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Michael R. Wasielewski

Co-Executive Director

Co-Executive Director

Chemistry at Northwestern University

2220 Campus Drive
Ryan 1010
Evanston, IL 60208

847-467-2806
  • Clare Hamilton Hall Professor of Chemistry
  • Director, Center for Molecular Quantum Transduction (CMQT)
  • Co-Executive Director, Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy

Departments

Education

  • Ph.D. Chemistry, University of Chicago
  • B.S. Chemistry, University of Chicago 

Research Interests

Artificial photosynthesis: solar fuels & solar electricity, molecular electronics, quantum information science

Professor Wasielewski’s research centers on light-driven charge transfer and transport in molecules and materials, photosynthesis, nanoscale materials for solar energy conversion, spin dynamics of multi-spin molecules, quantum information science, and time-resolved optical and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Significant Recognition

  • Royal Society of Chemistry, Faraday Lectureship Prize, 2022
  • Hinshelwood Lectureship, University of Oxford, 2022
  • Bergman Lecturer, University of California, Berkeley, 2021
  • Elected Member, National Academy of Sciences, 2021
  • Royal Society of Chemistry, Bruker Prize in EPR Spectroscopy, 2021
  • Josef Michl American Chemical Society Award in Photochemistry, 2020
  • Silver Medal in Chemistry, International EPR Society, 2018
  • Royal Society of Chemistry, Physical Organic Chemistry Award, 2017
  • Elected Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2016
  • American Institute of Chemists, Chemical Pioneer Award, 2016
  • Honda-Fujishima Lectureship Award, Japanese Photochemistry Association, 2015
  • Swiss Chemical Society Lectureship, 2015
  • Fellow, Royal Society of Chemistry, UK, 2014
  • Royal Society of Chemistry Environment Award, 2013
  • Humboldt Research Award, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, 2013
  • Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, American Chemical Society, 2012
  • R. Stephen Berry Lecturer, Telluride Science Center, 2010
  • Frontiers of Chemistry Lecturer, Case Western Reserve University, 2010
  • Clare Hamilton Hall Endowed Chair, Northwestern University, 2010
  • Hutchison Lecturer, University of Rochester, 2009
  • Kaufman Lecturer, University of Pittsburgh, 2008
  • The Porter Medal for Photochemistry, 2008

Significant Professional Service

  • Member, National Academy of Sciences Consensus Committee on “Identifying Opportunities at the Interface of Chemistry and Quantum Information Science”, 2022-present
  • Vice-President, Americas, International EPR Society, 2021-present
  • Executive Committee Member, Initiative at Northwestern for Quantum, Information Research and Engineering (INQUIRE), 2019-present
  • Member, Scientific Advisory Board, Liquid Sunlight Alliance (LiSA), 2020-present
  • Member, DOE-Basic Energy Sciences Council for Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences, 2018-present
  • Co-Chair, Renewable Energy: Solar Fuels Gordon Research Conference, 2014
  • Academic Advisory Committee, Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials, (iChEM), University of Science and Technology, China, 2012-2015
  • Energy Advisory Board, US Senator Mark Kirk (Illinois) 2012-2015
  • Member, External Advisory Board, Center for Interface Science: Solar Electric Materials (CISSEM), University of Arizona, 2012-2014
  • Member, Technical Advisory Board, Center for Sustainable Energy at Notre Dame University (cSEND), 2012-2015
  • Chair, Scientific Advisory Committee, Center for Advanced Solar Photovoltaics, Los Alamos National Laboratory, 2009-2018
  • Co-Chair, Gordon Research Conference on Photochemistry, 2009
  • Illinois 10th Congressional District Energy Advisory Board, 2008-2010
  • Organizer, ANSER Center Inaugural Symposium, 2008
  • Editorial Advisory Board, Journal of Chemical Physics, 2020-present
  • Editorial Advisory Board, Chemical Society Reviews, 2019-present
  • Editorial Advisory Board, Sustainable Energy and Fuels, 2018-present
  • Executive Advisory Board, Advances in Sustainable Systems, 2017-present
  • Editorial Advisory Board: Energy and Environmental Sciences, 2016-present
  • Editorial Advisory Board: Nature Communications, 2010-2016
  • Editorial Board: Energy and Environmental Sciences, 2008-2015