Mark Stephen Wrighton (born June 11, 1949)
is an American academic and
chemist
A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...
, and the current President of
The George Washington University
, mottoeng = "God is Our Trust"
, established =
, type = Private federally chartered research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $2.8 billion (2022)
, presid ...
. In September 2021, Wrighton was named the Interim President of
The George Washington University
, mottoeng = "God is Our Trust"
, established =
, type = Private federally chartered research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $2.8 billion (2022)
, presid ...
for an 18-month term and succeeded
Thomas LeBlanc in January 2022. During his time at GWU, he will concurrently be on sabbatical from Washington University in St. Louis where he is the James and Mary Wertsch Distinguished University Professor and Chancellor Emeritus. Wrighton served as the 14th
Chancellor of
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...
from 1995 to 2019.
Early life and education
Wrighton was born in
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...
, and his father spent most of his career in the United States Navy. Wrighton moved with his family from Jacksonville to Virginia, Tennessee, Maryland, and Newfoundland, and he went to high school in Pensacola, Florida.
Initially, Wrighton intended to study mathematics and government at
Florida State University. Instead, inspired by his freshman chemistry professor, Edward Mellon, he switched his major to chemistry. Jack Saltiel became his advisor and mentor, and he continued undergraduate research in the area of organic photochemistry. Wrighton received his bachelor's degree with honors in chemistry at
Florida State University in 1969, winning the
Monsanto Chemistry Award for outstanding research. He received his PhD in 1972 at the age of 22 from the
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...
, working under
Harry B. Gray and
George S. Hammond. His doctoral dissertation subject was ''Photoprocesses in Metal-Containing Molecules''.
At Caltech, he became the first recipient of the
Herbert Newby McCoy
Herbert Newby McCoy (June 29, 1870, Richmond, Indiana – May 7, 1945, Los Angeles, California) was an American chemist who taught at the University of Chicago and the University of Utah and was the vice-president of Lindsay Light & Chemical Comp ...
Award.
Career
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Wrighton joined the faculty of the chemistry department at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
in the summer of 1972 as an assistant professor. In 1976, he was promoted to associate professor and was made a full professor the following year, 1977. Wrighton held the Frederick G. Keyes Chair in Chemistry from 1981 to 1989, when he was given the newly endowed
Ciba-Geigy
Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loca ...
Chair in Chemistry.
[ In 1983, he received a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant."]
Wrighton's research interests are centered on photochemistry
Photochemistry is the branch of chemistry concerned with the chemical effects of light. Generally, this term is used to describe a chemical reaction caused by absorption of ultraviolet (wavelength from 100 to 400 nm), visible light (400– ...
and transition metal catalysis, and include surface chemistry, molecular electronics and photoprocesses at electrodes.[ His goals include understanding the basic principles underlying the conversion of solar energy to chemical fuels and electricity, creating new catalysts, studying chemical activity at interfaces, and developing new electro-chemical devices.][
Wrighton has carried out work in the areas of inorganic photochemistry, photocatalysis and the use of solar energy in photovoltaics. In the early 1970s he discovered photoluminescence in a new class of rhenium (I) tricarbonyl diimine complexes.] In the 1980s, he and his co-workers developed molecule-based transistors having conducting polymers as the device active materials. Wrighton was one of the first researchers to introduce the idea of electrochemical gating as a way of controlling charge transport in molecular electronics. One of his later areas of research involved attempting to chemically mimic photosynthesis.[
He has written more than 300 journal articles and holds 16 patents.][ He is co-author of ''Organometallic Photochemistry'' (1979, with Gregory L. Geoffroy), and editor of books and conference proceedings. During his time at MIT, Wrighton supervised the doctoral research of 70 students.] In 1987, Wrighton became the head of MIT's chemistry department. He became MIT's provost in 1990.[
]
Washington University in St. Louis
In 1995, he left MIT to become chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...
. The new position required him to give up an active research career. He was among the highest paid university heads in the United States, making $738,000 in 2007. In early 2007, Wrighton was mentioned as a candidate for Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
's presidency.
As chancellor, he led two major capital campaigns that resulted in contributions totaling nearly $5 billion, including approximately $1 billion for student financial aid, as well as the creation of more than 300 endowed professorships. He was elected chairman of the Association of American Universities
The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. Founded in 1900, it consists of 63 universities in the United States ( ...
(2004-2005)[ He is also a past chair of the Business-Higher Education Forum (2004-2006) and the Consortium on Financing Higher Education (2000-2001).
Major programmatic initiatives during Wrighton's chancellorship include: the McDonnell International Scholars Academy; the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center; the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement; the Institute for Public Health; the International Center for Energy, Environment and Sustainability; and the Living Earth Collaborative. New departments include: Sociology; Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies; African and African American Studies; Biomedical Engineering; and Radiation Oncology.
Wrighton was criticized in May 2008 when the university's Board of Trustees voted to honor alumna ]Phyllis Schlafly
Phyllis Stewart Schlafly (; born Phyllis McAlpin Stewart; August 15, 1924 – September 5, 2016) was an American attorney, conservative activist, author, and anti-feminist spokesperson for the national conservative movement. She held paleocons ...
with an honorary doctorate, leading to outrage from opponents to her stance on gender issues and from many other members of the university community opposed to her disbelief in evolution. Wrighton distanced himself from the board's decision with a letter to the community disavowing Schlafly's views on science.
On October 6, 2017, Wrighton announced his intent to leave the chancellorship. He concluded his tenure as chancellor on May 31, 2019, and he is now the James and Mary Wertsch Distinguished University Professor and Chancellor Emeritus at Washington University in St. Louis.
The George Washington University
On September 10, 2021, The George Washington University's Board of Trustees Chair announced that Wrighton would serve as the university's Interim President for a maximum of 18 months. Wrighton will start his position at The George Washington University on January 1, 2022. He will concurrently be on sabbatical from Washington University in St. Louis while at GWU. Wrighton formally took office on 1 January 2021.
In February 2022, Wrighton caused controversy after removing posters from campus that accused the Chinese government of human rights abuses and criticized the country's hosting of the 2022 Winter Olympics. Wrighton claimed he was "personally offended" by the posters and pledged to find out who was responsible for them. The decision was criticized by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), formerly known as the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, is a non-profit civil liberties group founded in 1999 with the aim of protecting free speech rights on college campus ...
, which called the decision "a wholly inappropriate response to a university purportedly committed to free expression".
National science policy
Wrighton served as a presidential appointee to the National Science Board
The National Science Board (NSB) of the United States establishes the policies of the National Science Foundation (NSF) within the framework of applicable national policies set forth by the President and the Congress. The NSB also serves as an ind ...
(2000-2006), which acts as science policy advisor to the President and Congress and the National Science Foundation. He served as vice chair of the National Research Council's Committee on America's Energy Future, which issued its report in 2009.
While at Washington University in St. Louis, Wrighton was one of the signees of a letter from the Association of American Universities, urging all representatives of the U.S. Government to vote in favor of H.R. 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005. With leaders at three other Missouri universities, Wrighton wrote in support of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) research for medical treatment, urging Missouri legislators to distinguish it from the use of stem cells for human reproductive cloning.
International academic leadership
Wrighton inaugurated the McDonnell International Scholars Academy as Chancellor at Washington University. He brought Washington University into the University Alliance of the Silk Road
The University Alliance of the Silk Road (, also translated as the Universities Alliance of the Silk Road and abbreviated UASR) is an academic arm to the People's Republic of China's One Belt, One Road foreign policy initiative. The UASR is a non- ...
, the academic arm of China's One Belt, One Road
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, or B&R), formerly known as One Belt One Road ( zh, link=no, 一带一路) or OBOR for short, is a global infrastructure development strategy adopted by the Chinese government in 2013 to invest in nearly 150 ...
initiative, as the first North American partner. He serves as the only American member of the Executive Committee of the Universities Alliance of the Silk Road.
Awards and honors
* 1969 Monsanto Chemistry Award (Florida State)
* 1972 Herbert Newby McCoy Award (Caltech)
* 1974 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship
* 1981
** ACS Award in Pure Chemistry
The American Chemical Society Award in Pure Chemistry is awarded annually by the American Chemical Society (ACS) "to recognize and encourage fundamental research in pure chemistry carried out in North America by young men and women." "Young" me ...
of the American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...
** MIT Chemistry Department Graduate Teaching Award
* 1983
** Honorary Doctor of Science at the University of West Florida
The University of West Florida (West Florida or UWF) is a public university in Pensacola, Florida. Established in 1963 as part of the State University System of Florida, the university sits on the third largest campus in the State University Sys ...
** MacArthur Fellowship
The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...
** George and Freda Halpern Award in Photochemistry from the New York Academy of Sciences
The New York Academy of Sciences (originally the Lyceum of Natural History) was founded in January 1817 as the Lyceum of Natural History. It is the fourth oldest scientific society in the United States. An independent, nonprofit organization wi ...
** Ernest O. Lawrence
Ernest Orlando Lawrence (August 8, 1901 – August 27, 1958) was an American nuclear physicist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1939 for his invention of the cyclotron. He is known for his work on uranium-isotope separation f ...
Award from the U.S. Department of Energy
* 1984 Fresenius Award of Phi Lambda Upsilon
Phi Lambda Upsilon National Honorary Chemical Society () was founded in 1899 at the Noyes Laboratory of the University of Illinois. Phi Lambda Upsilon was the first honor society dedicated to scholarship in a single discipline, chemistry.
Object ...
* 1987 MIT School of Science Teaching Prize
* 1988 Award in Inorganic Chemistry of the American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...
* 1992 Distinguished Alumni Award (Caltech)
*1995 Honorary Alumnus (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
* 2002 Honorary Professorship at Shandong University
Shandong University (, abbreviated as Shanda, , English abbreviation SDU) is a public research comprehensive university in Jinan, Shandong with one campus in Weihai, Shandong and one campus in Qingdao, Shandong and is supported directly by ...
( Jinan, China)
*2007 Citizen of the Year Award from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
* 2007 Honorary Doctorate Degree- Doctor of Humane Letters
The degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (; DHumLitt; DHL; or LHD) is an honorary degree awarded to those who have distinguished themselves through humanitarian and philanthropic contributions to society.
The criteria for awarding the degree differ ...
Florida State University (Tallahassee, Florida
Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the populatio ...
)
*2009 Honorary Doctorate Degree, Harris-Stowe State University (St. Louis, Missouri)
*2010 Honorary Doctorate Degree, Fudan University (Shanghai, China)
*2010 Right Arm of St. Louis Award from the St. Louis Regional Chamber
*2019 Honorary Professor, Xidian University, Xi'an China
Fellowships and appointments
*Member of the Chemistry Research Evaluation Panel of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research
The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is a scientific research organization operated by the United States Air Force Materiel Command dedicated to leading the discovery, development, and integration of aerospace warfighting technologies, pl ...
(1976–1980)
*Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (since 1986)
* Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
(since 1988)
*Member of the Board of Overseers of the Boston Museum of Science
The Museum of Science (MoS) is a science museum and indoor zoo in Boston, Massachusetts, located in Science Park, a plot of land spanning the Charles River. Along with over 700 interactive exhibits, the museum features a number of live presentat ...
(1991–1997)
*Member of the Corporation of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI, acronym pronounced ) is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of marine science and engineering.
Established in 1930 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, it ...
(1991–1995)
*Member of the Corporation of the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory (1994–1996)
* Member of the Board of Directors of the Chemical Heritage Foundation
The Science History Institute is an institution that preserves and promotes understanding of the history of science. Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it includes a library, museum, archive, research center and conference center.
It was fo ...
(1998–2002)
*Trustee of the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (1998–2002)
*Trustee of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center (1998-2019)
*Presidential Appointee to the National Science Board
The National Science Board (NSB) of the United States establishes the policies of the National Science Foundation (NSF) within the framework of applicable national policies set forth by the President and the Congress. The NSB also serves as an ind ...
(2000–2006)
* Member of the American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
(since 2001)
* Member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (2002–2005)
*Member of the Board of Directors of Brooks Automation (since 2005)
*Member of the Board of Directors of Cabot Corporation (1997-March 2021)
* Member of the Board of Directors of Corning Incorporated
Corning Incorporated is an American multinational technology company that specializes in specialty glass, ceramics, and related materials and technologies including advanced optics, primarily for industrial and scientific applications. The co ...
(since 2009)
*Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors
The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) is a US non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging inventors in academia, following the model of the National Academies of the United States. It was founded at the University of South Florida in 2010. ...
, 2013
* Member of the Executive Committee of China's University Alliance of the Silk Road
The University Alliance of the Silk Road (, also translated as the Universities Alliance of the Silk Road and abbreviated UASR) is an academic arm to the People's Republic of China's One Belt, One Road foreign policy initiative. The UASR is a non- ...
, the academic arm of China's One Belt, One Road
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, or B&R), formerly known as One Belt One Road ( zh, link=no, 一带一路) or OBOR for short, is a global infrastructure development strategy adopted by the Chinese government in 2013 to invest in nearly 150 ...
initiative (2016)
*Member of the Forest Park Forever Board
*Member of the Saint Louis Science Center Board of Commissioners
*Member of the Board of the United Way of Greater St. Louis
*Member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Corporation
References
External links
Mark S. Wrighton - 14th Chancellor, Washington University in St. Louis
Mark S. Wrighton, Department of Chemistry, Washington University in St. Louis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wrighton, Mark S.
1949 births
20th-century American chemists
California Institute of Technology alumni
Chancellors of Washington University in St. Louis
Florida State University alumni
Living people
Massachusetts Institute of Technology provosts
MacArthur Fellows