News Highlights


Headshots of four chemistry graduate students: Beza Tuga, Erin Plasek, Rachel Rapagnani, and Shelby Auger.

Four Chemistry graduate students awarded Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships

Four Chemistry graduate students have been awarded 2023-24 Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships. The awardees are Beza Tuga, Erin Plasek, Rachel Rapagnani, and Shelby Auger. The Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship gives UMN’s most accomplished PhD candidates an opportunity to devote full-time effort to their research by providing time to finalize and write their dissertation during the fellowship year.


2023 Goldwater Scholarship gold text on maroon background

Undergraduate junior Ethan Ashbrook named a 2023 Goldwater Scholar

Chemistry undergraduate student Ethan Ashbrook has been named a 2023 Goldwater Scholar. Ethan is a junior in the University of Minnesota Chemistry BS program working with Professor Ian Tonks.


Headshot of Rene Boiteau

Rene Boiteau joins Department of Chemistry faculty

The Department of Chemistry will welcome Rene Boiteau as an Assistant Professor in fall 2023. Boiteau has been a faculty member at Oregon State University since 2018, with a joint appointment in the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Environmental Molecular Sciences Division. The Boiteau Group works to address critical knowledge gaps regarding the mechanisms by which plants and microbes control elemental cycles in oceans, rivers, industrial/wastewaters, sediments, and soils by transforming various organic and inorganic chemical species.


Headshot of Jessica Hoover

Jessica Hoover joins Department of Chemistry faculty

The Department of Chemistry will welcome Professor Jessica Hoover to the faculty in fall 2023. Hoover joins the University of Minnesota from West Virginia University, where she has been a faculty member since 2012. Research in the Hoover Group is focused on mapping the mechanisms of organic transformations catalyzed by transition- metal complexes, with particular interest in catalytic redox reactions in which bond- breaking and -forming steps occur along with oxidation or reduction steps.


Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Self-study graphic with four images of badges

Chemistry Diversity and Inclusion Committee debuts DEI Self-Study program

The Department of Chemistry Diversity & Inclusion Committee is introducing a new self-study program for the UMN Chemistry community. The program encourages students, faculty, and staff to engage with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) lessons and stories through a variety of multimedia resources.


Headshot photograph of Christy Haynes

Professor Christy Haynes named new head of the Department of Chemistry

College of Science and Engineering Dean Andrew Alleyne has named Distinguished McKnight University Professor Christy Haynes as the next head of the Department of Chemistry. She will start in the role in summer 2023. 

 


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Chemistry Climate, Community & Culture

The Department of Chemistry has unique features that set it apart and help its students, faculty, and staff thrive and succeed. The department fosters a diverse community and works hard to create an environment where involvement, collaboration, caring, and safety are the norm.