Division/Committee: [COLL] Division of Colloid & Surface Chemistry

This symposium is in honor of the work and accomplishments of Dr. Cynthia M. Friend. Currently the President of the Kavli Foundation, Dr. Friend has been a fixture in the surface science community for the past four decades. In her positions as the Theodore Williams Richards Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, and Professor of Materials Science, School of Engineering and Applied Science, at Harvard University, she has supervised over 75 graduate students and post-docs. A faculty member at Harvard since 1982, she was the first female professor of chemistry and the first female chair of the department. In her illustrious career at Harvard, in addition to her academic roles, she has served as Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Director of the Rowland Institute, Associate Director of the Harvard MRSEC, and Director of the DOE sponsored Energy Frontier Research Center on Integrated Mesoscale Architectures for Sustainable Catalysis. She also served as Associate Director of the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. Her research has inspired generations of scientists in surface science and heterogeneous catalysis, where she has bridged the gap between our atomic scale understanding of surfaces and interfaces and their macroscale properties as active catalysts. Here we will highlight work of Dr. Friend, her colleagues in surface science, and the work of her former students and post-docs, illustrating the manifold impact in which her leadership in surface science has resulted. Topics for this symposium include, but are not limited to: • Surface science and surface chemistry (theory and experiment) • Heterogeneous Catalysis • Nanoscience • Surfaces and interfaces of metals, oxides, and semiconductors • Environmental surface chemistry • Surface chemistry in industrial applications

Michelle Personick

Wesleyan University

Appearances