Daniel J. Mindiola has been named the fourth Presidential Term Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, effective Aug. 1.  Mindiola will be Presidential Term Professor of Chemistry in the School of Arts and Sciences.

The announcement was made today by Penn President Amy Gutmann and Provost Vincent Price.

“Dan Mindiola is a distinguished scholar, a highly respected leader in the field of inorganic chemistry and a dynamic and effective teacher,” Gutmann said. “He is one of the true stars in organometallic chemistry, and we are delighted to welcome him to Penn.”    

Mindiola, an internationally recognized inorganic chemist, is professor of chemistry at Indiana University-Bloomington, where he has taught since 2002.  From 2000 to 2002, he was a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Chicago.  His research focuses on the role of metals in new transformations and catalytic processes, especially the conversion of potential waste into a catalyst or source of energy, with the potential to develop new compounds and to minimize energy costs and byproducts.  His most recent work expands this perspective to the conversion of natural gas into liquid fuels. 

Mindiola’s numerous professional honors include the Presidential Early Career Award and the Faculty Early Career Development Award from the National Science Foundation, the Teacher-Scholar Award and the New Faculty Award from the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, the Fresenius Award from the American Chemical Society, the Bessel Research Award from the Humboldt Foundation and fellowships from the National Institutes of Health, the Ford Foundation and the Sloan Foundation.

“I look forward to Dan Mindiola’s energetic contributions to the Penn community in the years ahead,” Price said.  “His path-breaking research exemplifies the great Penn tradition of faculty eminence, advancing significant new solutions to major global challenges in ways that tangibly improve the lives of people around the world.”

Presidential Term Professorships, supported in part by a $2 million grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts, are awarded to exceptional scholars of any rank who contribute to faculty eminence through diversity across the University.

“Dan Mindiola’s distinction as an inorganic chemist makes him an outstanding addition to our Chemistry Department,” said Rebecca Bushnell, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences.  “His work will expand the collective expertise of the School of Arts and Sciences and Penn in the important area of energy research.”

Mindiola earned a Ph.D. in chemistry in 2000 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.S. in chemistry, with honors, in 1996 from Michigan State University.