University of Minnesota

Reineke, Distinguished McKnight University Professor, was named Prager Chair in Macromolecular Science in Chemistry earlier this year. She is internationally recognized for her contributions to macromolecular chemistry; her research groups’ foci include synthetic design, chemical characterization, and biological study of sophisticated macromolecules. Reineke has received numerous awards recognizing her research, including the 2022 American Chemical Society Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, the 2018 DuPont Nutrition and Health Sciences Excellence Medal, the 2017 Carl S. Marvel Creative Polymer Chemistry Award from the American Chemical Society’s POLY Division, a National Institutes of Health Director’s New Innovator Award, a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, along with numerous junior investigator awards from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation and Arnold & Mabel Beckman Foundation.

Marc Hillmyer received his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Florida in 1989 and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology in 1994. After completing a postdoctoral research position in the University of Minnesota’s Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science he joined the Chemistry faculty at Minnesota in 1997. He is currently the McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair in Chemistry and leads a research group focused on the synthesis and self-assembly of multifunctional polymers. In addition to his teaching and research responsibilities, Marc served as an associate editor for the ACS journal Macromolecules from 2008-2017 and is currently the editor-in-chief of Macromolecules. He is also the director of the Center for Sustainable Polymers headquartered at the University of Minnesota, a National Science Foundation Center for Chemical Innovation.

Ilja Siepmann is the editor-in-chief for the Journal of Chemical and Engineering Data. He is a Distinguished McKnight University Professor, a Distinguished Teaching Professor, and member of the graduate faculties in chemistry, chemical physics, chemical engineering, materials science, and data science at the University of Minnesota. Ilja completed his doctorate in chemistry at the University of Cambridge and did his postdoctoral research at IBM Zurich, the Royal/Shell Laboratory in Amsterdam, and the University of Pennsylvania. Ilja joined the University of Minnesota in 1994 where his research group focuses on particle-based computer simulations of complex chemical systems understanding how molecular architecture and composition influence phase and adsorption equilibria, self-assembly behavior, and function of the system of interest. His group also develops data science approaches that transition simulation data to continuous representations that reduce the computational load or help to interpret trajectory data for complex systems.

Becky Monfort is the Program Manager for ACS on Campus, the American Chemical Society’s flagship outreach program. She oversees events and programs at institutions around the world, bringing leaders in chemistry, publishing, research, science communication, and career development to thousands of students and early career researchers. Prior to joining the ACS on Campus team, Becky managed the ACS international student chapter program, coordinated ACS outreach efforts to international students and faculty in the chemical sciences, and facilitated student programming at ACS and other scientific meetings. Becky joined ACS in July 2017 from Organic Letters, an ACS Publication, at the University of Pennsylvania, and she has worked in global program strategy and development. Becky holds a BA in French and Comparative Literature from Bryn Mawr College.

Andrew Dunn is a Customer Success Manager with CAS, a Division of the American Chemical Society. He has been working specifically with Academic Customers since 2022. He graduated in 2018 from the University of Arizona with a Bachelors Degree in Chemical Engineering.

Jessica Armstrong is a Program Manager in the Student Communities Office of the American Chemical Society. In this role, she plans and implements student programming at the ACS Spring and Fall Meetings, as well as supporting Graduate Student Organizations and managing grant processes throughout the year. Prior to joining ACS, Jessica worked as a high school chemistry teacher in Baltimore, MD. She graduated in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from William & Mary and in 2020 with a master’s degree in chemistry from Yale University.