Fall 2022 Welcome Message From the Chair Chris Cahill


September 1, 2022

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Dear Chemistry Department and our entire community of students, colleagues, alumni, friends, and family:

Another academic year is upon us, and we are thrilled to be kicking off a fresh round of courses, labs, research efforts, and seminars.  It feels great to see folks arriving on campus- either for the first time or returning as seasoned veterans. The past year has been noteworthy in several ways- faculty have published over 30 peer-reviewed publications in first-rate journals, typically with graduate student first authors, and often with undergraduates contributing as well.  Faculty members submitted five new patent applications and at least three existing patents were licensed. Faculty doubled the number of research funding submissions from 2021 to 2022 for a total of $13 Million in proposals! On top of that, faculty have given over 40 live and virtual presentations at conferences, workshops, panels, and other universities. Our team is productive AND gets the word out!

We bid farewell to about 10 graduating seniors, 6 newly minted PhDs and 10 MS students- a great bunch of (now) alums headed to enviable next steps including medical school, consulting jobs, PhD programs, federal agencies industry and start-ups. Well-done, and Congrats, Grads! We recognized the retirements of Prof. Stuart Licht and Prof. Gail Clements while welcoming the arrival of Dr. Andrea Cook to run our organic laboratory enterprise and contribute to our teaching efforts. Our roster continues to evolve and we are just now ramping up our recruitment efforts for a new physical chemistry colleague.

I typically like to close the Chair’s Message with a note of gratitude and hope and this year is no exception.  What we have accomplished and hope to accomplish cannot happen without the exceptional engagement of our entire community.  Stay engaged, keep striving, ask yourself how you can do better but most of all, ask yourself how you can help others- whether it is in the classroom, lab, or crossing the street. And not least of all, come to my office hours and let’s discuss your ideas, your difficulties, or just have a friendly chat.

Thanks for reading and best regards,

Chris Cahill

Professor and Chair

Chair's Virtual Office Hours: Open to All Students & Community Members