Recent Graduates
Please click here for a current list of our Chemistry Department Alumni.
Jiaqi Zhu, Ph.D.
Thesis Title: "Characterizing Interactions Between the Disordered Androgen Receptor Transactivation Domain and Small Molecule Drugs"
Defense Date: January 16, 2026
Brandon Balamut, Ph.D.
Thesis Title: "Modulating Cholesteric Liquid Crystals with Chiral Photoswitchable Dopants"
Defense Date: December 3, 2025
Yunjia Zhang, Ph.D.
Thesis Title: "Crystallinity and Topology in Organic Materials from Crystalline Frameworks to Polymer Networks"
Defense Date: November 14, 2025
Morgan Reik, Ph.D.
Thesis Title: "Role of Axial Ligation in the Conformational and Redox Properties of Cytochromes"
Defense Date: September 11, 2025
Zachary Protich, Ph.D.
Thesis Title: "Advances in Indole Chemistry: Regiodivergent Annulations and Bridged Azacycle Synthesis"
Defense Date: September 5, 2025
Evan Cline, Ph.D.
Thesis Title: "Synthesis and Integration of Conductive Framework Materials within Chemiresistive Devices"
Defense Date: July 31, 2025
Daniil Sosnin, Ph.D.
Thesis Title: "Advancing the Functional Diversity of Hydrazone Photoswitches"
Defense Date: June 13, 2025
Andrea Bucknam
Thesis Title: "Progress Towards the Asymmetric de novo Synthesis of Tetracyclic Triterpenoid Natural Products: Cucurbitanes, Lanostanes, and Cardiotonic Steroids"
Defense Date: May 27, 2025
Heyifei Fu, Ph.D.
Thesis Title: "Hydrazone-Based Switches: Communication, Recognition, Transport, and Environmental Effects"
Defense Date: May 14, 2025
Lingyi Zou, Ph.D.
Thesis Title: "Multi-scale Simulations Reveal the Effects of Entanglement on Polymer Crystallization"
Defense Date: May 12, 2025
Jia Yang, Ph.D.
Thesis Title: "Properties and Interactions of the CcoP Subunit of Cytochrome cbb3 Oxidase"
Defense Date: May 5, 2025
Jessica Tolbert, Ph.D.
Thesis Title: "Structural and Functional Lessons Learned About Regulation of Enterotoxigenic E. coli Virulence Regulatory Factor, RNS"
Defense Date: April 24, 2025
Georganna Benedetto, Ph.D.
Thesis Title: "Framework Material-Based Chemiresistive Arrays for the Detection and Differentiation of Toxic Gases."
Defense Date: March 12, 2025
Priyanshu Chandra, Ph.D.
Thesis Title: "Design and Synthesis of Conductive Metal−Organic Frameworks for the Detection and Uptake of Toxic Pollutants"
Defense Date: December 11, 2024
Joshua Nicholson, Ph.D.
Thesis Title: "De novo Synthetic Studies on Tetracyclic Triterenoid Systems: Stereoselective Preparation, Biological Evaluation and Total Syntheses of Euphol and Tirucallol"
Defense Date: August 7, 2024
Zachary Stempel, Ph.D.
Thesis Title: "Studies in Natural Product-inspired Complex Molecule Synthesis: Synthesis of 26-Norpentacyclic Triterpenoids and Anhydroryanodol"
Defense Date: June 10, 2024
Emma Ambrogi, Ph.D.
Thesis Title: "Bridging the Gap Between Molecular Components and Functional Electronic Chemical Sensing Devices with 2D Layered, Conductive Metal--Organic Frameworks"
Defense Date: May 10, 2024
Amy Kennedy, Ph.D.
Thesis Title: "Structure-Based Targeting of the NEMO:IKK Interaction for Canonical NF-kB Inhibition"
Defense Date: November 10, 2023
Lauren Markham, Ph.D.
Thesis Title: "Design and Synthesis of Chiral, Conformationally Constrained Fatty Acid Mimetics"
Defense Date: September 27, 2023
Mingshi Zhang, Ph.D.
Thesis Title: "Development of Single-Crystalline and 3D-printable Porous Organic Materials"
Defense Date: September 15, 2023
Aileen Eagleton, Ph.D.
Thesis Title: "Developing Strategies for the Integration of Metal–Organic Frameworks (MOFs) into E-Textiles for Chemical Sensing, Filtration, and Detoxification"
Defense Date: August 4, 2023
Sarah Chachula, Ph.D.
Thesis Title: "Rhodium-Catalyzed Asymmetric Dehydrocoupling: Enantioselective Synthesis of P-Stereogenic Diphosphines and Phosphines via Formation of P-P and P-C Bonds"
Defense Date: July 18, 2023
Miao Tang, Ph.D.
Thesis Title: "Supramolecular Design of 3D-Printable Hydrogels for Functional Materials"
Defense Date: April 20, 2023
Ryan Tipker, Ph.D.
Thesis Title: "Synthetic, Catalytic, and Mechanistic Studies of Supermesityl Phosphiranes and Phosphines"
Defense Date: April 19, 2023