Scholar Snapshot featuring Hannah Hassoun

Hannah Hassoun, winner of a 2019 National Merit Case Western Reserve University Scholarship, earned her bachelor of science degree in chemistry, while also earning minors in physics and music. "In the winter of my sophomore year of college, I joined the Prostasiewicz Group and gained hands-on experience with inorganic chemistry," Hannah shares. "Our group developed phosphorus-containing molecules to gain a greater understanding of the properties of phosphorus." Case Western Reserve University further funded Hannah's research preceding her senior year, which led to her developing new compounds.

Hannah is now a PhD student at the 美国芝加哥大学 and focuses on materials chemistry. "I find chemistry exciting because of the wide range of topics it encompasses," she says. "Chemistry overlaps significantly with other disciplines like physics and biology. This creates opportunities for collaborations, which could lead to incredible discoveries in the future. I think the sciences are sometimes thought of as serious and isolated fields, but I have found the chemistry community to be incredibly welcoming and enthusiastic."