Christy F. Landes is the Jerry A. Walker Endowed Chair in Chemistry and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, with additional appointments as Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Materials Research Lab, and as an Affiliate in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. She joined UIUC in 2023 after serving as the Kenneth S. Pitzer-Schlumberger Chair of Chemistry at Rice University. Education: B.S. in Chemistry, George Mason University (1998) Ph.D. in Chemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology (2003) Postdoctoral positions at University of Oregon and University of Texas at Austin Professor Landes' research focuses on physical, analytical and materials chemistry with emphasis on predictive separations, spectro-electrochemistry, protein dynamics at interfaces, imaging and signal processing, and single-molecule spectroscopy. Her work aims to understand complex structure-function relationships in biological processes to inspire innovation for materials design. The Landes Research Group develops new spectroscopic tools to image chemical dynamics at interfaces at the limit of a single event, creating new models to understand and predict macroscale processes like protein separation and photocatalysis. Her research spans several specific areas including predictive separations, spectro-electrochemistry, protein dynamics at interfaces, computational imaging/AI/data science, and interfacial energy and charge transfer in hybrid nanomaterials. By studying individual molecules rather than ensembles, her group can identify the chemical complexity of nanoscale interfacial dynamics and reveal underlying populations that form ensemble measurements. Scientific Awards: 2023 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science 2024 Kazuhiko Kinosita Award in Single-Molecule Biophysics 2020 Award for Special Creativity, National Science Foundation 2019 Kavli Fellow, U.S. National Academy of Sciences 2016 Early Career Award in Experimental Physical Chemistry, American Chemical Society 2011 NSF CAREER Award Professor Landes has advised numerous graduate and undergraduate students throughout her career at University of Houston, Rice University, and now at UIUC. Her research has been supported by various grants including NSF funding. Her group has developed innovative methods to break the Abbe diffraction limit, achieving spatial resolutions of just a few nanometers and time resolutions faster than traditional cameras frame times. The Landes Research Group at UIUC continues to develop new spectroscopic tools to image chemical dynamics at interfaces, with specific focus areas including predictive separations, spectro-electrochemistry, protein dynamics at interfaces, computational imaging/AI/data science, and interfacial energy and charge transfer in hybrid nanomaterials.









