EDUCATION

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Chemistry (2001-2005) Ph.D. in Chemistry (Thesis Advisor: Professor Jeffrey S. Moore)

Peking University, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering (1996-2000) B.S. in Chemistry

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Design and synthesis of novel organic functional materials and composites, including shape-persistent macrocycles, molecular cages, porous materials, self-healing polymers, through dynamic covalent chemistry; Investigation of their structure-property relationship and their potential applications in carbon capture, molecular separation, controlled nanoparticle synthesis, catalysis, energy storage, etc.

EMPLOYMENT AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

University of Colorado Boulder (07/2022 – present) Professor and Chair, Department Chemistry

University of Colorado Boulder (2018 – 2021) Professor and Associate Chair, Department of Chemistry

University of Colorado Boulder (2014 – 2018) Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

University of Colorado Boulder (2008 – 2014) Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2006 – 2008) Postdoctoral Associate (Mentor: Professor Timothy M. Swager)

AWARDS AND HONORS

2023 National Academy of Inventors Senior Member

2022 American Chemical Society Colorado Section Award

2015 Guest Professor at ETH Zürich, Switzerland

2013 Provost’s Faculty Achievement Award 2013 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow

2013 CAPA Distinguished Junior Faculty Award

2012 3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award

2011 National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award

2011 Thieme Chemistry Journal Award

2011 New Inventor of the Year, University of Colorado

2009 CRCW Junior Faculty Development Award, University of Colorado

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE

Outside University (Scientific Community level):

• Organizer for the special symposium on “Frontiers of Organic Porous Materials: Structures, Properties, and Applications” held at Pacifichem2015, Honolulu, HI, USA, December 2015.

• Organizer for the 3 rd International Symposium on Porous Organic Polymers (POPs2022), held at Boulder, Colorado, August, 2022.

• Editor (invited) for the book on “Dynamic Covalent Chemistry: Principles, Reactions, and Applications” published in  September of 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

• Guest Editor (invited) for the May 2018 issue of Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering.

• Guest Editor (invited) for the special issue of Small Methods (newly launched sister journal of Small) on “Nanostructured Materials for Catalysis” published in the spring of 2018.

• Serve on Editorial Advisory Board of CCS Chemistry (will start in 2024).

• Served as reviewer for NSF, DOE, USDA, ACS PRF, ASEE, and Hong Kong RGC grant proposals, NSF panelist, reviewer for international scientific journals, such as Nature, Nature Chemistry, Nature Communications, Chemical Society Reviews, Accounts of Chemical Research, Journal of American Chemical Society, Angewandte Chemie, Advanced Materials, Chem, Chemical Science, etc.