Geraldine Lee Richmond (born January 17, 1953, in Salina, Kansas)[1] is an American chemist and physical chemist who is serving as the Under Secretary of Energy for Science in the US Department of Energy.[2][3] Richmond was confirmed to her DOE role by the United States Senate on November 5, 2021.[4] Richmond is the Presidential Chair in Science and professor of chemistry at the University of Oregon (UO).[5] She conducts fundamental research to understand the chemistry and physics of complex surfaces and interfaces. These understandings are most relevant to energy production, atmospheric chemistry and remediation of the environment. Throughout her career she has worked to increase the number and success of women scientists in the U.S. and in many developing countries in Africa, Asia and South America.[6] Richmond has served as president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and she received the 2013 National Medal of Science.
Chemistry and physics of complex surfaces and interfaces relevant to energy production, atmospheric chemistry, environmental remediation; Advocacy and mentorship for women in science
From 1980 to 1985 she was an assistant professor of chemistry at Bryn Mawr College. Since 1985, Richmond has been at UO, from 1985 to 1991 as an associate professor of chemistry, and as a professor since 1991. Until 1995 she was director of the Chemical Physics Institute. From 1998 to 2001 she was the Knight Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences and between 2002 and 2013, the Richard M. and Patricia H. Noyes Professor of Chemistry at the UO.[7] Richmond's scientific research encompasses the chemical and physical processes that occur in complex surfaces and boundary layers[8] including the structural and thermodynamic properties of solid / liquid and liquid interfaces.[9] Much of her work has utilised vibrational sum-frequency spectroscopy for studying surfaces and interfaces;[10] her review on the technique has been cited nearly 800 times since it was published.
Using these spectroscopic techniques with mixtures of H2O, D2O, and HOD, Richmond has studied the nature of hydrogen bonding surface structures and in the interfacial region.[11][12] She has also studied how these structures are perturbed by electrolytes like simple sodium halide salts[13] or acids or bases,[14] and by surfactants.[15] In examining the behavior of water at hydrophobic surfaces, Richmond found that weaker dipoles in an organic phase is more effective for orienting individual water molecules near the interface.[16] The interactions at aqueous / hydrophobic interfaces are important for understanding biochemical properties at boundaries such as cell membranes, as is the solvation of charge in such environments.[17] The study of zwitterionic species like amino acids is important for similar reasons.[18]
In 1997 Richmond co-founded COACh along with Jeanne E. Pemberton; Richmond is currently its director.[19] COACh grassroots organization based at the University of Oregon that organizes international conferences and provides career building workshops aimed at increasing the number and success of women scientists in the U.S. and in many developing countries. Over 22,000 women have attended COACh career building workshops to date.
Richmond is director of the NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program at the University of Oregon. Started in 1987 it is one of the longest-running REU programs in the United States. In the over 30 years of the REU program, it has hosted over 400 undergraduates from across the country with 90% continuing to graduate school.[26]
1993 Fellow, American Physical Society, "For seminal contributions to the understanding of dynamics at interfaces accomplished by innovative applications of nonlinear optical phenomena."[28]
2011 Joel Henry Hildebrand Award of the American Chemical Society, "For pioneering applications of nonlinear optical spectroscopies and modeling of liquid surfaces and the resulting new understanding of water structure and bonding at liquid interfaces."[39]
2013 Charles Lathrop Parsons Award of the American Chemical Society, "For distinguished public service to chemistry through advocacy for higher education, wise counsel and leadership in national science policy, and tireless advocacy for women chemists."[41]
2013 Davisson-Germer Prize for "elegant elucidation of the molecular structure and organization of liquid-liquid and liquid-air interfaces using nonlinear optical spectroscopies"[42]
2013 National Medal of Science[43][44][45] for “her landmark discoveries of the molecular characteristics of water; for her creative demonstration of how her findings impact many key biological, chemical and technological processes; and for her extraordinary efforts in the United States and around the globe to promote women in science"
2014 Pittsburgh Spectroscopy Award of the Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh[46]
2017 Honorary Doctorate Degree, Illinois Institute of Technology[47]
2017 Honorary Doctorate Degree, Kansas State University[48][49]
^ ab"Array of Contemporary American Physicists: Geraldine Richmond". American Institute of Physics. 2015. Archived from the original on 2014-09-07. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
^"President Biden Announces 16 Key Administration Nominations". The White House. 2021-04-28. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
^"Geraldine (Geri) Richmond" (PDF). richmondscience.uoregon.edu. 2015-11-01. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2015-12-29.
^"UO's Geraldine Richmond confirmed as undersecretary of science and energy for DOE". KLCC NPR for Oregonians. 2021-11-09. Retrieved 2021-11-09.
^"Water Research – Geraldine Richmond". Geraldine Richmond. Retrieved 2016-06-08.
^Richmond, G. L.; Robinson, J. M.; Shannon, V. L. (1988). "Second harmonic generation studies of interfacial structure and dynamics". Progress in Surface Science. 28 (1): 1–70. Bibcode:1988PrSS...28....1R. doi:10.1016/0079-6816(88)90005-6.
^Richmond, G. L. (2002). "Molecular bonding and interactions at aqueous surfaces as probed by vibrational sum frequency spectroscopy". Chemical Reviews. 102 (8): 2693–2724. doi:10.1021/cr0006876. PMID 12175265.
^Raymond, E. A.; Tarbuck, T. L.; Brown, M. G.; Richmond, G. L. (2003). "Hydrogen-bonding interactions at the vapor/water interface investigated by vibrational sum-frequency spectroscopy of HOD/H2O/D2O mixtures and molecular dynamics simulations". Journal of Physical Chemistry B. 107 (2): 546–556. doi:10.1021/jp021366w.
^Walker, D. S.; Richmond, G. L. (2007). "Understanding the effects of hydrogen bonding at the vapor−water interface: Vibrational sum frequency spectroscopy of H2O/HOD/D2O mixtures studied using molecular dynamics simulations". Journal of Physical Chemistry C. 111 (23): 8321–8330. doi:10.1021/jp070493v.
^Raymond, E. A.; Richmond, G. L. (2004). "Probing the molecular structure and bonding of the surface of aqueous salt solutions". Journal of Physical Chemistry B. 108 (16): 5051–5059. CiteSeerX10.1.1.628.1526. doi:10.1021/jp037725k.
^Tarbuck, T. L.; Ota, S. T.; Richmond, G. L. (2006). "Spectroscopic studies of solvated hydrogen and hydroxide ions at aqueous surfaces". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 128 (45): 14519–14527. doi:10.1021/ja063184b. PMID 17090035.
^Conboy, J. C.; Messmer, M. C.; Richmond, G. L. (1996). "Investigation of surfactant conformation and order at the liquid−liquid interface by total internal reflection sum-Ffrequency vibrational spectroscopy". Journal of Physical Chemistry. 100 (18): 7617–7622. CiteSeerX10.1.1.537.5368. doi:10.1021/jp953616x.
^Hore, D. K.; Walker, D. S.; Richmond, G. L. (2008). "Water at hydrophobic surfaces: When weaker is better". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 130 (6): 1800–1801. CiteSeerX10.1.1.452.3009. doi:10.1021/ja0755616. PMID 18201083.
^Scatena, L. F.; Richmond, G. L. (2004). "Aqueous solvation of charge at hydrophobic liquid surfaces". Chemical Physics Letters. 383 (5–6): 491–495. Bibcode:2004CPL...383..491S. doi:10.1016/j.cplett.2003.10.158.
^Watry, M. R.; Richmond, G. L. (2002). "Orientation and conformation of amino acids in monolayers adsorbed at an oil/water interface as determined by vibrational sum-frequency spectroscopy". Journal of Physical Chemistry B. 106 (48): 12517–12523. CiteSeerX10.1.1.551.42. doi:10.1021/jp021469e.
^"About". COACh. 2014-12-20. Archived from the original on 2019-04-01. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
^"BESAC 2017–2018 Membership| U.S. DOE Office of Science (SC)". science.energy.gov. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
^"Geraldine Richmond Chosen to Serve as AAAS President-Elect". AAAS – The World's Largest General Scientific Society. Retrieved 2015-12-29.
^"Announcement of U.S. Science Envoys". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 2015-12-29.
^"National Science Board". National Science Board. Retrieved 2015-12-29.
^"Board, Council, and Trust – American Academy of Arts & Sciences". Archived from the original on 2015-08-01. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
^"Geraldine Richmond". www.sigmaxi.org. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
^"The Coblentz Award – The Coblentz Society". www.coblentz.org. Retrieved 2016-06-08.
^"APS Fellow Archive – Geraldine L. Richmond". www.aps.org. Retrieved 2016-06-08.
^"Francis P. Garvan-John M. Olin Medal". American Chemical Society. Retrieved 2016-06-08.
^"Geraldine Richmond – Richard M. and Patricia H. Noyes Professor of Chemistry – paesmem". paesmem.net. Retrieved 2016-06-08.
^"Oregon Academy of Science – Outstanding Oregon Scientist". Oregon Academy of Science. 2008. Archived from the original on 2009-04-09. Retrieved 2016-06-07.
^"Fellows – AAAS MemberCentral". membercentral.aaas.org. Retrieved 2016-06-08.[permanent dead link]
^"President Obama honors nation's leading scientists and innovators | NSF – National Science Foundation". nsf.gov. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
^"NSTMF". NSTMF. 22 December 2015. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
^"NSTMF – Geraldine L. Richmond". NSTMF. Retrieved 2016-06-07.
^"Pittsburgh Spectroscopy Award" (PDF). Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh. 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-10-01. Retrieved 2016-06-07.
^IIT Today (2017-05-13), 2017 Illinois Institute of Technology Commencement – Main Ceremony, retrieved 2017-06-29
^Jackson, Kristina. "Richmond: We all bring different perspectives to a problem". The Mercury. Archived from the original on 2023-05-07. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
^K-State (2017-05-04), 2017 Honorary Degree Dr. Geraldine Richmond, retrieved 2017-06-29
^Lemonick, Sam (March 19, 2018). "Meet Geraldine Richmond, 2018 Priestley Medalist". Chemical & Engineering News. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
^"History Makers". Oregon Historical Society. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
^University, Carnegie Mellon. "Homepage – Dickson Prize in Science – Carnegie Mellon University". www.cmu.edu. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
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