Professor Buhlmann steps down as director of Graduate Studies

Professor Philippe Buhlmann stepped down as the director of Graduate Studies in Chemistry, July 1, 2020, a position he held since 2012. His replacement is Professor Aaron Massari, who has served as director of Graduate Studies of Chemical Physics, with Professor Renee Frontiera stepping into that role. In the academic year 2020-21, Buhlmann will serve as the chair of the University’s Faculty and Senate Consultative Committees.

As director of Graduate Studies (DGS), Buhlmann has led many initiatives, including the elimination of specialty areas, the improvement of the annual progress report, implementation of the annual training of teaching assistants in the topics of stress and mental health,  introduction of a 5th-year milestone, introduction of the Plan C Master's degree, DGS office hours, and a more aggressive use of fellowships for recruiting of a more diverse student body. 

Buhlmann is passionate about addressing issues of stress and mental health for graduate students. He works closely with the University of Minnesota's Boynton Health on those issues, including making students, faculty, and staff aware of resources, teaching them to recognize signs of stress and despair, and equipping them with knowledge and resources to help. His initiative led to the founding of the Community of Chemistry Graduate students, a student-led organization that organizes events to improve the lifestyles of graduate students and help in their career development. He is also one of the Department of Chemistry's mental health advocates, and leads workshops on mental health awareness.

He is one of the founding members of the Department's Diversity & Inclusion Committee, and still serves as an adjunct member providing advice and assistant with diversity, equity, and social justice initiatives.

A dedicated teacher, in 2015, Buhlmann received an Award for Outstanding Contributions to Graduate and Professional Education from the University of Minnesota Alumni Association, making him a Distinguished University Teaching Professor. He was honored for excellence in instruction, involvement in students' research, scholarship and professional development, development of instructional programs, and advising and mentoring of students.

Buhlmann is also committed to science, technology, engineering, and math outreach. He has been outreach chair of the Minnesota Section of the American Chemical Society (MN ACS) section since 2004. He co-founded its Chemists-in-the-Library outreach series, and continues to organize it to this day, connecting scientist volunteers with young people in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul-area communities. Every summer, he hosts high school students from the chapter's SEED program in his research lab. In 2018, he received the Janet Tarino Volunteer Award from the MN ACS, honored for his commitment to outreach and service.

As a researcher, he is an expert in electrochemistry, with special interests in fluorous materials and host guest chemistry. In 2019, Buhlmann was named an American Chemical Society Fellow.

Buhlmann earned his master’s and doctorate degrees in chemistry from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. Before joining the Department of Chemistry in September 2000, he was a post-doctoral fellow and then staff member at the University of Tokyo. In 2009, he was a visiting professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

Share