Kirk Peterson

Kirk Peterson is a Professor of Chemistry at Washington State University (WSU), with a joint appointment at the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (PNNL). He specializes in computational quantum chemistry, focusing on thermodynamic, spectroscopic, and kinetic properties of small molecules and molecular clusters involving actinides and transition metals. His research includes developing correlation-consistent basis sets for heavy elements. Notably, he was awarded the WSU College of Sciences Distinguished Faculty Award (2011), and elected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society, AAAS, and ACS.

Education: B.S. Chemistry (Seattle University, 1983); Ph.D. Physical Chemistry (University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1990); Postdoctoral studies at Universitaet Bielefeld (Germany) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).

Research emphasizes relativistic quantum chemistry, explicit correlation methods (F12), and actinide chemistry. His group develops basis sets for lanthanides/actinides and studies molecular clusters like UF₅⁻ and ThS₂⁻. Key contributions include accurate thermochemical predictions and spectroscopic analysis of uranium-containing species.

Awards include the 2011 Meyer Distinguished Professorship and 2014 ACS Fellowship. His work bridges theory and experiment, collaborating with experimental groups on photoelectron spectroscopy and guided ion beam studies.

Labs/Teams: Joint appointment at PNNL’s Theory, Modeling, and Simulation department (until 2002). Active in computational chemistry software development (e.g., Molpro package).