Chemistry and Biochemistry Professor Janice Reutt-Robey Retires

After 37 years at UMD, she reflects on decades of department growth, research innovation and mentorship.

When Janice Reutt-Robey first arrived at the University of Maryland in 1988, the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry had only one core research facility. Now, as she retires after 37 years on the faculty—including 13 years as department chair—that number has grown to six, reflecting the dramatic expansion in research excellence she helped engineer. 

Reutt-Robey has spent significant time during her career building the university’s capacity for rigorous, cutting-edge research in the chemical sciences.

“Chemistry and biochemistry are very much experimental sciences,” she said. “To really push boundaries, you have to have the right tools. Developing the necessary infrastructure for research is something you have to do in order to conduct that level of science.”

“We are very grateful for Janice’s leadership, which guided the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry through years of tremendous growth and expansion, and positioned our students and faculty members for continued excellence in the years to come,” said Amitabh Varshney, dean of the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS). 

Reutt-Robey’s tenure spanned a transformative era for both the department and the university. Just before UMD was declared a state flagship campus, Reutt-Robey was hired as an assistant professor, fresh from a postdoctoral fellowship with AT&T Bell Labs. 

Using expertise she developed during her doctoral studies in physical chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, Reutt-Robey established a surface chemistry research laboratory and directed the facilities components of major U.S. National Science Foundation grants awarded to the university, most notably UMD’s Materials Research Science and Engineering Center. As she progressed to associate professor in 1994 and to professor in 2003, she continued to secure major instrumentation grants to build materials research infrastructure across multiple departments. 

After Reutt-Robey became the chair of UMD’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in 2013, she oversaw the development of nine chemistry teaching labs in the Edward St. John Learning and Teaching Center that opened in 2017, and the construction of the new 105,000-square-foot Chemistry Building that opened in 2024. The new Chemistry Building serves as a hub for quantum chemistry, molecular nanoscience and sustainability research, offering state-of-the-art technologies that allow UMD scientists to take their work to new heights. 

“I’m glad to have been part of the effort to build this modern infrastructure we see around us today,” Reutt-Robey said. “The department’s capacity to do research now is much greater. We’re better equipped to solve problems and ask new questions about our natural world.” 

Pioneering surface science research

As a surface chemist, Reutt-Robey understands the impact of having the right tools for discovery. Her work focuses on understanding chemical phenomena at solid surfaces and interfaces—where two materials meet. Reutt-Robey’s research group developed sophisticated techniques to study crystallographic steps, atomic-scale features that drive surface chemistry and interface formation. Using ultra-high vacuum scanning probe microscopy and surface spectroscopy, researchers can view surface chemical events with atomic-level precision. 

“Much of the chemistry that advances technology and occurs in natural systems happens at the interfaces between distinct materials,” she explained. “Although important chemical events happen at material surfaces, they’re difficult to study because the number of surface atoms, relative to bulk material, is so small. But with the right tools and techniques, you can see surface chemical events with atomic resolution in real time.” 

Among Reutt-Robey’s discoveries was the first observation of adatom adducts, a product between adsorbing molecules and metal atoms supplied by step edges (the boundary line on a crystal’s surface where one atomic layer ends and the next begins). Her team also pioneered direct measurements of molecular diffusion on surfaces and developed methods to study how small crystals reshape themselves under thermal or chemically driven conditions. 

Over time, Reutt-Robey applied these fundamental insights to practical challenges in today’s energy technology. Her group developed model systems for organic photovoltaics (solar cells made from carbon-based organic materials) to understand how molecular heterostructures form and affect solar energy conversion. In addition, her lab developed innovative techniques to study battery interfaces, including “lithium pipetting” and “pascalammetry” to carefully measure battery dynamics.

“It takes a certain amount of perseverance and interest in advanced measurements for these types of discoveries to happen,” Reutt-Robey said. “The students who have both can achieve amazing things given the right environment and support. Building up the research infrastructure and training opportunities for UMD students increases the scope of what we can achieve here.” 

Changing the physical and intellectual landscape of UMD’s campus

During her career, Reutt-Robey has mentored over 30 graduate students and postdocs who have gone on to faculty roles and positions at national laboratories and corporations across the country. Her mentoring philosophy emphasizes independence and collaboration while recognizing that success can take many forms.

“Not everyone has the exact same goals,” she said. “I like to be open-minded about what success looks like for each person. For example, Ph.D. research is about accomplishing, but it’s also about exploring and testing yourself to find what really is important and what you really find interesting. There’s no one path to success in that way.”

That same philosophy influenced Reutt-Robey’s leadership as department chair. She oversaw the department’s launch of a B.A. degree in chemistry, intended for students pursuing K-12 teaching certifications or degrees in other related fields such as business, public policy and public health. She also focused on student advocacy by supporting the revival of the department’s graduate student organization, implementing numerous fellowship programs, and championing groups like the National Organization of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) and the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native American Students (SACNAS). At the college level, she chaired the CMNS Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council from 2020 to 2025. 

“Having a community and fostering that sense of belonging is incredibly important, especially now. These activities and organizations support diverse perspectives and provide professional opportunities that benefit everyone,” she noted. “We have a very different student body now than when I first came to UMD, people from all sorts of backgrounds with different skills. It’s important to support all students so that they can thrive at UMD and beyond.”

Though Reutt-Robey is retiring, she plans to stay connected and maintain the kind of intellectual engagement that has defined her career. She looks forward to completing projects with her last Ph.D. students and serves on several graduate student thesis committees.

“I won’t be as hands-on as I have been, but I’ll be around to do what needs to be done to help move the department forward,” Reutt-Robey said. “It was truly a great privilege to be chair. We’ve got a great community here of students, faculty and staff. Now it’s time for a new vision and a new perspective, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.”