Rex Handford

Rex Handford is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Irvine. His research focuses on designing molecular inorganic architectures to study metal-metal and metal-element bonds in catalytic systems, leveraging synthesis, spectroscopy, and theory. Key areas include polymetallic reactivity, polar heterobimetallic systems, and transition-metal main group cooperativity.

Handford completed his B.Sc. at the University of British Columbia under Prof. Peter Legzdins, PhD at UC Berkeley with Prof. T. Don Tilley, and a postdoc at Harvard with Prof. Theodore Betley.

• Research Interests: Catalytic mechanisms of heterogeneous and bioinorganic systems, small-molecule activation, and molecular models for industrial catalysts.
• Lab Members: Undergraduates April Miramontes and Daniel Heo.
• Publications: Over 20 peer-reviewed articles in J. Am. Chem. Soc. and Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., focusing on metal clusters and catalytic systems.

His lab emphasizes synthetic innovation and interdisciplinary approaches to uncover new reactivity pathways for fuel production and clean energy.