Former Research Group Members

Graduate Students

 

Student

Degree and Year

Subsequent Positions

Adrian Looney

MA (1989); PhD (1993)

ÒI:  Zinc and Aluminum Alkyl Derivatives Supported by Oxygen and Nitrogen Ligation. II:  The Development of a Structural and Functional Model for the Enzyme Carbonic Anhydrase.  A Protonated Tris(pyrazolyl)hydroborato Ligand as Anion Host.Ó

Patent Counsel for Pfizer, Inc., New York, New York.

Runyu Han

MA (1989); PhD (1993)

ÒI:  Alkyl and Hydride Derivatives of Beryllium, Magnesium and Zinc. II:  Structural and Functional Models for Carbonic Anhydrase.Ó

Information Scientist, Information Management Department, Pfizer Inc., Ann Arbor Laboratories, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Keum Yoon

MA (1990);  PhD (1994)

ÒI:  Investigation of BondStretch Isomerism. II:  Syntheses, Structures, and Reactivity of Tris(pyrazolyl)hydroborato Derivatives.Ó

Attorney, Shearman & Sterling, New York, New York. Corporate counsel at Google, New York, New York.

Daniel Rabinovich

MA (1990); PhD (1994)

ÒSynthetic and Mechanistic Studies of Trimethylphosphine Complexes of Tungsten.Ó

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico.  Professor, University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

William Howard

MA (1994); PhD (1995)

ÒSynthetic and Reactivity Studies of Permethylzirconocene Complexes with Terminal Chalcogenido Ligands.Ó

Postdoctoral Research Associate (with Bergman), University of California, Berkeley.  Associate Professor, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska.

Jun Ho Shin

MA (1991); PhD (1996)

ÒSyntheses, Structures and Reactivity of Permethyltantalocene and tertButyl Molybdenocene Derivatives.Ó

Teaching Associate, Columbia University.  Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, Queensborough Community College, Bayside, New York.

Matthew Kuchta

MA (1996); PhD (1997)

ÒMultiple Bonding to the Heavy p–Block Elements:  Syntheses, Structures and Reactivity of Terminal Chalcogenido Complexes of Gallium, Indium and Tin.Ó

NATO Postdoctoral Research Associate (with Geoff Cloke), Sussex University.  Senior Research Chemist, Exxon-Mobil Chemical Company, Houston, Texas.  Alexander von Humboldt Post-Doctoral Research Fellow (with Nils Metzler-Nolte), Ruhr UniversitŠt-Bochum, Germany. Senior Scientist, Precursor Energetics, Inc., Santa Clara, California. Research Chemist, Taxon Biosciences, San Francisco, California. Research Associate at JCAP-LBL, University of California.

Jennifer Kisko

MA (1997); PhD (1998)

ÒMultiple Bonding of Titanium and Vanadium to the Heavier Chalcogens and Synthesis of Four-Coordinate Phenyltris(3-t-butylpyrazolyl)borato Iron Methyl and Carbonyl Species.Ó

Postdoctoral Research Associate (with Jackie Barton), California Institute of Technology. Research Scientist, deCode Genetics, Reykjavik, Iceland.  Patent Agent, Gilead Sciences, Foster City, California. Patent Agent, Roche, San Francisco, California. Attorney at Law, GrayRobinson, Orlando, Florida.

 

Prasenjit Ghosh

MA (1997); PhD (1998)

ÒStructural Analogs of Zinc Enzymes and Related Studies of Poly(pyrazolyl)hydroborato Complexes.Ó

Postdoctoral Research Associate (with Morris Bullock), Brookhaven National Laboratory, New York.  Postdoctoral Research Associate (with Gui Bazan), University of California, Santa Barbara. Professor, Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.

Hyosun Lee

MA (1995); PhD (1999)

ÒSynthesis, Structure and Reactivity of [Me2Si] Bridged Permethylzirconocene and Permethyltitanocene Complexes.Ó

LG Chem, Daejeon, Republic of Korea. Assistant Professor, Kyungpook National University, Republic of Korea.

Clare Kimblin

MA (1995); PhD (1999)

ÒBis and Tris-Imidazole and Thioimidazole Complexes as Zinc Enzyme Models.Ó

Postdoctoral Associate (with Alison Butler), University of California, Santa Barbara, California.  Principal Scientist in the USDOE Special Technologies Laboratory operated by National Security Technologies, LLC (NSTec), Santa Barbara, California.

Tony Hascall

MA (1995); PhD (1999)

ÒI:  Oxidative Addition Reactions of Trimethylphosphine Complexes of Molybdenum and Tungsten.  II:  Metal Complexes of Bulkyl Calixarene Ligands.Ó

Postdoctoral Associate (with Dermot OÕHare), Oxford University.  Instructor, California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, California. Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona.

Catherine Bergquist (nŽe Jones)

MA (1998); PhD (2001)

ÒI:  Zinc Aqua and Alkoxide Complexes:  Models of Zinc Enzymes.  II: Estimation of the Br¿nsted Acidity of Aquatris(perfluorophenyl)borane.Ó

Project Supervisor, Synthetic Polymer Research, National Starch and Chemical Company, Bridgewater, New Jersey. La Leche League, Volunteer.

David Churchill

MA (1998); PhD (2002)

ÒThe Ansa Effect in permethylmolybdenocene and Permethyltungstenocene Chemistry.Ó

Postdoctoral Research Associate (with Ken Raymond), University of California, Berkeley, California. Professor, Department of Chemistry, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, Republic of Korea.

Cary Zachmanoglou

MA (2000)

 

Amanda Vaught

MA (2001)

Associate, Darby and Darby, P.C., New York. Attorney at Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett, New York, New York. Propel Financial Advisors, Maryville, Tennesee.

Melissa Morlok

MA (2004)

Science Teacher, Milkan Community High School, Los Angeles, California. Science Instructor, Marlborough School, Los Angeles, California.

Guang Zhu

MA (2004); PhD (2006)

ÒTransformations Relevant to Hydrodenitrogenation as Modeled by Reactions of Trimethylphosphine Molybdenum CompoundsÓ

Staff Scientist, Symyx Technologies, Inc., Sunnyvale, California.

Senior Staff Scientist, Rennovia, Inc., Menlo Park, California. MCLab in South San Francisco.

Jonathan Melnick

MA (2004); PhD (2007)

ÒComplexes of Group 12 Metals in a Sulfur-Rich Coordination Environment Employing the Tris(2-mercapto-t-butylimidazolyl)hydroborato Ligand.Ó

Postdoctoral Research Associate (with Dan Nocera), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Senior Analyst, Lux Research, Boston, Massachussetts.

Bryte Kelly

MA (2005); PhD (2007)

ÒApplications of Bis and Tris(aryloxy)amine Ligands to Main Group and Transition Metal Chemistry.Ó

Scientific Advisor, Morgan and Finnegan, New York.

Daniela Buccella

MA (2005); PhD (2008)

ÒCalixarene and Trimethylphosphine Complexes of Mo, W and Ni: Towards Small-Molecule Models for Heterogeneous HDS Catalysts.Ó

Postdoctoral Research Associate (with Stephen J. Lippard), Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, New York University, New York, New York.

Keliang Pang

MA (2005); PhD (2008)

ÒPart I: Bonding Properties and Reactivity of the Metal-Boron Bond in Metal Borane Compounds. Part II: Homogeneous Hydrodesulfurization of Benzothiophene by Tantalum and Niobium Complexes.Ó

Postdoctoral Research Associate (with Hong Soon Hyeok), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Guangzhou Tinci Materials Technology Co., Ltd, Guangzhou City, Guangdong, China.

Joseph C. Ulichny

MA (2008)

Associate in Discipline, Columbia University.

Victoria K. Landry

MA (2006); PhD (2009)

Ò(I) Preparation and Coordination Chemistry of Selenium-Rich Bi- and Tripodal Boron-Centered Ligands and Precursors. (II) Preparation and Computational Analysis of s and p Lewis Acid Adducts of Transition Metals Supported by Nitrogen, Sulfur and Selenium-Rich Boron-Centered Ligands.Ó

Copywriter, Harrison & Star.

Science Department Chair, Convent of the Sacred Heart, Greenwich, CT.

Kevin Yurkerwich

MA (2007); PhD (2010)

"The Chemistry of Gallium, Indium, and Mercury Supported by a Sulfur-Rich Coordination Environment."

Graduate Student, Stanford Law School. Senior Associate at WilmerHale, Boston, Massachussetts.

Gregory G. Theophall

MA (2011)

Graduate student at Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York.

Aaron Sattler

MA (2009); PhD (2012)

"Chemistry of highly reactive group 5 and 6 transition metal compounds: Modeling aspects of the industrial hydrotreating process and synthesis of the first transition metal complexes that feature a [CCC] X3-donor pincer ligand."

Postdoctoral Research Associate (with John E. Bercaw and Harry B. Gray), California Institute of Technology; Senior Chemist, ExxonMobil, Clinton, New Jersey.

Wesley Sattler

MA (2009); PhD (2012)

"(I) Zinc complexes as synthetic analogues for carbonic anhydrase and as catalysts for H2 production and CO2 functionalization. (II) Application of lithium silylamides in the synthesis of transition metal isocyanide compounds from their carbonyl derivatives. (III) Structural and spectroscopic studies of thimerosal and its derivatives."

Postdoctoral Research Associate (with John Bercaw), California Institute of Technology; Senior Chemist, The Dow Chemical Company, Marlborough, Massachusetts; Senior Chemist, The Dow Chemical Company, Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Senior Chemist, ExxonMobil, Clinton, New Jersey.

Yi Rong

MA (2009); PhD (2012)

"Main Group and Transition Metal Complexes Supported by Multidentate Tripodal Ligands that Feature Nitrogen, Oxygen and Sulfur Donors: Synthesis, Structural Characterization and Applications"

Software Engineer, Google, New York, New York.

Ahmed Al-Harbi

MA (2010), PhD (2013)

"Synthesis and Coordination Chemistry of Oxygen Rich Ligands: Bis(oxoimidazolyl)hydroborato, Tris(oxoimidazolyl)hydroborato and Tris(2-pyridonyl)methane"

Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Ashley Zuzek

MA (2011), PhD (2014)

"Application of Transition Metal Phosphine Complexes in the Modeling of Catalytic Processes: Reactivity with Hydrosilanes and Other Industrially Relevant Substrates"

Senior Research Chemist, Materia, Pasadena, California.

Ava Kreider-Mueller

MA (2011), PhD (2014)

"Ligand Exchange, Hydrides, and Metal-Metal Bonds: An Investigation into the Synthesis, Structure, and Reactivity of Group 12 Metal Complexes in Sulfur and Nitrogen-Rich Environments"

Lecturer, Department of Chemistry, Clemson University. Research Associate, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth.

Neena Chakrabarti

MA (2011), PhD (2014)

"A Journey Across the Periodic Table: The Synthesis and Characterization of Main Group Metals Supported by Nitrogen or Sulfur Rich Ligands"

Consultant, ZS Associates, New York, New York.

Michelle Neary

MA (2013), PhD (2016)

"Molybdenum, Tungsten and Nickel Compounds as Catalysts for the Dehydrogenation of Formic Acid"

X-ray Crystallographer, Department of Chemistry, Hunter College, New York, New York.

Serge Ruccolo

MA (2013), PhD (2016)

"Zinc Supported by Nitrogen-Rich Ligands: Applications Towards Catalytic Hydrosilylation And Modeling Zinc Enzymes"

Postdoctoral Research Associate (with Dan Nocera), Harvard University. Scientist, Analytical R&D department, Merck, NJ.

Patrick Quinlivan

MA (2015), PhD (2018)

"Main Group and Transition Metal Complexes Supported by Carbon, Sulfur, and Selenium Donor Ligands"

Chemist III, BASF, Peekskill, NY.

Michael Rauch

MA (2016), PhD (2019)

"Main Group Metal Hydride, Alkyl and Fluoride Complexes: Towards CO2 Functionalization with Earth Abundant Metals"

Postdoctoral Associate with David Milstein, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. Senior Scientist II, Materials Science Education Specialist at Schrödinger.

David Sambade

MA (2017), PhD (2020)

"Investigation of Bridgehead Atom Manipulation in Traditionally Boron-Centered Tripodal Ligands"

Postdoctoral Associate, University of Pennsylvania.

 

 

Postdoctoral Research Associates

 

Name

Dates

Subsequent Positions

Ian B. Gorrell

1989-90

Department of Chemistry, Leeds University.

Akila Saleh

1991-92

Professor, College of Education, Chemistry Department, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.

Emanuela Libertini

 

1992-93

Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy.

Vincent Murphy

1994-95

Exxon Chemical Company, Baytown, Texas. Technology Entrepreneur (formerly Director of Homogeneous Catalysis), Symyx Technologies, Inc. Santa Clara, California. Vice President of Research and Development, Rennovia, Inc., California. CEO of EnginZyme, Solna, Sweden.

Tauqir Fillebeen

1994-1997

Instructor, Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado; retired.

Conor Dowling

1994-95

Senior Research Chemist, Elf Atochem, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.  Market Manager, Specialty Amines, Thiochemicals Division, Arkema, Inc., Philadelphia.  Global Market Manager, Specialty Amines, Taminco, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Jeff Bonanno

1995-96

Assistant Professor, Rockefeller University, New York, New York.  Associate, Department of Biochemistry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York.

Jun Ho Shin

1996 - 2002

Teaching Associate, Columbia University.  Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, Queensborough Community College, Bayside, New York.

Brian M. Bridgewater

1998-2001

Senior Research Scientist, Rohm and Haas Company, Springhouse, Pennsylvania. Dow Chemical. IP Analytics, Thomson Reuters. Science Department Faculty at Notre Dame High School, Lawrenceville, New Jersey.

Arefa Docrat

2000-01

Writer.

Joseph M. Tanski

2000-03

Associate Professor, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York.

Thomas G. Carrell

2002

Technical Support Specialist, Shimadzu, Piscataway, New Jersey.

Kevin Janak

2001-04

Research Scientist, Reheis Inc., Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. Director of Application Technology, Lonza, New Jersey.

Joshua Figueroa

2005-2007

Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego.

Joshua Palmer

2011-2014

Principal and Product Manager, Verrix, Pasadena, California. Investment Associate, Kairos Venture Investments, Pasadena, California.

 

Undergraduate Students

 

Name

Dates

Affiliation/Subsequent Positions

Nick Bavaro

1988

Columbia University. New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York; Rivertown Orthopaedics, Westchester Office, Ardsley, New York.

Max Bachrach

1989 (REU)

Columbia University. Graduate Student (with Gray), California Institute of Technology.

Quoc Dang

1989 (REU)

 

Mike Willis

1989 (REU)

 

Ethan Jackson

1989

Anesthesiologist, University of California, San Francisco.

Ross Zelman

1990 (REU)

Graduate Student, University of Pennsylvania.

Mark Cornebise

1990 (REU)

Associate Scientist, Biomedicinal Chemistry Department, Biogen, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Dena Miller

1991

 

Marcey Waters

1991 (REU)

Graduate Student (with Wulff), University of Chicago.  Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Kristopher McNeill

1991 (REU)

Graduate Student (with Bergman and Andersen), University of California, Berkeley.  Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

George Miller

1992

Columbia University.

Fred Mikulek

1992 (REU)

 

Beth Simon

1992

 

Lewis Kaufman

1992

Columbia University.

Marc Pavese

1992

Quantitative Risk Leader, Genworth Financial, Stamford, Connecticut.

Tina Trnka

(now Tina Salguero)

1993–97

Graduate student (with Grubbs), California Institute of Technology.  Postdoctoral Research Associate (with Stucky), University of California, Santa Barbara.  Sensors and Materials Laboratory at HRL Laboratories. Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Georgia, Athens, GA.

Mike Sardo

1993

 

Hayley Xuereb

1993 (REU)

Graduate Student (with Kahne), Princeton University. 

Jennifer Kokolski

1993 (REU)

 

William Savage

1994

Columbia University.

Shannon Halkyard

1994

Stuart Hall High School, San Francisco, California.

Johnny Chen

1995

Columbia University.

Kirk Hansen

1995 (REU)

Graduate student (with Chan), California Institute of Technology.  Postdoctoral Associate, University of California, San Francisco.  Assistant Professor, Proteomics Core, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Aurora, Colorado.

Dana Weinberger

1995 (REU)

Graduate Student (with Mirkin), Northwestern University.  Postdoctoral Associate at Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California.  CBR International Corporation.

Cetywa Powell

1996

Columbia University. Filmmaker.

Joe Cordaro

 

1998 (REU)

Graduate Student (with Bergman), University of California, Berkeley.  Senior Member of the Technical Staff, Sandia National Laboratories, California.

Hannah Storrie White

1998-99

Barnard College. Graduate Student (with Stupp), Northwestern University.  Postdoctoral Fellow(with Mooney), Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Associate Director of Chemical Development, G1 Therapeutics, North Carolina.

Brian Ackerman

 

1999-2001

Columbia University.

Mark Rubinshtein

1999-2001

Graduate Student, Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, Columbia University.  Graduate Student (with Yang), Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego.

Lawrence Koutcher

2000-01

Cornell Medical School, New York, New York.

Shannon Biros

2000 (REU)

Graduate Student (with Reebek), Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California. Associate Professor of Chemistry, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Michigan.

Adriel Villeges-Estrada

2001

Vassar College. Graduate Student (with Mobashery), University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana.

Josh Wittenberg

2001 (REU)

Graduate Student (with Alvisatos), University of California, Berkeley.

Jeffrey Carlson

2002 (REU)

University of Wyoming.

Jennifer Guerard

2003 (REU)

Graduate Student (with Chin), School of Earth Science, Ohio State University.

Mary Beth Anzovino

2004 (REU)

Graduate Student (with Yoon), Department of Chemistry, University of Madison, Wisconsin.

Felicia Konopka

2004-07

Barnard College. Graduate Student, Syracuse University, New York.

Ian Tonks

2005-06

Graduate Student (with Bercaw), California Institute of Technology. Postdoctoral research (with Landis), University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin. Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Edward Weintrob

2005-06

Graduate Student (with Bercaw), California Institute of Technology. Senior Scientist, Phillips 66, Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

Abraham Shultz

2005-06

Graduate Student (with Nguyen and Hupp), Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.

Joseph Ulichny

2005 (REU)

Graduate Student (with Parkin), Columbia University.
Associate in Discipline, Columbia University.

Fergal Coleman

2006 (REU)

Graduate Student, National University of Ireland, Galway.

Stephanie M. Quan

2006-07

Science Teacher, Harvard-Westlake School, Los Angeles, California.

Amanda Doody

2007 (REU)

Graduate Student (Fall 08), Vanderbilt University.

Philip S. May

2008 (REU)

Undergraduate Student, Emory University.

Diana Bryk

2009

Columbia University.

Ariel Schaap

2009

Columbia University.

Kristine Jang

2009 (REU)

Undergraduate Student, Texas A&M University.

Benjamin Kriegel

2010 (REU)

Undergraduate Student, New College of Florida, Sarasota, Florida.

Kaylyn Shen

2011

Columbia University.

Julia Oktawiec

2011-2013

Columbia College. Graduate student, Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley.

Jorge Orbay

2013

Columbia University.

Walid Rahman

2014

Columbia University.

Foysal Daian

2014

Columbia University.

John Paul Mester

2015 - 2019

Columbia University.

Sarah Willson

2017

Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri.

Renee Roberts

2018-2019

Research Assistant, Columbia University Medical Center.

Cameron Collins

2018-2020

 

Erika Amemiya

2018-2021

Graduate Student, Harvard University.

Kaitlyn Otte

2020-2021

Graduate Student, Georgia Tech.

 

 

Sabbatical, High School, and other Visitors

 

Name

Dates

Afilliation

Ditta Korbeogo

1996 & 1997

Summer Research Program for Secondary School Science Teachers

Peter Desrosiers

1997

University of the Virgin Islands, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands

Juliet Hahn

1998-99

St. JohnÕs University, Jamica, New York

Sheila Morehouse

1998

Manhattanville College, Purchase, New York

Roberto S‡nchez Delgado

1999

Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (IVIC), Caracas, Venezuela

Jennifer Girard

2000 & 2001

Partners in Science Program and Environmental Molecular Science Institute Research Experience for Teachers (Edward R. Murrow High School, Brookyn)

Duncan Quarless

2000-01

SUNY College of Old Westbury, Old Westbury, New York

Roald Hoffmann

2001

Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

Mao Minoura

2002-03

Kitasato University, Kitasato, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan

Luciano Marchi˜

2003

University of Parma, Italy

Chandrika Kulatilleke

2006

Baruch College, CUNY, New York, New York

Reena Rahni

2006-07

Hunter College

Edward Lieb

2008

Masters School (Dobbs Ferry)

Shweta Verma

2008-09

 

Illon Osei

2008-09

Bronx High School for Medical Science (via Harlem Children Society).

Serge Ruccolo

2011

École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Paris, France.

Douglas Villalta

2012 & 2013

Union City High School, Union City, New Jersey.

Tyger Salters

2012-2014

The Bronx High School of Science.

Raphael Righetti

2013

University of Lorraine, Nancy, France.

Tawfiq Nasr Allah

2014

Paris Descartes University, Paris, France.

Anziliiha Kurt

2014

University of Joseph Fourier, Grenoble School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, France.

Natalie Moncayo

2014

Union City High School, Union City, New Jersey.

Iffat Aziz

2015

Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Mahnaz Rostami Chaijan

2015

Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran.

Murshea Tuor

2015

Columbia Secondary School for Math Science and Engineering, New York, New York.

Sarah Desmons

2016

Paris Descartes University, Paris, France.

Joan Martinez

2015 & 2016

Union City High School, Union City, New Jersey.

Raja Ramesh

2016

Columbia Secondary School for Math Science and Engineering, New York, New York.

Shivani Gulatii

2016 - 2017

Associate Research Scientist Ph. D. Panjab University, Chandigarh, India.

Melanie Moncayo

2017

Union City High School, Union City, New Jersey.

Johan Ayala

2018 & 2019

Union City High School, Union City, New Jersey.

Romain Stefanelli

2019

Paris Descartes University, Paris, France.