Benjamin Wilson

Benjamin Wilson serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at The University of Tampa, teaching General Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, and associated laboratory courses while maintaining an active research program focused on computational chemistry applications.

His educational background includes:

• B.S. from Abilene Christian University (2008)
• Ph.D. from Louisiana State University (2015)

Wilson's research integrates computational methods to investigate chemical reaction mechanisms, with current projects examining ring-opening polymerizations of L-lactide and ε-caprolactone using metal catalysts for biodegradable plastics development. His work bridges inorganic synthesis and computational analysis to predict catalyst effectiveness, emphasizing undergraduate participation in hands-on research. This interdisciplinary approach spans physical chemistry, polymer science, and sustainable materials engineering while providing critical research experience for chemistry students.

No scientific awards were documented in the provided materials.

As an advisor, Wilson mentors undergraduate researchers who have presented collaborative work at American Chemical Society national meetings. His research program features strong interdisciplinary collaboration with inorganic chemistry labs for catalyst synthesis, followed by computational analysis of polymerization mechanisms and activation energies.

The Wilson lab operates as an educational research environment where computational chemistry techniques are applied to real-world problems in sustainable materials, specifically developing predictive models for biodegradable plastic production through metal-catalyzed polymerization processes.