Gregory S Girolami

Gregory S Girolami is a Professor of Chemistry and Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Illinois, affiliated with the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He holds positions in the Department of Chemistry and has been a faculty member since 1983. Girolami earned B.S. degrees in chemistry and physics from the University of Texas at Austin and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. His postdoctoral work included a NATO fellowship under Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson at Imperial College London.

His research focuses on synthesizing transition metal complexes for catalytic, CVD, and magnetic applications. Key areas include organometallic reaction mechanisms, molecular magnets, CVD precursor design, and artificial photosynthesis. Notable achievements include developing novel CVD precursors for thin films and elucidating alkane activation pathways.

Girolami has received prestigious awards such as the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award (1988), Sloan Fellowship (1988), and AAAS Fellowship (2007). His work spans 294 publications, with recent contributions addressing silicon heterocycles, copper-palladium complexes, and osmium-alkane interactions. His research group emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches to inorganic and materials chemistry.