Twenty-five years after graduating with a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Jeffrey Greeley is returning to his alma mater as the Paul A. Elfers Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.
Greeley is internationally regarded as one of the top researchers in computational catalysis. For the last 12 years as a faculty member at Purdue University, he’s specialized in predictive catalytic design, publishing more than 200 research articles and winning many award, including numerous teaching and mentoring recognitions and a U.S. Department of Energy Early Career Award.
Greeley began his academic career studying chemical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. During a study abroad semester in Switzerland, he took an inspiring class on quantum mechanics and molecular simulations. When it came time to apply for graduate school, he looked at programs with a strong focus on molecular simulation. UW-Madison was a serendipitous choice; the same year Greeley began his studies, Manos Mavrikakis, now the Ernest Micek Distinguished Chair, James A. Dumesic Professor, and Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor in chemical and biological engineering, joined the faculty.
Mavrikakis was a rising star in computational catalysis, and Greeley was one of his first two graduate students. “When I came to UW-Madison and had the opportunity to talk with Professor Mavrikakis, I was enthralled by the idea of being able to predict the properties of molecules from first principles,” says Greeley. “It was an almost magical concept, and it was clear that this type of work would be endlessly stimulating. We had a wonderful experience working together.”
After earning his PhD, Greeley worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Technical University of Denmark before joining Argonne National Laboratory as a staff scientist, where he worked for six years. There, he began work on electrochemistry, studying the interfaces found in batteries and materials for energy storage. “There was a whole new set of challenges,” he says. “The materials are very different from what you find in most catalytic processes. Learning to simulate the processes that are relevant in batteries involved analyzing an entirely new level of structural detail than I had done previously.”
Though he enjoyed his work, Greeley decided he missed interacting with students and the academic environment, so in 2013, he joined the faculty at Purdue University. Over the last decade, he and his students have continued and expanded his prior work, focusing on developing computational simulations to predict catalytic and materials properties with sustainable applications. His team, for example, has worked on modeling heterogenous catalysis reactions to produce hydrogen and fuel from biomass like agriculture waste. He and his students also have studied electrocatalysis, exploring gas and solid interfaces found in fuel cells and the liquid/metal oxide interfaces important in energy storage materials. The resulting fundamental insights have, in turn, led to successful identification of electrochemical devices with enhanced properties.
At UW-Madison, Greeley plans to continue pursuing such insights while taking his research in some new directions, including focusing even more directly on issues dealing with energy and sustainability. He also hopes to take advantage of the college and campus expertise in machine learning and AI to help accelerate his research.
Greeley says he’s excited to rejoin the Wisconsin community and to work with Mavrikakis and other colleagues. “The tradition of scholarly excellence in CBE is second to none. To be a part of that environment is very exciting and stimulating for me,” says Greeley. “There are world-recognized experts in computational modeling, thermal and electro-catalysis, battery science, material structures, materials predictions and sustainability. I’m excited to collaborate with a wide spectrum of experts in those fields and contribute to the broader conversation on campus.”