Mehrafshan G. Jafari, was born in Tehran, Iran. Becoming increasingly interested in chemistry during high-school, she achieved bronze medal in National Chemistry Olympiad back when she was a high school student. She then pursued her undergraduate studies at Sharif University of Technology majoring in chemistry and minoring in computer engineering. There, she worked in Jamali’s group focusing on the synthesis of NHC-platinum complexes and investigating their applications in CH-activation and catalysis. After graduation, Afshan also joined Professor Karimi’s group at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Science (IASBS) for a couple of months to become more familiar with research in the field of asymmetric catalysis using catalysts with C₂-symmetry PyBOX ligands. In June 2017, Afshan began her graduate studies in Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania. In the Mindiola group, her research focused on the synthesis of low coordinated transition metal complexes and investigating their catalytic activities such as the formation of cyclic polymers. Her work also spanned the chemistry of low-valent vanadium complexes and vanadium nitrides. Outside of the chemistry, Afshan is also passionate about digital photography, biking and playing basketball. Afshan is the official photographer of the Mindiola group. Afshan completed his dissertation in the Fall of 2022.

Pavel Zatsepin - was raised in Scarborough, Ontario and attended the University of Toronto where he received his Bachelor of Science studying Chemistry in 2017. There he worked in the laboratories of Datong Song, Douglas W. Stephan, and Geoffrey A. Ozin. In the Song lab, he researched the reactivity of methylated 4,5-diazafluorenide and later the properties and reactivity of complexes of N,N'-bis(2,6- diisopropylphenyl)-o-phenylenediamido ligands with Vanadium, Iron, Lead and Tin with organic azides. During his time in the Stephan lab he synthesized and investigated boron complexes of redox-active polyaromatic ligands and their reactivity towards nucleophiles such as phosphines. While in the Ozin lab, he conducted experiments to probe the competence of novel metal oxide nanomaterials incorporating ruthenium for the gas-phase reduction of dinitrogen to ammonia. In July of 2017 Pavel began his graduate studies towards a Ph.D. in Chemistry Department at the University of Pennsylvania. He joined the Mindiola group where he is researching transition metal-catalyzed methane functionalization, the chemsitry of Sc-C multiple bonds, and the chalcogenides. In his spare time Pavel devours any consumables, espeically pizza. His group alias name was "pizza monster". Pavel completed his dissertation in December of 2021 and is now a JSPS fellow in the laboratories of Prof. Makoto Yamashita at Nagoya University (website).

Jeremy McAndrew- was born in Wilkes-Barre, PA but was raised in Royersford, PA where he attended Spring-Ford High School.  This is where his interest in chemistry was sparked, while he struggled to pay attention in most of his classes, chemistry was the one subject that “clicked”.  He traveled back to Wilkes-Barre to attain his B.S. in Chemistry from King’s College.  While at King’s his interest in chemistry grew not only due to the content, but due to the passion and drive of his undergraduate professors that pushed him in the discipline.  After graduation he was unsure of what career path he wanted to take, so he served as a communications specialist in the United States Marine Corps.  During this time, he traveled the world training and working with foreign militaries to promote interoperability between allied nations.  He is now at the University of Pennsylvania pursuing a Master’s of Science in Chemistry.  In the fall of 2019 he joined the Mindiola group to commence research in the catalysis of methylene transfer using titanium complexes. He completed his degree in December of 2021.

Lauren N. Grant - was raised in Orange County in Southern California. After graduating from Aliso Niguel High School, she attended UC Berkeley, where she obtained her B.S. in Chemistry. While at Berkeley, Lauren conducted undergraduate research under the mentorship and direction of Professor John Arnold. In the Arnold group, she investigated small molecule activation and transformation via niobium imido complexes. She also conducted research on novel routes to niobium nitride complexes derived from azide precursors through photochemical pathways. In her research, Lauren was awarded the Haas Scholars Research Fellowship, Saegabarth Research Award, and was named an NSF Scholar. She was also awarded the ACS Joseph Breen Memorial Fellowship for her research in Green Chemistry, and was able to attend and present at the ACS Green Chemistry and Engineering Conference in the summers of 2014 and 2015, as well as the ACS Conference in San Francisco. As an undergraduate, she also had the opportunity to teach General Chemistry as an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant, which she looks forward to continuing as a graduate student. In June of 2015, Lauren began her pursuit of a doctoral degree in Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania in the Mindiola Group and completed her dissertation in the summer of 2019. Her research involved the isolation and reactivity of nitrides of titanium and zirconium as well as studies with the PCO anion. In the summer of 2019 Lauren received the ACS DIC Young Investigator Award.  Other accolades include Penn University's School of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Scholar Award, and the Resnik postdoctoral award for sustainability science from Caltech.  Lauren is now working as a research scientist in Bristol Myers Squibb in the Phildelphia area.

Kyle Smith- received his undergraduate degree with honors from Albright College, in reading PA in 2013 after doing research under the supervision of Professor Christian S. Hamann. He then moved to Penn and under the tutelage of Prof. Mindiola conducted studies on Fe and Co systems supported by a nitrogen rich pincer-like ligand. In parallel, he also explored catalytic borylation reactions involving methane and using simple to generate Ir catalysts. This work was in collaboration with the Milton Smith group at Michigan State University and Mu-Hyun Baik group at KAIST. Kyle was also heavily involved with teaching and outreach and received the Penn Prize for Excellence in Teaching by Graduate Students (2015) and the Chemistry Department Teaching Assistant Award (2015). After 3 years, Kyle completed bis masters degree and is now working for the Johnson Matthey chemical company.   

Doug Solowey- received his undergraduate degree from Lehigh University, PA in 2015 after doing research under the supervision of Professor David Vicic. During his time there he received the Moissan Fellowship from the American Chemical Society, Fluorine Division. He then moved to Penn and under the tutelage of Prof. Mindiola and conducted research activities involving synthesis and reactivity of high-valent titanium complexes capable of activating alkane C-H bonds. His project included the isolation of mononuclear titanium complexes bearing terminal oxo moieties, as well as utilization of titanium alkylidynes in catalytic dehydrogenation of alkanes and ring-opening of N-heterocycles, including quinoline. After 2 years, Doug completed his masters degree and is now working for the Johnson Matthey chemical company.

Keith Searles- was born and raised in Richmond, VA.  He attended Atlee High School for three years and graduated form Hermitage High School in the spring of 2005.  He decided to remain close to his hometown by attending Randolph-Macon College, located approximately 15 miles north of Richmond, VA.  He obtained a B.S. in chemistry while researching the theory of “ion exclusion” in thin ice films under the guidance of Dr. Rebecca Michelsen.  After graduation from Randolph-Macon College in the spring of 2009, he became an employee of the college while working as a research assistant for Dr. Serge Schreiner.  Under the advisement of Dr. Schreiner, Keith’s research focused on the synthesis of rhodium and iridium complexes, stabilized by bis(dicyclohexylphosphino) methane, for use as potential catalysts.  In the fall of 2010, Keith began pursuing a doctorate in chemistry at Indiana University.  He will continue his research focus in oranometallic chemistry under the advisement of Dr. Dan Mindiola and Dr. Ken Caulton. In addition to exploring unsaturated iridium and cobal complexes, Keith will also investigate the synthesis and reactivity of early-transition metal complexes having metal-carbon multiple bonds as well as reactivity of Iron complexes with N₂. In the summer of 2013 Keith moved with the Mindiola group to UPenn. In late spring of 2015 Keith completed his dissertation and in September commenced his postdoctoral studies in the laboratories of Prof. Christophe Coperet at ETH-Zurich (website). Prior to receiving his doctoral degree, Keith was the recipient (twice) of the William H. Nebergall Memorial Award! This award is devoted specifically for research in inorganic chemistry. The award is to honor the late Professor Nebergall, who was associated with the department from 1947 until his death in 1978. Keith will now be commencing his independing career (summer of 2019) at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL (website).

Rick Thompson- grew up the small town of Van Meter, IA (pop. 866). He attended the K-12 school there where he excelled at writing, winning several writing contests for both essay and short story fiction. Additionally, Rick was active in cadet teaching, tutoring, football, basketball, weightlifting and throwing discus on the track team. In 2007, he graduated from Van Meter High School along with his other 26 classmates. Rick then attended Iowa State University where he began as a chemical engineering major before seeing the light and changing to chemistry after a year. He graduated from Iowa State in the May of 2011 with a BS in Chemistry. While at ISU Rick began work under Dr. Aaron Sadow where he honed his synthetic lab skills working on homogenous transfer hydrogenation catalysis with late metal systems in addition to his main work with cross dehydrocoupling of silanes and alcohols with theTris(oxazolinyl)borato Zinc Hydride. In the fall of 2011 Rick was admitted to IU to pursue a PhD in inorganic chemistry under Dr. Dan Mindiola. His focus will be synthetic organometallic chemistry, particularly achieving elusive group 4 and 5 metal-atom triple bonds such as metal nitrides and phosphides. In the summer of 2013, Rick moved with the Mindiola to UPenn and completed a masters in 2014. After completing a Ph.D. degree under the direction of Prof. Larry Sita at the Unviersity of Maryland, Rick then moved to the group of Prof. Semin Lee (LSU) as a postdoctoral fellow.

Zhenyu (Justin) Wu- was born and raised up in Anhui province, southern China, and received his bachelor of science degree in Applied Chemistry from Beijing University of Chemical Technology in 2011. When he was an undergraduate student, he worked with Dr. Haijun Hao in the synthesis and reactivity of a zinc hydride compound [ HC(CMeNAr)₂}Zn(μ-H)]₂ (Ar = 2,6-Me₂C₆H₃) as well as complexes whaving Zn-Zn single bond. In the Mindiola group Justin worked on redox-active pincer ligands with Fe and Co, and in collaboration with Prof. Kenneth Caulton at Indiana University. In the Spring of 2014 Justin completed his masters thesis and is now working in a consulting company in Beijing.

Vincent N. Cavaliere - was born and bred in East Hartford, Connecticut. In 2003 Vincent graduated with honors from East Hartford High School, where his love for chemistry first began. He went on to major in chemistry at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, receiving his B.A. in chemistry in 2007. During his time in New Jersey, he studied the substitution reactions of halide-bridged osmium carbonyl clusters under Prof. Mary-Ann Pearsall. After college, Vincent worked briefly in industry first as a quality control technician at Airgas Specialty Gases in Cheshire, CT and later as an R&D formulation chemist at Watson Foods Inc. There he created the formulation for both plum and salmon-colored edible glitter, as well the new formula for cherry edible unmentionables. In the summer of 2008, Vincent left his east coast roots for Bloomington, Indiana. In the fall of 2009, he joined the research group of Prof. Mindiola and is currently investigating small molecule activation by transient titanium alkylidyne reagents as well as their application to methane activation and functionalization. In the spring of 2012, Vinnie obtained his Masters degree from IU and is presently an account manager at Carl Zeiss Microscopy.

Ba L. Tran was born in Hoi An, Vietnam in 1983. At age seven, Ba immigrated with his family to beautiful San Diego. In 2001, he graduated from Junipero Serra High School and attended the University of California, San Diego majoring in pharmacological chemistry. In the summer of his junior year, Ba was introduced to bioinorganic research under the guidance of Professor Seth M. Cohen in the design of inhibitors for matrix metalloproteinases and the coordination chemistry of thiopyrone and hydroxypyridinethione ligands to late first row transition metals. From 2005-07, Ba studied biomimetic chemistry pertaining to oxygen atom transfer in oxo-molybdenum(VI,V,IV) complexes of tris(mercaptoimidazolyl)borate and the syntheses of a family of dioxo-tungsten(VI) heteroscorpionate complexes for a master thesis under the tutelage of Professor Carl J. Carrano at San Diego State University. In the fall of 2007, Ba was admitted to Indiana University and shortly after joined the lab of Professor Daniel J. Mindiola studying the design and catalytic reactivity of three-coordinate Ni(II) boryl complexes anchored by sterically encumbering monoanionic OR, NN and PN ancillary ligands. He is also exploring group 4 complexes having reactive metal-ligand multiple bonds and highly reduced and unsaturated group metal centers. In March of 2011 he obtained his Ph.D, and completed a Postdoctoral fellowship supported by the Einstein Fellowship in the laboratories of Prof. John Hartwig (UC Berkeley) and Prof. Matthias Driess (Technical University in Berlin). In 2014 Ba commenced working at the chemical company Materia Inc and then moved to Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.(website)

Debashis Adhikari joined Indiana University and the Mindiola group in the fall of 2004. Debashis obtained his B.S. from Calcutta University, India and held a rank as a Chemistry Major. He then moved to IIT Kanpur, India to complete his Master's degree in Chemistry. During this period he was awarded a summer research fellowship by the Indian Academy of Sciences and received the opportunity to study on Chaperon-like activity of proteins in the Bose Institute in Calcutta, India. Debashis completed his Ph.D. at IU in spring, 2009 studying redox non-innocence of the pincer ligand along with exploring group transfer chemistry involving pincers. For his contribution to the science at Indiana University he was presented with the William H. Nebergall Memorial award in spring, 2009. He then worked as a postdoctoral fellow under the supervision of SonBinh T. Nguyen and Joe Hupp at Northwestern University. He is motivated to use his prior knowledge to build up materials which can show catalytic activity. Debashis is an avid reader and spends his leisure moments embarking in anything terra incognito to him. He is an ardent lover of Tegore's song and Bengali poems. Debashis explored theoretical studies in the group of Prof. Baik at Indiana University and also carried out teaching responsibilities for undergraduates. Presently, Debashis is an Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research in Mohali, Punjab, India. Faculty Page

Uriah Kilgore was born in Ft Leavenworth, KS in 1981. He lived in Rolla MO for 10 years. In 2000, Uriah graduated from Rolla High School and continued his education at Southeast Missouri State University. In the summer of his junior year, Uriah worked as an REU student in the laboratories of Prof. Mindiola at Indiana University. Some of his projects included the construction of radicals having reactive V=CHR and V≡CR functionalities. He also focused on the synthesis of electron rich β-diketiminates having aliphatic substituents on the α-N positions. Uriah also had research experience with the preparation of stable carbenes in the laboratories of Prof. Arduengo at Univ. of Alabama, 2002. In the Fall of 2004, Uriah decided to join the group of Dr. Daniel J. Mindiola, and is currently exploring N2 activation and reductive cleavage b y low-valent niobium systems supported by a Pincer-type framework. Uriah is also exploring ways to utilize CO₂, both as a CO and C-atom transfer reagent. Because CO₂ is abundant and readily available, its use in the synthesis of small molecules is quite attractive. Using CO₂ in synthesis would provide a safe and inexpensive alternative to many organic starting materials. Additionally, reactions that consume CO₂ would help balance the enormous amount of CO₂ that is lost to the atmosphere through the common combustion of fossil fuels. Uriah is currently exploring low-valent Nb and V complexes, as well as preparing terminal alkylidene and alkylidynes of group 5. Uriah commonly activated molecules such as N₂ by preparing unsaturated Nb(III) and V(III) complexes. During his doctoral work, Uriah was the recipient of the GAANN and Baxter industrial fellowships. Besides chemistry, Uriah enjoys listening to and writing music, eating at new restaurants and drinking a variety of beers. After successfully preparing a variety of V and Nb complexes bearing terminal alkylidene units Uriah satisfactorily presented and defended his thesis on March 11, 2009. Uriah J. Kilgore was a postdoctoral fellow, under the auspice of Professor Morris Bullock at Pacific Northwest National Lab.He is presently working as a NAO Research Chemist at Chevron-Phillips Chemical Company in the Houston area, TX.

Alison Fout was born in Oberlin, Ohio in 1980. In 1998, Alison graduated from Firelands High school and continued her education at Gannon University (Erie, PA). In the summer of her junior year she worked at the Breen Technology Center of Sherwin Williams in Cleveland, Ohio on a special color project. In the fall of 2002, she began working under the guidance of Dr. Daniel Rabinovich at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, investigating dialkylbis (mercaptoimidazolyl) borates. After receiving her master′s degree, she joined Dr. Daniel Mindiola's research group in the fall of 2004 where she is currently investigating the reactivity of cobalt and titanium complexes with PNP pincer-type frameworks. In most of her dissertation studies Alison explored synthetic and mechanistic studies involving the chemistry of a transient Ti≡C bond. Some of her work centered around the ring-opening and denitrogenation of N-heterocycles, and sequential C-H and C-F bond activation in hydrofluorocarbons (dehydrofluorination). During her time at IU, Alison received the E. Campaigne C500 award, the Felix Haurowitz Award, the Bernice Eastwood Covalt Memorial Scholarship, the James H. Coon Sciences Prize, and the prestigious College of Arts and Sciences Dissertation Year Research Fellowship. In January of 2009, Alison successfully defended her thesis and is now conducting postdoctoral work as Mary Fieser and NIH Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University (Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology), in the laboratories of Professor Ted Betley. Alison was an assistant professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaigne after which she was promoted to associate professor with tenure. For more information see Prof. Fout's website.

Brad Cameron Bailey was born in Clarkston Michigan (just safe of Detroit) in 1980. Brad survives by the support of his parents Douglas and Patricia Bailey and the friendship of his three older brothers Dan, Chris and Adam. In 1998, Brad graduated from Clarkston High School and continued his education at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. In the summer of his junior year, Brad worked at Flint Ink and worked in the polymer chemistry lab under Dr. Greg Sarnecki and Barna Szabo where he learned the finer points of industry and a little chemistry too. Projects included resin matching and extensive QC investigations. During his final year at the University of Michigan, Brad worked with Dr. David Curtis on the synthesis of polythiophenes for conducting polymers. Although the experience yielded mild success, conversations with veteran graduate students proved inspiring and lead Brad to consider graduate school. After visiting the fine facilities and energetic faculty of Indiana, the choice was clear. Brad decided to join the group of the vivacious Dr. Daniel Mindiola. Brad's current projects include the synthesis of reactive titanium alkylidenes, alkylidynes, phosphinidenes, and terminal titanium nitrides. Preparation of these complexes will allow for investigations into their use in catalysis, intermolecular C-H activation, and metal-based films depositions. Beyond chemistry, Brad enjoys playing a wide variety of sports including football, volleyball, basketball, and baseball. In the spring of 2007 Brad obtained his Ph.D. degree and became the first student from the Mindiola lab to survive graduate school. In his graduate career at IU, Brad was the recipient of the Felix Haurowitz Award (Spring 2006), the Lubrizol Fellowship (Spring 2006), and the William H. Nebergall Memorial Award (Spring 2005). After completing his postdoctoral in the Chemistry Department at MIT under the auspices of Professor Richard R. Schrock, Brad joined the Dow Chemical Company.

Guangyu Zhao obtained her Master's degree in January of 2006. She is the first member to graduate from the Mindiola group. Her thesis covered the synthesis and reactivity of tripodal, monoanionic ligands as well as the assembly of titanium reagents having a terminal phosphinidene functionality. She is now living in Cambridge, MA.

Sara Angelica Cortes Llamas received her Ph.D. degree from the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos and Centro de Investigaciones Químicas in Mexico under the guidance of Dr. Miguel Ángel Muñoz Hernández. Sara was a visiting graduate student in the laboratories of Prof. Mindiola fro the fall semester of 2004. Sara project was the synthesis of N-anchored trisaryloxide ligands and their coordination chemistry with Ti(IV) and Ti(III). Sara obtained her Ph.D. in 2005 and is presently a Professor and Investigator in chemistry at the deparment of chemistry and enigineering in Guadalajara, Mexico. For more information see Prof. Cortes Llamas website.

Anders Reinholdt - was born in Odense, Denmark. After finishing high school, he moved to Copenhagen to study chemistry, eventually joining the laboratory of Professor Jesper Bendix. Here, he investigated the reactivity and electronic structure of ruthenium carbide complexes, focusing on their interaction with late transition metals as well as elemental iodine. During the completion of his Bachelor’s (2013) and Master’s degrees (2014), he enjoyed a formative internship in the group of Professor Sven Schneider (Göttingen), studying PNP ligands coordinated to multiply bonded metal-ligand systems. While studying for his Ph.D. degree (2018), he gained further research experience from the laboratories of Professor Abhik Ghosh (Tromsø), working on porphyrinoid systems, as well as Professor Tony Hill (ANU), working on tungsten carbide systems. Toward the end of his doctoral studies, he investigated new trivalent silver complexes in collaboration with Professor Kyle Lancaster (Cornell). He has been awarded postdoctoral fellowships from The Carlsberg Foundation as well as The Independent Research Fund Denmark. This has enabled his move to the University of Pennsylvania where he joins the Mindiola group (2019) where he conducted research with divalent Ti and V complexes supported with Trofimenko's scorpionate scaffold. In 2022 Anders returned back to Europe and has now taken up a faculty postion at Lund University (website).Outside of the lab, Anders enjoys supporting the Danish football/soccer club Odense, playing the guitar, and spending time with his family.

Rolando Aguilar - was born and raised in Chihuahua city, the capital of Chihuahua state where the Mexican revolution of 1910 began. He attended the Autonomous University of Chihuahua to obtain a B. Sc. in Chemistry with a minor in Microbiology. During that time, joined Dr. Alejandro Camacho's laboratory to work on amino acid synthesis mediated by palladium cross-coupling reactions. Such great experience encouraged him to pursue a Ph. D. in chemistry. In Fall of 2013, he was accepted as a graduate student in the Chemistry program at The University of Texas in El Paso (UTEP). Even though he was looking forward to focusing on an organic synthesis research project, his interests completely changed after a short conversation with Dr. Skye Fortier (webpage) about the astounding chemistry of transition metals. After this intereaction, joining his lab seemed like a no-brainer. Since then, he has been scrutinizing the chemistry of the untamable low valent titanium species with emphassis on small molecule activation. To further expand the reactivity profile of his compounds, in 2018 he started using high-pressure chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania under the supervision of Dr. Daniel Mindiola and did a postdoctoral study from 2019-2021 edxamining the chemistry of Os and Re. Outside the lab Rolando enjoys synthesizing inorganic sounds with Eurorack modules, and reading books

Dieter Sorsche  - grew up in the southern German region of Franken, close to the historic city of Nuremberg. His great enthusiasm for chemistry was first developed in high school where he received the German Chemical Society (GDCh) award upon graduation. He went to the Friedrich‑Alexander University Erlangen‑Nürnberg for the interdisciplinary bachelor/master program “Molecular Nano Science”. Having caught particular interest in coordination chemistry, he completed his bachelor in 2009 with his thesis on the chemistry of tripodal N-heterocyclic carbene ligands and iron complexes thereof in the group of Prof. Karsten Meyer. During the master program he joined the photochemistry group of Prof. Sven Rau, where he investigated the supramolecular chemistry of dinuclear photoredox-active ruthenium/gold and ruthenium/palladium complexes. After a voluntary internship at the GDCh journal “Nachrichten aus der Chemie”, he moved to Ulm University, where he was awarded a Carl-Zeiss fellowship to perform his PhD thesis under supervision of Prof. Rau on the supramolecular photochemistry of second-sphere receptor chromophores for ion sensing and catalysis. He became the group’s head-crystallographer and took over several organizational and teaching duties in the newly established institute for inorganic chemistry. He has co-authored more than twenty scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals, presented his research at international conferences in the US and Europe, and graduated summa cum laude in 2016. He was appointed to the University of Pennsylvania as a postdoctoral fellow in the Mindiola group in the spring of 2017 and will investigate the remarkable coordination chemistry and small molecule activation potential of 3d metal complexes of strong σ-donor ligands as well as methane borylation. Chemistry aside, Dieter is a passionate rugby fan and player who has for the past five years been an active member of the VfB Ulm amateur rugby team. He was involved in the organization of training, games, acquisition of new members, media representation, and other team activities. To date, he has obtained a first level IRB 7s coaching license and for the first time has led an official Ulm University 7s rugby team to the German University Championship in 2014. After two years at Penn, Dieter returned to Germany to the group of Professor Dr. Carsten Streb at the University of Ulm, where he will be exploring the chemistry of low-valent iron complexes with polyoxometallates (POMs) as supporting ligands.

Takashi Kurogi - was born in the city of Nobeoka, situated in the south part of Japan. He went on to major in chemistry at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Titech) in 2006. In April of 2009, he joined Professor H. Kawaguchi’s group. During his undergraduate studies, his research project focused on the reactivity of tantalum hydride complexes with carbon monoxides. After obtaining his bachelor’s degree in 2010, he decided to go on to Titech’s Ph.D. program under thte tutelage of Prof. Kawaguchi. He received his Ph.D. degree in 2015 in the area of small molecule activation chemistry with early transition metal hydrides and low-valent complexes bearing aryloxide ligands. He has been working as a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) research fellow in April 2014. In May of 2015, he joined the Mindiola group as a Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow (JSPS) where he concentrated his efforts in the chemistry of group 4 and 5 transition metal alkylidenes and alkylidynes and their role in dehydrogenation reactions.In 2016 Takashi reported the first niobium complex supporting a terminal methylidyne ligand. Takashi also reported a catalytic reaction in which an ylide can accept hydrogens from a hydrocarbon, and using a titanium alkylidyne, to produce terminal olefins.Presently, Takashi took up an Assistant Professorship position at the Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology in Okayama Univesity, Japan. Website

Jonghoon Choi - grew up in Daejeon, in the Republic of Korea. He attended department of Chemistry Education, Chonbuk National University in March of 2011. When he was an undergraduate student, he was interested in chemistry research and he joined the Professor Joon B. Park group focusing on ‘Cu_xO Nanoparticles on the graphene oxide.’ He obtained his bachelor’s degree in August of 2014. He joined Professor Yunho Lee's group (website) as a researcher at department of Chemistry, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) from October of 2014 and started his doctoral degree in March of 2015. He has investigated small molecule activation with mid to late transition metal complexes supported by novel PNP Ligands. In May of 2018, he joined Professor Mindiola's group as a visiting scientist where he studied thecatalytic dehydrogenation of alkanes using a variant of base metal titanium alkylidene complex.

Yulia Ganushevich - was raised in Kazan, Tatarstan (central part of Russia) and attended the Kazan State University where she graduated with honors majoring in the Chemistry of Polymers and Organoelement compounds in 2005. Since her first year of education she joined Prof. Yakhvarov’s group at the A.E. Arbuzov Institute of Organic and Physical Chemistry (IOPC KSC RAS) focusing on the electrochemical phosphorylation of organic halides by white phosphorus. In the period from 2005 to 2007 she worked as the Deputy Head of Chemical Division in the petrochemical company Mirrico. During this time she synthesized and investigated new demulsifiers and corrosion inhibitors. In November of 2009, she decided to continue scientific work on electrochemical synthesis of organonickel sigma-complexes and investigating their applications in ethylene oligomerization in the group of Prof. Yakhvarov. For her research efforts, Yulia was awarded a few times the Civilian Research and Development Foundation Fellowship (CRDF), Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst (SMWK) and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) grants thus allowing her to conduct research at the Prof. Hey-Hawkins’s group in Leipzig University. In September of 2011, Yulia began her graduate studies towards a Ph.D. in IOPC. She received her Ph.D. degree in 2013 under supervision of Prof. Miluykov on the nickel complexes with bulky ligands in organophosphorus heterocycles synthesis. She has been working as a Russian Academy of Science (RAS) as research fellow since January 2014. In early 2018 (3 months), Yulia received a fellowship to conduct research in the laboratories of Prof. Mindiola exploring vanadium systems with V-P and V-C multiple bonds.

Oleksandra Trofymchuk - was born in Kyiv, Ukraine. Her undergraduate studies from 2009-2011 were in the National University "Taras Shevchenko", Kyiv, Master (with honors, 2011), in Inorganic Chemistry. Her thesis was entitled: The characteristics of template synthesis of Cu (II) and Ni (II) complexes with 2-hydroxy-amino-2-oxoacetohydrazide. After completion of her degree she pursued a Ph.D. degree (2010-2015 at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago.  Her PhD (under supervision of Professor Rene Rojas, with honors, 2015), was in Organometallic Chemistry and her thesis was entitled: Synthesis of metal complexes supported by new N-arylcyano-β-diketiminate; their application in ethylene and lactide polymerization. During this time her research focused on oligomerization and polymerization of ethylene using nickel based catalytic systems, determination of respective catalytically active species involved in catalytic cycle. Nickel nacnac chemistry.

Shortly after her PhD, she studied catalytically active nickel species for ethylene dimerization, oligomerization and polymerization via ESI-MS. HTS using ESI-MS techniques. Oleksandra complete a postdoctoral fellowship (funded by the Chilean Government) in the laboratories of Prof. Daniel Mindiola (and in collaboration with the Walsh group) at the University of Pennsylvania working on methane olefination and S and Se based organocatalysts involving dehydrocupling reactions. In the fall of 2017, Oleksandra returned to Chile.

Mariano González Moreiras - was born in the city of Madrid (Spain). He went to the university of Alcala in 2007. During his undergraduate studies and masters studies his research focused the reactivity with electrophilics of imido groups supported in trinuclear titanium systems. After obtaining his bachelor’s degree and her master degree he started a PhD program in the University of Alcala which was focused in the hydrogenation of nitride groups supported in a polinuclear titanium complexes and a new synthesis of hydride titanium complexes which can activate the N₂ molecule and generate a new nitride complexes. In 2015 he starts to teach the laboratory of inorganic chemistry to the first course of the bachelors of pharmacy in the University of Alcala. In June of 2015 he joined to the mindiolas´s group as a visiting scholar for one summer.

Maria Carroll  - was born and raised in Cherry Hill, NJ.  In 2003, she began undergraduate studies at Drew University.  While at Drew, she conducted computational studies on the effect of metal ions on phosphodiester bond hydrolysis, under the guidance of Dr. Adam Cassano.  In 2007, she graduated from Drew University with a major in Chemistry and a minor in math.  She then spent one year working at Ortho Clinical Diagnostics as an analytical chemist.  In August of 2008, she began graduate studies of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and joined Dr. Thomas Rauchfuss’s lab.  Her graduate research focused on the synthesis of small molecule mimics of the active sites of hydrogenase enzymes and their use as electrocatalysts for the production of hydrogen.  After completing her PhD, she joined the Mindiola lab in August of 2013. During her time in the group Maria explored cobalt imides as well as prepared the first stable, mononuclear titanium complex having a terminal nitrido ligand.  She is presentely a visiting Assistant Professor at Frankling and Marshall.  For more information see website

Masahiro Kamitani  - received his BS (2008), MS (2010), and PhD (2013) degrees from Osaka City University under the direction of Professor Hiroshi Nakazawa. Under the advisement of Dr. Nakazawa, Masahiro’s research focused on the synthesis and catalysis of half sandwich type iron complexes. He has been working as a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) research fellow from April 2012 to March 2014. On April 2, 2013 he joined the Mindiola group as a JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow working on the chemistry of transient titanium nitrides and alkylidynes or precursors thereof, with particular attention to their reactivity towards C-H bonds of alkanes. In May of 2015, Masahiro began his independent career as an Assistant Professor at Kitasato University, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. For more information see Prof. Kamitani's website

Lindsay Hounjet  - was born in the prairie city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada and completed his Honours Bachelor of Science from the University of Saskatchewan in 2006. He then moved to Edmonton, Alberta to study the reactivity and catalytic applications of late transition metal complexes bearing hybrid phosphine-amine ligands in the group of Martin Cowie at the University of Alberta. After completing his PhD in 2011, he undertook a postdoctoral appointment in the group of Doug Stephan at the University of Toronto where he began developing new applications for metal-free frustrated Lewis pairs capable of carbon dioxide capture and hydrogenation catalysis. His work in Toronto led to the discovery of Lewis acidic organofluorophosphonium ion catalysts capable of effecting alkane hydrodefluorination catalysis. In 2013, Lindsay joined the Mindiola group as a postdoctoral research associate and investigated new methodologies for fluoroalkane hydrodefluorination catalysis and olefin hydroamination reactions using highly reactive organometallic complexes of titanium. He also explored dinitrogen chemistry using transient low-valent iron hydrides.In spring of 2014 Linds returned to Canada.

Skye Fortier - Skye Fortier is a native of the Southwest, born and raised in the far West Texas town of El Paso, which is directly located on the US/Mexico border. As an undergraduate, Skye attended the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) where he received a MARC (Minority Access to Research Careers) scholarship. As a MARC scholar, Skye worked under the direction of Prof. Keith Pannell investigating the photochemically induced formation of carbon-silicon bonds utilizing ‘Fp’ precursors (Fp = CpFe(CO)2). After graduating in 2005, Skye worked for one year as a high school science teacher at Irvin High School in El Paso teaching freshmen and junior classes. In 2006, Skye entered the graduate program at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). At UCSB, Skye worked in Prof. Trevor Hayton’s laboratory investigating the organometallic chemistry of uranium. In particular, his studies in the Hayton laboratory focused on the synthesis of high-valent homoleptic molecules and uranium complexes featuring metal-ligand multiple bonds. Graduating from UCSB with his Ph.D. in Fall 2011, Skye traded in the West Coast for the Midwest in order to work as a postdoctoral researcher under the joint supervision of Profs. Mindiola and Caulton at Indiana University investigating the synthesis, reactivity, and redox chemistry of metal complexes supported by non-innocent, redox-active frameworks. Skye is a recipient of an NSF American Competitiveness in Chemistry Postdoctoral Fellowship. May 31, 2013 Skye departed IU to accept an Assistant Professor position at the University of Texas at El Paso. Skye is now an assistant professor at the University of Texas El Paso. For more information see Prof. Fortier's website

Marco Gianni Crestani Gutiérrez - was born in Mexico City in 1977. He obtained his B.Sc. in Chemistry from UNAM, Mexico City, in 2003 with the Thesis: “Catalytic reduction of carbon dioxide in supercritical media using platinum thiametallacycles” under the supervision of Prof. Juventino J. Garcia. MGC later continued his Ph.D. studies (2003-2008) in Prof. Garcia’s group focusing on the catalytic hydration of aryl- and alkyl-nitriles using zero-valent nickel compounds. The latter studies were also accompanied by a six-month research stay (2007) at Prof. Todd B. Marder’s lab in Durham University, U.K., wherein MGC worked on the chemistry of iridium(I) and iridium(III) compounds in the presence of nitriles. In 2009, MGC was awarded the “2008-Alfonso Caso Medal” for excellence in PhD studies by UNAM. During the period 2008-2009, MGC then undertook a position as Postdoctoral Research Associate at Prof. Richard Eisenberg’s group in the University of Rochester, NY, during which stay he worked on the preparation of luminescent copper(I) compounds. After this year, he then joined Prof. Suzanne C. Bart’s group at Purdue University, IN, also as Postdoctoral Research Associate (2009-2010), wherein he worked on the coordination and organometallic chemistry of depleted-uranium compounds. joined Prof. Daniel J. Mindiola’s group at Indiana University–Bloomington, IN, as a Conacyt-Postdoctoral Fellow and to work on the preparation of titanium compounds for homogeneous dehydrogenation catalysis. In May 2013 Marco returned to Mexico obtaining a position in R & D at Signa, a Mexican-Canadian chemical/pharmaceutical company.

Jun-ichi Ito was born in 1975 in Kanagawa, Japan. He received his BS (1999), MS (2001), and PhD (2004) degrees from Tokyo Institute of Technology under the direction of Professor Hiroharu Suzuki. He worked as a postdoctoral fellow with Professor Kazuyuki Tatsumi at Nagoya University in 2004. In 2005, he joined Professor Hisao Nishiyama’s group at Nagoya University as a research associate. He became a lecturer in the department of applied chemistry of Nagoya University in 2012. His current research interests are in the areas of homogeneous catalysis and organometallic chemistry. In November 2012, he joined Professor Mindiola’s group as a visiting scholar to esplore the chemistry of titanium alkylidynes with diazoalkanes and other small molecules. January 2013 Dr. Ito returned to Japan to continue his independent research (Senior Assistant Professor) in the laboratories of Prof. Yamashita at Nagoya University. website

Tsubasa Hatanaka was born in 1982 in Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, Japan.  He received his bachelor’s degree in 2005 and Ph.D. degree in 2010 from Nagoya University under the supervision of Professor K. Tastumi and Professor Y. Ohki.  In April of 2010, he joined Professor S. Ogoshi’s group in Osaka University as a postdoctoral fellow.  After four months, he became an Assistant Professor in Professor H. Kawaguchi’s group at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.  In August of 2012, Dr. Hatanaka visited Professor Daniel Mindiola’s group as a visiting professor to collaborate with Prof. Mindiola on an iron-imide chemistry. Tsubasa is now an Assistant Professor at Osaka University in Prof. Funahashi's group. website

Nobuyuki Komine received his Ph.D. in March 1998 under the supervision of Professor Takeshi Nakai and Dr. Katsuhiko Tomooka at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. He joined the S. Komiya and M. Hirano research groups in Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT) as a Research Associate in April 1998. He became an Assistant Professor of TUAT in 2007. In April 2011, he joined the Mindiola and Caulton groups as a Postdoctoral Fellow working on C-H and C-C bond insertion chemistry involving Cu+, Ag+, and Au+ catalysts. After 10 months Nobu returned to Japan and TUAT.

Octavio González del Moral was born in Guadalajara, Spain in 1982.  He grew up in Guadalajara and started his chemistry degree in 2000 at the University of Alcalá (Spain).  In 2005 Octavio completed his chemistry degree and joined the research group of Professor Miguel Mena.  Under the supervision of Dr. Avelino Martin and Dr. Cristina Santamaria he conducted and completed his Ph.D. in organometallic chemistry, focusing on the study of the hydrogen transfer processes involving titanium alkylidynes supported over the organometallic surface model.  In October 2010 Octavio joined the Mindiola/Caulton groups to begin his postdoctoral work in the design of new redox active ligands. After one year, Octavio returned to Spain working at the Institute of Nuclear Fusion (IFN), which is at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM).

José Andino Martinez was born in San Salvador, El Salvador in 1974. He began his university studies in the School of Chemistry and Pharmacy at the University of El Salvador in 1992. After three years, he became a CAMPUS Fulbright Scholar and obtained a B.S. in Chemistry with concentration in Biotechnology at the University of Louisville in 1997. He worked as a chemist at the University of El Salvador for over one year and then returned to Louisville to pursue a Ph.D. in Chemistry under the supervision of Prof. Dorothy Gibson with emphasis on synthetic organometallic chemistry for CO₂ reduction. He graduated in 2005 and continued to work in the labs of Prof. Gibson for almost two more years. In 2007 he became a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Prof. Mu-Hyun Baik and has focused among other things on the modeling of catalysts for CO₂ reduction. He is currently collaborating with the groups of Prof. Daniel Mindiola and Prof. Kenneth Caulton to provide a molecular model to their chemistries. He has deep interest in chemical methods for energy conversion, small molecule activation and looks to combine the power of modeling for the design and synthesis of effective catalysts.  José is presently an instructor in the chemistry department at Lamar University, Texas. In 2014 José relocated to the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign as a lecturer. For more information on Prof. Martinez program see website.

Marlena Washington was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. Marlena graduated with her B.S. in Biology in 2003 from John Carroll University. After jumping to the dark side and under the watchful eye of Dr. John Protasiewicz, Marlena received her Ph.D. in Chemistry from Case Western Reserve University in 2010. Her thesis work, titled “Investigations of Opto-Electronically Interesting Materials Featuring Phosphorus-Carbon Double Bonds,” dealt with the syntheses and photophysical properties of low-coordinate phosphorus compounds, with special emphasis on the redox behavior of these compounds. In August of 2010, Marlena joined the Mindiola group to begin her post-doctoral work in organometallic chemistry. In her spare time, Marlena loves hanging with family and friends, reading, gaming, and listening to music. She is presently an assistant professor at Claflin University. website

Balazs Pinter - was born in 1982 in Esztergom, Hungary. He received his MSc in chemical engineering, majoring in analytical chemistry, in 2005 at Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BUTE). During his Ph.D. at BUTE he studied small organosilicon and organogermanium compounds using computational chemistry methods. Also, he was frequently visiting the ALGC lab at Free University Brussels (VUB) where he developed and used spin-polarized conceptual DFT descriptors to investigate the regioselectivity of different photoinduced organic processes. After obtaining his Ph.D. degree in 2008 he become a postdoctoral fellow in Brussels where he had focused on various projects from transition metal chemistry to modeling steric effect of functional groups. In January of 2010 he joined to the lab of Prof. Mu-Hyun Baik and in June 2010 the lab of Prof. Daniel Mindiola as a postdoc. He is working on the activation of small molecules. In the Spring of 2011, Balazs moved to Belguim to the Vrije University of Brussels (VUB) in the quatum chemistry group directed by P. Geerlings and F. De Proft.For more inforamtion see website.

Jaime A Flores received the B. Sc. Degree in Sciences majoring in Chemistry from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru in Lima, Peru in 1994 and completed Master studies in Analytical Chemistry at San Marcos University in Lima, Peru in 2002. In fall 2004 Jaime joined Prof. Rasika Dias research group in Inorganic Chemistry at The University of Texas at Arlington where he ultimately obtained the Ph.D. degree in summer 2009. Along his years at UTA he received the Outstanding Graduate Student Award and also the Graduate Research Award by the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry for his work in coinage metal complexes with fluorinated triazapentadienyl ligands. Since his arrival to America Jaime has been enjoying his time among his passions, chemistry, sports, modern music and tourism across America. In August of 2011, Jaime accepted a research associate position in the group of Prof. Alan Goldman at Rutgers University and is now a senior R&D scientist at AdvanSix.

Hongjun Fan was born in Huatou a small town of Jiajiang county of the Sichuan province, China, in 1972. He received his bachelor degree from Zhejiang University, and Master's degree from Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Science. After that he moved to the University of Siegen, Germany, and received his Ph.D. degree in 2004 in theoretical chemistry under the supervision of Prof. Eugen Schwarz. In 2005 he joined the groups of Professors Mindiola, Caulton, and Baik as a post-doctoral researcher at Indiana University, Bloomington, and worked on the structure and reaction mechanism of transition metal complexes by applying theoretical methods. In 2009 Dr. Hongjun Fan accepted an invitation to join the faculty at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. For more inforamtion see website.

Jennifer L. Scott was born in 1978 in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. After graduating from Lasalle Secondary School in 1997, she remained in Sudbury to study chemistry at Laurentian University. Her first taste of research experience was during the summer of her 3rd year, preparing and characterizing mesoporous organic-integrated silica via a non-electrostatic surfactant route under the auspices of Professor Louis Mercier. Her fourth year thesis project, under the guidance of Prof. Nelson Belzile and Dr. Yu-Wei Chen, focused on the environmental trace element speciation of mercury and antimony in fish and sediments from area lakes. Jennifer then moved to the University of Ottawa (Ottawa, Ontario) to begin graduate work in organometallic chemistry with Professor Sandro Gambarotta. Her work centered on the synthesis and reactivity of low-valent Fe, Co and Cr complexes of the bis-iminopyridine ligand and their ability to support ethylene polymerization and dinitrogen fixation and cleavage. She completed her PhD in the summer of 2007 and moved to Bloomington, Indiana as an NSERC Post-Doctoral Fellow in the laboratories of Professor Daniel Mindiola at Indiana University. During her one year in the group, Jennifer explored the reactivity of Sc and Ti complexes of PNP pincer-type ligands, in particular the isolation or generation of reactive metal-ligand multiple bonds. Her work laid the premise to propose terminal scandium imides, in addition to using Lewis acids to trp reactive moieties such as scandium methylidenes, imides, and oxos.In the summer of 2008, she accepted a faculty position in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. She was promoted to Associate Professor in 2015. For more information on Prof. Scott's program see website.

Ghayoor Abbas Chotana was born in Lahore, Pakistan. He got his school education from Government Central Model High School Lahore. After graduating from Government College, Punjab University Lahore in 1995, he went to Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad for his M.Sc Chemistry Studies. He completed his Masters degree in 1998 with distinction including Certificate of Merit and Chancellors Gold medal for securing 1st Position in the M.Sc program. During his M.Sc studies, he also worked as a research assistant at the Federal Environmental Protection Agency Islamabad, and completed a project on the determination of levels of selected toxic metals in solvent based paints by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. Later he served as Lecturer in Chemistry at Government College Lahore. In 2002, he came to Michigan State University USA, for his PhD studies under the guidance of Prof. Milton Rudolph Smith III. His research work at MSU was mainly focused on the applications of iridium catalyzed borylation in the syntheses of novel aromatic building blocks. He has presented his research in various conferences including an oral presentation at the Gordon Organometallic Graduate Research Seminar in 2007. During his graduate studies at MSU, he was awarded Brubaker and Dissertation Completion Fellowships. He completed his Ph.D. in January 2008 and moved to Indiana University Bloomington as a Postdoctoral Associate and worked on carboamination catalysis using easy-to-prepare titanium catalysts. After one years at Indiana, Ghayoor headed back to his mother country as is now faculty in the Department of Chemistry, School of science and Engineering at Lashore University. He is interested in developing new synthetic methodologies and his favorite hobby is to synthesize new compounds. For more information on Prof. Chotana's program see website.

Falguni Basuli was born in Panskura a small town of Midnapore district of west Bengal, India, in 1972. After completing her Master's (M.Sc.) in chemistry from Vidyasagar University, she received her Ph.D. degree in 2001 from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, in synthetic inorganic chemistry under the supervision of Prof. Samaresh Bhattacharyya. In 2002 she was the first member to join Prof. Daniel J. Mindiola lab as a post-doctoral researcher at Indiana University, Bloomington, USA. She worked on the syntheses of early-transition metal complexes containing metal-ligand multiple bonds (e.g. alkylidenes, alkylidynes, imides, and phosphinidenes), as well as their reactivity towards different substrates. Falguni is now mother to Neal and currently resides with her husband Siba in Boston, MA. She worked in Nuclear Medicine, at the Brigham and Women's Hospital at Harvard Medical Schoolof Medicine under the direction of Professor Tim DeGrado and now works on imaging probe development for molecular imaging studies at NIH/NHLBI in Bethesda, MD.

Gloria Sanchez Cabrera was born in Puebla, Mexico. She obtained her bachelors degree in Industrial Chemistry at the Universidad Autonoma de Puebla in 1993. She then obtained her Ph. D. degree in Inorganic Chemistry at the Centro de Investigacion y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN-Mexico in 2001. Upon graduating, she did a postdoctoral stay at the University of South Carolina on molecular electronic devices in 2002. She currently is a research professor at Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Hidalgo in Mexico. Her research interests are the study of organometallic complexes and the synthesis of new chiral compounds with possible application to enantiosalective catalysis. Gloria is currently visiting Professor Mindiola’s group under a bilateral CONACyT/NSF program.

Francisco J. Zuno was born in Mexico City in 1969. He received a bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering from the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana and a Ph. D. from Centro de Investigaciones y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politecnico Nacional (Mexico). He worked as postdoctoral research associate in the University of South Carolina (Columbia, USA) under the direction of Professor Jorge M. Seminario. In 2007 Dr. Zuno was granted a research stay in Professor Mindiola’s group under a bilateral Conacyt/NSF Program. His research interests in his Mexican institution are focused in organometallic chemistry of cluster complexes and the use of those systems in catalytic processes such as desulfurization and denitrogenation.

Aneetha Halikhedkar received her B.S. and M.S. from Osmania University, Hyderabad India. She then completed her Ph.D. degree from the School of Chemistry, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India. Aneetha joined the research group of Prof. Mindiola in February of 2005. As a Postdoctoral Associate, Aneetha tackled catalysis, in particular carboamination reactions of alkynes with aldimines utilizing highly electron-deficient titanium imides in low-coordination environments. Aneetha worked in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences as is now an Associate Research Scientist at Northeastern University.

Cristina Hernandez Prieto - was born in Guadalajara, Spain. In 2015 and after 4 years she completed her undergradaute studies at the Universidad de Alcalá. During those years she also participated over the summer in the laboratories of Profesor Miguel Mena, where she focused on the synthesis of polynuclear clusters of Nb and Ta supported by sulfide ligands. In 2015-16 she obtained her Marsters degree in Chemistry and pursued again more detailed research studies in the group of Professor Miguel Mena, but this time her studies being more focused on teh reactivity and characterization of imido complexes of Nb and Ta, as well as its reactivity with various alkylating agents and reductants.  In 2017 Cristina commenced her doctoral studies in the "Universidad de Alcalá", this time under the tutelage of both Dr. Cristina Santamaría and Profesor Miguel Mena. Her Ph.D. topic was the investigatio of polynuclear systems of Nb and Ta with supporting sulfide ligands and their reactivity with small molecules such dihydrogen and dinitrogen. Specifically, Cristina is trying to understand how cooperativity between these metal ions can promote such transformations. In the fall of 2019, Cristina joined the Mindiola group for three months as a visiting scholar where she worked on low-valent vanadium complexes and their reactivity with small molecules.

Rolando Aguilar - was born and raised in Chihuahua city, the capital of Chihuahua state where the Mexican revolution of 1910 began. He attended the Autonomous University of Chihuahua to obtain a B. Sc. in Chemistry with a minor in Microbiology. During that time, joined Dr. Alejandro Camacho's laboratory to work on amino acid synthesis mediated by palladium cross-coupling reactions. Such great experience encouraged him to pursue a Ph. D. in chemistry. In Fall of 2013, he was accepted as a graduate student in the Chemistry program at The University of Texas in El Paso (UTEP). Even though he was looking forward to focusing on an organic synthesis research project, his interests completely changed after a short conversation with Dr. Skye Fortier (webpage) about the astounding chemistry of transition metals. After this intereaction, joining his lab seemed like a no-brainer. Since then, he has been scrutinizing the chemistry of the untamable low valent titanium species with emphassis on small molecule activation. To further expand the reactivity profile of his compounds, in 2018 he started using high-pressure chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania under the supervision of Dr. Daniel Mindiola. Outside the lab Rolando enjoys spending quality time his girlfriend Yulu, synthesizing inorganic sounds with Eurorack modules, and reading books.

Kevin Medina Nales - was raised in Luquillo, Puerto Rico. In 2014 he enrolled at the University of Puerto Rico at Humacao. In summer of 2016 he joined Dr. Rivera’s laboratory, there he worked on the synthesis and characterization of aromatic ketals with possible applications in cancer medicine. In 2017 he became a MARC U-STAR program trainee. In the summer of 2018, as part of the LRSM REU program, he joined Dr. Mindiola’s Group. During this 8 week period, Kevin studied a Molybdenum complex capable of splitting the N-N triple bond in dinitrogen and used this reagent as a dintrogen delivery vehicle to systems based on uranium.

Jenna Veenstra – was born in Cedar Falls, Iowa where she graduated from Cedar Falls High School in 2014.  She is a rising senior at Dordt College with a major in Biochemistry and minors in Mathematics, Statistics, and KSP (the honors program).  She joined the Statistical Genetics group of Dr. Nathan Tintle at Dordt College in August 2014 where she has explored the relationship between genetics, specifically single nucleotide polymorphisms, with red blood cell fatty acid levels and the relationship between these fatty acids and clinical endpoints such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.  She also joined the Biochemistry lab of Dr. Darren Stoub in August 2016 where she researched specific mutations in order to better understand how lupus works.  She is also an Organic Chemistry Lab TA and a Statistics tutor.  During the summer of 2016, she worked with Drs. Gonçalo Abecasis and Hyun Min Kang at the University of Michigan where she looked at gene expression in retinal cells of mice and humans to better understand diseases in the eye.  Jenna has also received an Honorable Mention for the Barry Goldwater Scholarship.  In May of 2017, she joined the Mindiola group as an REU visiting scholar to study early-transition metal complexes.  She plans to graduate in May of 2018 and enter graduate studies in biochemistry.

Juan Cisneros - was born in Cali, Colombia but grew up Coconut Creek, FL where he graduated from Monarch High School in 2013. He is a rising senior at Emory University with a double major in Chemistry and Spanish and an unofficial minor studies in Computer Science. He joined the Synthetic Chemistry Lab of Professor Lanny Liebeskind at Emory University in January 2015 and has been exploring a novel deoxygenation-dimerization reaction of benzoisothiazolones molecules. He is also an Organic Chemistry Lab TA and an undergraduate researcher at the National Hansen’s Disease Program TravelWell Clinic where he is investigating Mycobacterium leprae and identifying social and clinical factors associated with nerve damage in an endemic area of Brazil. Juan has received several accolades as an undergraduate researcher such as an Honorable Mention at the ACS Herty Medalist Research Symposium and becoming an Emory University IMSD scholar. Juan also serves as the president of the Emory University Astronomy Club and a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. In May of 2016 he joined the Mindiola group as a visiting scholar to study early-transition metal complexes, in particular the chemistry of molecular titanium nitrides. Outside of lab, he enjoys riding motorcycles, shooting traditional archery and hiking. He plans to graduate in May of 2017 and enter graduate studies in chemistry.

Elys Paola Rodríguez was born in Aibonito, Puerto Rico. She entered The University of Puerto Rico at Cayey in the Natural Sciences program wanting to pursuit a medical carrier until she encountered general chemistry. Organic chemistry sealed her aspiration to pursue chemistry and continue advance studies in graduate school, so she then switched from the natural sciences B.S. to a B.S. in chemistry. Elys plans to graduate May 2016. In her free time she enjoys to play soccer and basketball. In June of 2014 she joined the Mindiola group because she wants to expand her knowledge beyond the assigned classes and laboratories courses. In the Mindiola group Elys explored vanadium and titanium nitrides and nitridyls, and their reactivity towards small polar and non-polar substrates.

Felipe Cesar is a Brazilian undergraduate student who moved to Philadelphia to improve his English skills and take chemistry and Engineering courses at University of Pennsylvania through the program “Science without Borders”. Daniel became a member of the Mindiola group in the Fall of 2014 to conduct an independent studies looking at the chemistry of vanadium alkoxides.Felipe is now a graduate student at Temple University working in the research group of Prof. Wengrynuik.

Daniel do Nascimento is a Brazilian undergraduate student who lives in a small town near São Paulo and currently moved to Philadelphia to improve his English skills and take chemistry courses at University of Pennsylvania through the program “Science without Borders”. He graduated from Centro Educacional Diocesano La Salle in 2007 and during his preparatory courses to take the universities’ entrance exams he decided that his future would be to unravel the mysteries of chemistry. While in college, he took classes with a professor who made him fall in love with inorganic chemistry. Daniel became a member of the Mindiola group in August 2014 to conduct an independent study looking at group transfer reactions and the chemistry of tantalum alkoxides. Outside class he enjoys playing soccer, watching TV series, hanging out with friends, playing computer games and lifting weights. Daniel is now a graduate student in chemistry at the Unviersity fo Ottawa, Canada.

Dominik Buck was born in Pforzheim, Germany on December 17, 1985. In 1989 he moved with his parents and his brother to Oberteuringen, a village very close to the shores of Lake of Constance and right near the border to Austria and Switzerland. He graduated from Karl-Maybach-Gymnasium in Friedrichshafen in 2005. Afterwards he did his compulsory community service at a children’s summer camp before he began his studies in Chemistry at the University of Tuebingen in 2006. After his intermediate examination in 2007 he was awarded a scholarship of the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes. Upon completing another year in Tuebingen he then decided to take part in a graduate exchange program with Indiana University. In August of 2008 he arrived to Bloomington IN, where he joined the Mindiola group. Dominik where he studied methane and quinoline activation by titanium alkylidynes. Dominik is now back in Germany completing his degree.

Christoph Schadle was born in 1983, in Geislingen, a small town in south-west Germany near the Black Forest and the Swabian Alb. He obtained his Abitur at the Gymnasium Balingen with a main focus on Chemistry and Mathematics. He then attended the University of Tübingen, to begin his studies in Chemistry. After completing six semesters in Tübingen, he is now at Indiana University as an exchange-student for two semesters working for Professor Mindiola. After two semesters in Bloomington, Christoph plans to return to Germany to finish his studies at the University of Tübingen then continue research for his Ph.D. In his free time Christoph likes to read or take motorbike rides around the country-side. In the spring of 2007 Christoph returned to Germany to complete his bachelor degree.

Berenice Aydée Ordóñez Flores was born in Pachuca, Hidalgo, and hails from Pachuca, Mexico. She received her Bachelor in Chemistry in 2005 from the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo. She is now a third year graduate student with Dr. Gloria Sanchez Cabrera and Dr. Francisco J. Zuno Cruz.. Berenice has experience with the synthesis and spectroscopic characterization of Ru and Os clusters. She visited IU for three months during the spring of 2008 and joined the laboratories of Professor Dan Mindiola to synthesize Salen-based ligands and their titanium complexes as well as a more flexible PNP surrogate to our aryl derivative. In addition to doing chemistry, Berenice likes to cook Mexican food, listen to English rock music and travel to warm regions in her country. She completed her Ph.D. dissertation in 2010.

ByeongChan “Luke” Lee - was born in Seongnam, South Korea. I was raised there until when he was thirteen. When he turned fourteen, Luke came to the States to study at North Shore Country Day School in Winnetka, Illinois until his graduation in 2011. After graduating, Luke went on to attend the University of Pennsylvania. In 2012, after finishing my freshman year at Penn, Luke applied to join the ROK army to fulfill my mandatory military service in SK. After two years of service, Luke returned to Penn and is currently continuing his college education as a chemistry and chemical engineering major. Outside of the lab, Luke spends his time working out and hanging out with my friends through watching movies and playing soccer. His favorite soccer/football team is FC Barcelona so he is a big Cule fan.

Matthew Eernisse - is from the small town of Russell, Pennsylvania.  He graduated from Eisenhower Middle High School and is now a freshman in the Vagelos Scholars Program in Molecular Life Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania.  He is planning to double major in chemistry and biochemistry as well as submatriculate in chemistry.  He is interested in inorganic chemistry and is excited to begin his first research experience in the Mindiola group. In 2013 Matthew explored chelating and monoanionic PN type ligands with early- and mid-transition metals.

Thomas Gallmeyer  - joined the Mindiola Group in 2012 and worked on Fe chemistry invoking redox active ligand scaffolds and their reactivity with carbon dioxide and also trying to integrate reactive metal-ligand multiple bonds.

Hayley Smith - joined the Mindiola Group in July 2011 as a STARS undergraduate researcher. She lives in Danville, Indiana and graduated from Danville High School in May 2011. Her plans are to earn a B.S. in Chemistry before attending graduate school. Hayley joined the Mindiola Group to learn more about organometallic chemistry. In the summer of 2011 she succesfuly completed a synthetic project involving a Ti(III) reducing reagent. Her final project involves understanding the mechanism to C-H activation and beta-alkoxide elimination promoted by titanium alkylidynes.

Adam Nichols  - joined the Mindiola Group in May 2010 as an IU Stars undergraduate researcher. Adam was born in Bloomington, Indiana and graduated from Bloomington High School North in the spring of 2010. He plans to pursue a B.S. in chemistry with a certificate in Jewish Studies. He joined the Mindiola lab because he is very interested in synthesizing new compounds and making new molecules which have practical applications. In his spare time, he is an amateur herpetologist and enjoys playing the bassoon. In the Spring of 2013, Adam decided to explore more organic based research in the laboratories of Prof. Kevin Brown and will take up a job at Eli Lilly.

Danielle Henckel  - joined the Mindiola Group in June 2010 as an undergraduate researcher.  Danielle is from Lanesville, Indiana.  She graduated from Lanesville High School in 2008.  She plans to graduate in the spring of 2010 with a B.S. in Chemistry and plans to attend graduate school.  Danielle joined the Mindiola group because she endeavors to learn more about organometallic chemistry and the unusual reactions researched by the Mindiola group. After graduating in 2012, Danielle joined the group of Prof. Cossairt at the University of Washington, Seattle.

Christina Romer joined the Mindiola Group in September 2010 as an undergraduate researcher. Christina is from Brownsburg, Indiana and graduated from Brownsburg High School in 2008. She plans to graduate in the spring of 2010 with a B.S. in Biochemistry. Christina is interested in learning more about inorganic chemistry, specifically the catalytic reactions being researched by the Mindiola Group.

John-Peter Lynch (John) was born in London, England.  He graduated from Waubonsie Vally High School in Aurora, Illinois in 2007.  He is a Junior pursuing a B.S. in biotechnology and a minor in chemistry.  He is planning on graduating in May 2011 and plans to attend graduate school fall 2011.  John joined the Mindiola group for one semester (Spring-mid Summer of 2010) because he wanted to expand his chemical knowledge and gain lab experience beyond the basic undergraduate curriculum.

Madhavi Singhal is from Kokomo, Indiana where she graduated from Western High School.  She is currently pursuing dual B. S. degrees in biochemistry and biology from the College of Arts and Sciences, with a minor in mathematics.  Her present plan is to graduate in the spring of 2010.  Madhavi joined the Mindiola Group because she has always been very interested in chemistry and the ability for chemistry to aid in explaining the unknown. In the summer of 2010 she joined the M.D. program at Indiana University School of Medicine. She is an M.D. in the Department of Radiation Oncology in Indianapolis. 

RaeAnn Hirschey is from Bluffton, Indiana (a small town), she graduated in a class of 108 students.  RaeAnn plans to complete a BS in chemistry and a minor in religious studies and Biology at Indiana University-Bloomington.  She is a volunteer at Wonderlab and planned to apply to graduate school in late fall of 2009.  She joined the MIndiola group in late spring of 2009 and worked through the summer in the group exploring really large chelating ligands with transition metals such as Co and Ni.

Deanna L. Miller is from Connersville, IN. Deanna graduated with a B.S. in Chemistry from Indiana University in May of 2008. She was enrolled in the honor's program at Indiana University and performed undergraduate research through the IU STARS program. Deanna's research project entailed the design of monoanionic tripodal ligands which could enforce a low-metal center into a tetrahedral geometry. In collaboration with Alison Fout, Deanna assembled several tripodal motifs onto transition metals and also explored the role of the metal in both C-H and C-F bond activation in fluorohydrocarbons. When she was not in the lab, Deanna enjoyed participating in Marching Hundred and Basketball Band! She is currently enrolled in the chemistry graduate program at the University of Minnesota and has begun her graduate research work in the laboratories of Professor Connie Lu. After obtaining her Ph.D. Deanna is now a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at Pacific Northwest National Lab.

Rodney L. Clark was IMSD Research Scholar in Prof. Mindiola's lab for the summer of 2004 and the summer of 2005. Rodney's research project entailed the synthesis and reactivity of latent low-coordinate titanium and vanadium imides. He also pursued the catalytic conversion of greenhouse gases such as CO₂ into reactive precursors such as isocyanates, carbodiimides, and isocyanides. Rodney graduated from Xavier University in New Orleans and is now a medical school student at Howard University College of Medicine.

Caitlin Sengelaub was born in Bloomington, IN, in 1987. She graduated from Bloomington High School South in 2006 and continues her education at Yale University in New Haven, CT. She plans to major in Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry (but maybe in Chemistry!). She joined the Mindiola group in summer2007 for her first research experience. Caitlin investigated the chemistry of high-valent vanadium alkylidenes supported by pincer-type ligands. She obtained her Ph.D. in cancer biology from Rockefeller University and is now an  Associate at McKinsey & Company.

Jamie A. Ellis was an Eli Lilly IMSD Research Scholar in Professor Mindiola's lab for the summer of 2007. She was born in Houma, LA (just west of New Orleans) in 1986. In 2004, Jamie graduated from Terrebonne High school and continues her education at Xavier University of Louisiana (New Orleans, LA). In the spring of 2005, during her freshman year, Jamie conducted bioorganic research with her mentor of four years Dr. Maryam Foroozesh. In Prof. Mindiola's group, Jamie’s research project entailed the synthesis of the tied pincer-type PNP ligand framework and subsequent chemistry involving Sc and Ti. She currently resides in Louisiana.

Alex A. Saleh was a McNair Scholar in Prof. Mindiola's lab for the summer of 2004 and the 2005 academic year. Alex worked on T- and Y-shaped chromous complexes bearing a bulky β-diketiminate ligand. Alex graduated in the Spring of 2005 and is currently a chemistry graduate student at The University of Texas at Arlington working under the direction of Professor Dmitry M. Rudkevich. After obtaining a Master's degree, Alex enrolled in Medical School.

Uriah J. Kilgore was an REU undergraduate student in Prof. Mindiola's lab for the summer of 2003. Uriah worked on vanadium and chromium complexes supported by an aliphatic β-diketiminate ligand framework. He also explored some C-N bond cleavage reactions promoted by low-valent Zr complexes. Uriah completed his Ph.D. in Professor Mindiola's group at Indiana University and is now a postdoctoral fellow at Pacific Northwest National Laboratories with Prof. Morris Bullock. Uriah is now working at Chevron-Phillips in Bartlesville, OK.

Corinne D. Sulok conducted research in Prof. Mindiola's lab for the summer of 2005 and the 2005-2006 academic year. During the summer, Corinne was an REU student and examined involved the use of the dianionic macrocylic ligand dibenzotetramethyltetraazaannulene. From an orbital standpoint, the d⁰ LM fragment has four empty and accessible d orbitals (z², xz, yz, and x²-y²) suitable for bonding to an apical ligand. During the academic year Corinne pursued the catalytic conversion of greenhouse gases such as CO₂ into reactive precursors such as isocyanates, carbodiimides, and isocyanides. Her ultimate goal was to recycle the titanium oxo by-product in order to make the metathesis process catalytic. Corinne graduated from IU in 2006 and joined the group of Professor Nicolai Lehnert in the Chemistry Department at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.

Jacob Feldman- is currently a student at Fox Lane High School in Bedford, New York who will be joining the Mindiola Group over the summer of 2022. He will be studying the syntheses of a number of titanium, vanadium, and scandium coordination complexes with chalcogenido terminal groups and PNP and/or BDI pincer ligands under the direction of graduate students Shuruthi Murugan and Matthew Mena. Jacob is a student in Fox Lane High School's three-year Science Research program and spent his first year studying heterogeneous catalysis and created a proposed study concerning hydrogen evolution using a uranium catalyst deposited on mesoporous nitrogen-doped carbon. After contacting Prof. Mindiola, Jacob was introduced to the field of coordination chemistry, which he has now been exploring since January 2022. Aside from chemistry, Jacob loves participating on his school's Science Olympiad, Envirothon, and Mathletes teams and is also an editor of his school's newspaper, The Fox Lane Times. In his free time, he enjoys listening to music, learning about politics, taking walks in the woods, and learning foreign languages.

Alexandra Cabreriza - is a chemistry teacher at East Brunswick High School in East Brunswick, New Jersey.  In 2015, she graduated from Barnard College where she majored in Biochemistry.  In 2016, Alexandra graduated from The College of New Jersey with a Masters in the Arts of Teaching (Concentration: Chemistry).  Alexandra draws from her passion for chemistry and love for teaching to instill an interest in the STEM fields in her students. With graduate student Orion Staples, Alex explored sensors that bind halides and pseudohalides (like cyanide or azide) using strong hydrogen bonding networks and which drastically change colors upon such interactions.

Peter Bixler - was born and raised in Philadelphia and currently is enrolled at Germantown Friends School, in northwest Philadelphia. He is currently taking an advanced chemistry course at Germantown Friends School after having taken a base level chemistry course during his sophomore year. Over the summer of 2015 Peter attended the Chemistry Research academy at the University of Pennsylvania, and there he was exposed to what research on a professional level was like. It was also at the summer research academy that he was exposed to the research that was done in the Mindiola lab. Peter first started working in the Mindiola lab during January of 2016. Outside of the lab, he enjoys reading, watching and playing sports, and hanging out with friends. He is a member of his school’s mock trial and model UN teams and he also is a soccer referee on weekends. Peter is now an undergraduate at Tufts University. 

Carly G. Menker - was raised on Long Island in New York. She presently studying at John L. Miller Great Neck North High School. After completing a year of Chemistry Honors, she will take A.P. Chemistry to further cultivate her budding curiosity for the wonders of Chemistry. So far, Carly has participated in the intensive Science Research Seminar Program at her high school. Some of her previous research includes finding mathematical patterns in aluminum 3-D shapes by using a glycerin soap solution, finding the affect of scientific intelligence on STEM gender stereotyping, and the ability of Lemna minor (duckweed) to phytoremediate heavy metals copper (II) sulfate and cobalt (II) sulfate. Throughout her time in high school, Carly has won several Science Fair awards: first place for most aesthetic project, second place overall, and a fourth place merit award. When Carly is not in a science lab, she enjoys reading, creative writing, and photography. Carly is an associate editor on her school newspaper, and a contributing writer in addition to helping produce the school literary magazines. A competitive athlete, Carly has played on three varsity sports since her freshman year: tennis, fencing, and badminton. In the summer of 2015 she attended the University of Pennsylvania’s Chemistry Summer Research Program and had the privilege of meeting Dr. Mindiola. Carly became a member of the Mindiola group in July 2015 and explored chemistry in the lab until the spring of 2016.

Wanda I. Cruz - was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico. She came to New York in 1989 and went to Lehman College where she graduated with a major in biology and a minor in secondary education. After obtaining her bachelor's degree, she focused on bilingual education and obtain a second certification from Rowan University (NJ) in Bilingual/Bicultural Education. She has been teaching biology, biochemistry and environmental science to bilingual students at Woodrow Wilson HS in Camden, NJ since 2006. She plans to continue her studies in bilingual and science education. In July 2015, she joined the group as part of an outreach program for Research Experience for Teachers. In the summer of 2015 she spent 6 weeks working on an individual research project under the supervision of graduate students in the Mindiola laboratory.  She hopes to use her experience as a way to motivate and inspire high school students in becoming interested in science research. In addition to teaching and participating in professional development opportunities, she enjoys planning family time with her three children and two grandchildren.

JuHyun Lee - was born in Seoul, South Korea and grew up in Bloomington, Indiana. She currently attends Boston University Academy, a high school in the center of BU’s campus, since her move to Massachusetts in 2010. She hopes to pursue both a science and music major in college, as she is interested in material and environmental science and enjoys performing on the cello.