The department is pleased to announce the promotion of three faculty members: Steven Corcelli to full professor, and Haifeng Gao and Vlad Iluc to associate professor with tenure.
Steven Corcelli joined the University of Notre Dame in 2005. His research centers on using new theoretical approaches to understand dynamics, spectroscopy, and reactivity in the condensed-phase and at biomolecular interfaces. His work has been recognized through numerous national awards including a Kavli Fellowship, a Sloan Research Fellowship, an NSF CAREER Award, and selection as an American Chemical Society Fellow. In addition to research, Corcelli has been instrumental in successfully creating a grant-writing climate to encourage graduate students to compete for fellowships, increasing diversity through a GAANN grant, and influencing chemical graduate education through serving as chair of the American Chemical Society’s Graduate Education Advisory Board.
Haifeng Gao joined the University of Notre Dame in 2011. His research groups focuses on developing novel syntheses of functional polymer materials with controlled nanostructures and on understanding their structure-property relationships. These materials are targeted for use in biofunctional materials, environmental remediation, and energy conversion. He has also initiated a Soft Materials Symposium centered at Notre Dame that attracts researchers from the region and abroad. Prof. Gao is the recipient of an NSF CAREER Award, an Army Young Investigator Program Award, and the UMASS MRSEC Young Investigator Award.
Vlad Iluc also joined the University of Notre Dame in 2011. His research group studies the design of novel metal catalytic complexes that leverage latent reactivity, such as electrophilic metal centers protected by weak interactions with supporting ligands, to activate inert molecules, particularly those containing C-H bonds. The molecules being activated are important as they could be used as less expensive and more abundant energy resources Prof. Iluc is also very involved in supporting K-12 education, as his research group regularly volunteers in schools and children’s group homes to provide chemistry lessons and demonstrations. Prof. Iluc is the recipient of an NSF CAREER Award.
Originally published by at chemistry.nd.edu on May 18, 2017.