Winner: 2020 Chemical Dynamics Award
Professor James McCusker
Michigan State University
For the combined application of synthesis and ultrafast spectroscopy to advance our understanding of the excited-state dynamics of transition metal complexes.
Sunlight represents an inexhaustible, globally accessible source of clean energy for the planet. The research being carried out in Professor McCusker’s lab focuses on trying to harness this resource by examining what happens at the molecular level when something absorbs energy in the form of light.
The goal is to then leverage that information as a means of teaching scientists what they can do to alter that molecule's behaviour to allow for the use of that energy for other purposes. The research is fundamental in nature, but the research group believes that success in their endeavours will help lay the foundation for advances in areas ranging from electricity and fuel generation to the creation of entirely new classes of pharmaceuticals, using light as the main source of energy to drive these important transformations.
Biography
Professor Jim McCusker was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1965. A graduate of Bucknell University, he enrolled in the doctoral program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1987 and carried out research in physical-inorganic chemistry under the guidance of Professor David N. Hendrickson. Professor McCusker was awarded a two-year post-doctoral fellowship from the National Institutes of Health in 1992 to work with Professor Thomas J. Meyer at the University of North Carolina, then began his independent academic career at the University of California at Berkeley as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry in the fall of 1994.
Professor McCusker moved his research group to Michigan State University in 2001 where he is currently MSU Foundation Professor of Chemistry. The central themes of his research group revolve around the light-induced properties of transition metal-containing molecules – in particular as it impacts the development of solar energy conversion strategies – as well as the interplay between magnetism and the excited-state dynamics of molecular systems. He has been recognised at Michigan State with the 2014 Junior Faculty Mentoring Award, the 2016 College of Natural Science Outstanding Faculty Award, and the 2018 William J. Beal Outstanding Faculty Award by the President of Michigan State University.
Named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2016, Professor McCusker has published nearly 100 articles in journals including Science, Nature, and the Journal of the American Chemical Society, and has given in excess of 300 invited seminars at universities and conferences in more than 20 countries around the world. He currently serves as President of the Inter-American Photochemical Society and is Associate Editor for Physical-Inorganic Chemistry at Chemical Science, the flagship journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
To be successful, you need to (a) be excited about what you're working on, (b) be willing to work hard, and (c) keep an open mind and be willing to learn.
Professor James McCusker
Q&A with Professor James McCusker
How did you first become interested in chemistry?
That's an easy one. My first chemistry class when I was a sophomore in high school. My teacher was Dr. Valerio Moretti, who used to tell me in his wonderful Italian accent, "You should major in chemistry!". We got to the chapter in the book on the electronic structure of the atom, at which point I immediately knew that I wanted to get my PhD in chemistry and become a professor at a university. In fact, it's fair to say, given that the work we're doing in my lab deals with the influence of electronic structure on the photo-induced properties of molecules, you can draw a straight line from that day in my 10th grade chemistry class to this award.
Who or what has inspired you?
I'll answer this question in a slightly different way. When I was interviewing for my Assistant Professor position at UC-Berkeley, Professor Andy Streitwieser caught me off-guard with the following question: Who are your heroes in science? But I was able to answer him quickly. Two persons: (1) Harry Gray, for his infectious enthusiasm for science, his decades of seminal contributions to chemistry (his 1962 paper in Inorganic Chemistry on a vanadium complex was the first journal article I ever read), and his deep-seated care and concern for young scientists; and (2) Hans Gudel, an inorganic spectroscopist at the University of Bern (now retired). Hans never published many papers in any given year, but every one of them reveals science that is impeccably done, never overinterpreted, and never compromising on the importance of fundamental research. I sometime use his papers as an example to my students for what we should be striving to achieve.
What motivates you?
Two things: (1) The realization of a vision related to a scientific goal in the research programme, particularly when the path to that goal wasn't the way we started off. When this happens, it tells me that we let the data show us the way forward; and (2) Seeing my students achieve their goals and the feeling that I may have had a small role in contributing to their success.
What advice would you give to a young person considering a career in chemistry?
Follow your passion about what it is you want to work on. It's the same thing I tell students wanting to join my group. To be successful, you need to (a) be excited about what you're working on, (b) be willing to work hard, and (c) keep an open mind and be willing to learn. I truly believe if you have those three things working in your favour, everything else will follow suit - and sometimes in ways you could have never imagined.
What is an exciting scientific development on the horizon?
I think our recent paper in Nature illustrating how one can use the phenomenon of quantum coherence to teach us new approaches to molecular design for tailoring the photophysical properties of molecules presents exciting new possibilities moving forward. We also have another paper in preparation showing how one can use spin to control excited-state reactivity - pretty excited about that as well.
What is your favourite element?
Iron, of course: it's been very good to me in my career! A friend of mine once introduced me before a seminar I was about to give at their university as Iron Man...but without the suit. I think that's a bit of a stretch.