Smaranda C. Marinescu

Smaranda C. Marinescu is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at the University of Southern California (USC), affiliated with the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. She leads the Marinescu Group, focusing on developing molecular catalysts for solar-to-fuel technologies inspired by biological systems. Her research emphasizes hydrogen-bonded networks and multi-metallic motifs for small molecule activation, particularly CO2 and water reduction.

Education: PhD (2011) from MIT under Richard R. Schrock; BS (2006) from Caltech with John E. Bercaw. Postdoc at Caltech (2011–2013) under Harry B. Gray, studying cobalt-catalyzed hydrogen evolution. Became an independent faculty member at USC in 2013, promoted to Associate Professor in 2020.

Research interests include inorganic chemistry, electrocatalysis, renewable energy, and materials science. Key projects involve cobalt/phosphinothiolate complexes for CO2 reduction, dithiolene-based MOFs for hydrogen evolution, and surface-immobilized catalysts for scalable applications.

Awards: 2022 Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship, 2021 ACS Harry Gray Award, 2021 RSC Chemical Communications Emerging Investigator, NSF CAREER Award (2016), Sloan Fellowship (2019).

Labs/Teams: Marinescu Group (359 & 351 LJS Labs) focuses on synthesis, characterization, and electrochemical testing of catalysts. Collaborates with industry and national labs (e.g., Sandia, Argonne).

Grants: NSF CAREER, Zumberge Individual Award, USC Gabilan Professorship, and multiple sponsored research projects.