Like many international students who live in the United States for the first time, Solomon Attionu experienced culture shock almost as soon as he landed in the U.S. He still clearly remembers the unfamiliarity he felt back in 2019 when he flew alone from Ghana to pursue a Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Maryland.

A visitor to the lab that Lisa Bird (B.S. ’89, chemistry; M.S. ’98, food science) runs at McCormick and Co. experiences a moment of aromatic disorientation; it smells like a vast banquet—a ginger- and garlic-infused stir fry, a coconut cookie, a bratwurst—but all this alchemy is contained in several glass vials lined up on the kitchen-like counter.

The Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry is pleased to announce that Hong- Zhou Ye will join the University of Maryland as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry in August, 2024. Hong-Zhou Ye is a theoretical quantum chemist known for developing and applying new computational methods to address chemistry challenges in both molecular and condensed- phase systems.

Chemistry and Biochemistry Assistant Professor Mercedes Taylor has been selected as a Moore Inventor Fellow by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. She will receive $825,000 over three years to advance her research developing novel materials with applications in water purification and precious metal extraction from water.

“Efrain Rodriguez exemplifies the standards and accomplishments expected for a Scholar-Teacher. He is at the cutting edge of our discipline, developing new knowledge on the structure and properties of low-dimensional solids. His enthusiasm and encyclopedic knowledge of solid-state chemistry inspires University of Maryland students at all levels,” said Janice Reutt-Robey, chair of UMD’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.