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Past Professor

Sharon Hammes-Schiffer

CAS Professor of Chemistry

Sharon Hammes-Schiffer’s research centers on the investigation of charge transfer reactions, dynamics, and quantum mechanical effects in chemical, biological, and interfacial processes.  Her work encompasses the development of analytical theories and computational methods, as well as applications to a wide range of experimentally relevant systems.  She has developed theories for proton-coupled electron transfer reactions, hydrogen tunneling in solution and enzymes, and fundamental electron-proton interactions and non-Born-Oppenheimer effects.  Her calculations have assisted in the interpretation of experimental data and have provided predictions of rates and hydrogen/deuterium kinetic isotope effects.  Her biological simulations have elucidated the roles of hydrogen tunneling, electrostatics, and conformational motions in enzyme catalysis, as well as the impact of distal mutations. Her calculations of proton-coupled electron transfer in molecular and heterogeneous electrocatalysts, as well as nanoparticles, are guiding the design of more effective catalysts for energy conversion processes relevant to solar energy devices.

Professor Hammes-Schiffer is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, American Chemical Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Biophysical Society.  She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science, and the Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee.  She was the Deputy Editor of The Journal of Physical Chemistry B and is currently the Editor-in-Chief of Chemical Reviews.  She is on the Board of Reviewing Editors for Science and has served as Chair of the Physical Division and the Theoretical Subdivision of the American Chemical Society. She has over 225 publications, is co-author of a textbook entitled Physical Chemistry for the Biological Sciences, and has given more than 340 invited talks, including 15 named lectureships.

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