Eric J. Schelter

Eric J. Schelter is the Hirschmann-Makineni Professor of Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Arts & Sciences, Department of Chemistry. His research program focuses on inorganic and organometallic chemistry with applications in sustainability, including critical metals separations, quantum materials chemistry, and photochemistry.

Education includes:

• B.S. from Michigan Technological University (1999)
• Ph.D. from Texas A&M University (2004)
• Postdoctoral training at Los Alamos National Laboratory (2004-2009)

Research focuses on:

• Advanced separations chemistry for rare earth elements critical for renewable energy technologies
• Molecular heavy-fermion systems exhibiting unconventional superconductivity
• Inverse trans influence in uranium chemistry relevant to environmental remediation
• Development of photochemical methods for sustainable metal separations

Recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on lanthanide and actinide chemistry (60% of recent articles), photochemical processes (20%), and materials design for energy applications (20%). Research methodologies combine synthetic chemistry, spectroscopic characterization, and theoretical modeling.

Scientific awards include various fellowships at Los Alamos National Laboratory but no current prize information is available.

Leads the Schelter Group research team working on energy-critical element chemistry at the Vagelos Laboratory for Energy Science and Technology.