Jillian Lee Dempsey is an American

inorganic chemist Inorganic chemistry deals with synthesis and behavior of inorganic and organometallic compounds. This field covers chemical compounds that are not carbon-based, which are the subjects of organic chemistry. The distinction between the two discipl ...

and the Bowman and Gordon Gray Distinguished Term Professor at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which r ...

. Currently, her work focuses on

proton-coupled electron transfer A Proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) is a chemical reaction that involves the transfer of electrons and protons from one atom to another. The term was originally coined for single proton, single electron processes that are concerted, but the ...

, charge transfer events, and

quantum dots Quantum dots (QDs) are semiconductor particles a few nanometres in size, having optical and electronic properties that differ from those of larger particles as a result of quantum mechanics. They are a central topic in nanotechnology. When the ...

. She is the recipient of numerous awards for rising stars of chemistry, including most recently a 2016

Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship The Sloan Research Fellowships are awarded annually by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation since 1955 to "provide support and recognition to early-career scientists and scholars". This program is one of the oldest of its kind in the United States. ...

and a 2016

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ar ...

's Young Investigator Research Program (YIP).

Education and training

Dempsey attended the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern t ...

for her undergraduate, earning her S.B. in Chemistry in 2005. She worked with Prof.

Daniel G. Nocera Daniel George Nocera (born July 3, 1957) is an American chemist, currently the Patterson Rockwood Professor of Energy in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences a ...

on the development of molecular

water splitting Water splitting is the chemical reaction in which water is broken down into oxygen and hydrogen: :2 H2O → 2 H2 + O2 Efficient and economical water splitting would be a technological breakthrough that could underpin a hydrogen economy, bas ...

catalysts. While at MIT, she also worked at Merck Research Laboratories' Department of Analytical Research, on the development of

HPLC High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), formerly referred to as high-pressure liquid chromatography, is a technique in analytical chemistry used to separate, identify, and quantify each component in a mixture. It relies on pumps to pa ...

columns for pharmaceutical

process development Process simulation is used for the design, development, analysis, and optimization of technical processes such as: chemical plants, chemical processes, environmental systems, power stations, complex manufacturing operations, biological processes, ...

. Dempsey then travelled to 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 ...

for graduate studies, where she worked in the laboratory of Prof.

Harry B. Gray Harry Barkus Gray (born November 14, 1935) is the Arnold O. Beckman Professor of Chemistry at California Institute of Technology. Career Gray received his B.S. in chemistry from Western Kentucky University in 1957. He began his work in inorgan ...

and

Jay R. Winkler Jay Richmond Winkler, Ph.D. (b. January 28, 1956) is an American physical chemist, currently director of the Beckman Institute Laser Resource Center at the California Institute of Technology. He has authored over two hundred twenty five articles on ...

. Dempsey's research at Caltech focused on elucidating the mechanism of hydrogen evolution for

cobaloxime Dimethylglyoxime is a chemical compound described by the formula CH3C(NOH)C(NOH)CH3. Its abbreviation is dmgH2 for neutral form, and dmgH− for anionic form, where H stands for hydrogen. This colourless solid is the dioxime derivative of the dike ...

catalysts, as well as the reactivity of photogenerated osmium(II) complexes. She graduated with her Ph.D. in 2011. From 2011 to 2012, Dempsey then conducted postdoctoral research as an NSF American Competitiveness in Chemistry Fellow in the laboratory of Daniel R. Gamelin at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seat ...

. There, she worked on photoconductive quantum dot thin films, as well as magnetic coupling in illuminated quantum dots.

Independent career

Dempsey began her independent career at the

in 2012 as an Assistant Professor. She was granted tenure in 2018 and promoted to the rank of Associate Professor. Since 2020, she has served as the Bowman and Gordon Gray Distinguished Term Professor.

Awards

*2017-

Chemical & Engineering News ''Chemical & Engineering News'' (''C&EN'') is a weekly news magazine published by the American Chemical Society, providing professional and technical news and analysis in the fields of chemistry and chemical engineering.Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship The Sloan Research Fellowships are awarded annually by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation since 1955 to "provide support and recognition to early-career scientists and scholars". This program is one of the oldest of its kind in the United States. ...

*2016 -

's Young Investigator Research Program (YIP) *2015 -

Packard Fellowship The David and Lucile Packard Foundation is a private foundation that provides grants to not-for-profit organizations. It was created in 1964 by David Packard (co-founder of HP) and his wife Lucile Salter Packard. Following David Packard's deat ...

for Science and Engineering *2015 -

NSF CAREER Award The National Science Foundation CAREER awards, presented by the National Science Foundation (NSF), are in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through research and education, and the integration of these endeavors ...

References

Living people 21st-century American chemists Year of birth missing (living people) American women chemists 21st-century American women scientists Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni California Institute of Technology alumni University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty American women academics Sloan Research Fellows {{US-chemist-stub