Professor Jennifer Brodbelt named the William H. Wade Endowed Professor in Chemistry

The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry is pleased to announce that Professor Jennifer Brodbelt has been named the William H. Wade Endowed Professor in Chemistry. This professorship was created in 1999 to honor the late Dr. William H. Wade, a longtime faculty member in The University of Texas at Austin Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry who passed away in 1998. The endowment was built with literally dozens of individual donations from faculty members, friends, and former students of Professor Wade, a testament to his lasting impact on the department. Professor Wade joined the department in 1961 after working here for two years as a postdoctoral fellow. He served as the chairman of the department from 1974 to 1981, and under his guidance the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry reached number one in the rankings both nationally and internationally.

Professor Brodbelt joined the faculty of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in 1989 after earning a Ph.D. from Purdue University. In the past twenty years she has served the department in many and varied ways. For nearly 15 years she served as the graduate advisor to the department, earning her a Graduate Advisor Award in 2001. She also serves as a Minority Liasion Officer, working to increase the presence of minority students in the graduate program. She also hosts a NSF/Pfizer Research Experience for Undergraduates program at The University of Texas, which brings undergraduates from all over the country to the University for the summer to conduct original research under faculty and graduate student supervision and learn valuable research skills and techniques along the way. Professor Brodbelt is also a tireless advocate of women in the sciences, serving on the College of Natural Sciences Women in Natural Sciences Committee, which works to support women in the sciences and improve the presence of women in the natural sciences at all levels, undergraduate through faculty. Professor Brodbelt is an excellent researcher, mentor and educator, and the Department is very pleased to honor her with this Professorship.

Learn more about research in the Brodbelt Group.