with the inaugural 2025 Martin Rudd Mentoring Award sponsored through the American Chemical Society Great Lakes Region. A retired chemistry lecturer from Western Michigan University, Moissides-Hines is described by one of her nominators...Posted: 2026-03-31
2026-03-27 - After 30 years as a chemistry professor at the University of Minnesota, Christopher Cramer was thoroughly enjoying his day-to-day mission as Vice President for Research at Minnesota when a tantalizing opportunity emerged in the private sector. “It was a remarkable opportunity,” said Cramer (Ph.D., ’88), an Illinois chemistry alumnus who accepted the offer to be the inaugural chief research...Posted: 2026-03-27
2026-03-27 - Theodore “Ted” Brown, the founding director of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, died Tuesday, March 24, 2026. He was 97 years old.In the fall of 1956, a 28...Posted: 2026-03-27