Dr. Jonathan Sessler named Rowland Pettit Centennial Chair of Chemistry

The Rowland Pettit Endowed Centennial Professorship in Chemistry was established in 1983 in honor of Rowland Pettit, a former University of Texas professor of chemistry. Since its creation, this Professorship has been held by Mary Ann Fox and Stephen F. Martin, and is currently held by Professor Jonathan Sessler. This Professorship was recently elevated to the status of Chair with the support and generosity of our donors.

Professor Jonathan Sessler is the first faculty member to hold the
Rowland Pettit Centennial Chair of Chemistry. Dr. Sessler earned a Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1982 and was hired to The University of Texas chemistry faculty shortly after. He is a recipient of the Alfred
P. Sloan fellowship, the Maxwell A. Pollack award and the Alexander von
Humboldt and JSPS Senior Fellowships. Dr. Sessler's research focuses on the engineering of molecules; the design and construction of molecules carefully tailored so as to accomplish a specific objective. His work is often medically or biologically inspired and highly interdisciplinary, involving elements of inorganic chemistry, biochemistry, spectroscopy, and synthetic organic chemistry.