Chemistry Department Head Ken Knappenberger: Taking research from the microscopic level to a material you can hold in your hand

I’ve been lucky to lead the Department of Chemistry in the Penn State Eberly College of Science for just over three months, and every day, I still meet with a fellow faculty member, student, staff member, post-doctoral scholar or alumnus who makes me proud of the work we’re accomplishing together.

Our faculty are leaders in their fields and at Penn State, receiving national and international recognition while also driving the organization of several international gatherings and collaborations.

Last month, I was pleased to share in congratulating colleagues Ray Schaak (2025 F. Albert Cotton Award) and Christine Keating (2024 Langmuir Lectureship Award) for being honored by American Chemical Society, Bert Chandler for receiving the 2024 Cottrell SEED Award, and Joseph A. Cotruvo, Jr. for being named a 2024 Blavatnik Awards Finalist—the fist in our department to receive this honor.

I am very proud of the many important contributions my chemistry colleagues have made to society, which included the development of materials that remove pollutants from the environment, public communications about air quality, and designing education models that make our research relatable to the general public. ??

This summer, we were pleased to host hundreds of our fellow scientists from around the world for several conferences and symposia, including the 7th International Symposium on Monolayer-Protected Clusters, our department’s Sixth Bioinorganic Workshop, and the inaugural Center for RNA Molecular Biology symposium in the Eberly College of Science.

I was also gratified to see two chemistry giants in our department recently recognized for their lifelong achievements. In June, we gathered in celebration to rename the Chemistry Building—the hub of our University chemical research—the Benkovic Building in honor of renowned chemist?Stephen Benkovic and his wife, Pat.

And just recently at the Nanomotors International Conference and the ACS Global Virtual Symposium on Chemical Nanomotors, our own Ayusman Sen was honored with the screening of a documentary highlighting the 20th anniversary of his seminal paper on synthetic nanomotors that initiated the field of self-propelled molecules and particles. And, to top it off, the film received an award for Best Documentary at the International Hollywood Short Film Festival.

Today, we have other researchers (including Keating, Lauren Zarzar and Stewart Mallory) taking that work in new directions, demonstrating the sustained impact of Sen’s research and one example of Penn State research driving the forefront of innovation.

Our faculty are also leading education and professional development for our trainees—tomorrow’s scientists—in our department and college. Chemist Scott Showalter was recently named the assistant dean for graduate and postdoctoral affairs in the Eberly College of Science and several of our undergraduate and graduate chemistry students have received research recognition through prestigious University-wide programs and from external organizations, like the Department of Energy's Office of?Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) Program.

We were pleased to host the 52nd?Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society this summer, and we are excited celebrate the centennial of the Central Pennsylvania Local Section of the American Chemical Society in October.

Looking ahead beyond this semester, one of my objectives is to leverage Penn State’s long and strong history of materials research that has been built up intentionally over time to further integrate our deep bench of leading experts—including theoreticians, experimentalists, and synthetic researchers—to use our combinedexpertise that spans microscopic to macroscopic length scales to establish our department, and Penn State, as a cohesive research engine where structural control yields predictive material function. We hope to translate our research on the atomic and molecular level to functional materials that you can hold in your hand.?

It is only somewhere like Penn State, where collaborators have both the interdisciplinary culture and research facility infrastructure, where we can truly take one researcher’s interests and synergize to make something bigger than the individual.

Taking research from the microscopic level to the realization of a material that can benefit society is part of our University land-grant mission. It is something that takes a group of researchers who have a common interest, but different areas of expertise.

We are truly a hub for innovation that is drawing researchers from all over, and I’m looking forward to continuing to steward our collective strengths.