Chemistry and physics of complex surfaces and interfaces relevant to energy production, atmospheric chemistry, environmental remediation; Advocacy and mentorship for women in science
Geraldine Lee Richmond (born January 17, 1953, in Salina, Kansas)[1] is an American chemist and physical chemist who is serving as the Under Secretary of Energy for Science in the US Department of Energy.[2][3] Richmond was confirmed to her DOE role by the United States Senate on November 5, 2021.[4] Richmond is the Presidential Chair in Science and professor of chemistry at the University of Oregon (UO).[5] She conducts fundamental research to understand the chemistry and physics of complex surfaces and interfaces. These understandings are most relevant to energy production, atmospheric chemistry and remediation of the environment. Throughout her career she has worked to increase the number and success of women scientists in the U.S. and in many developing countries in Africa, Asia and South America.[6] Richmond has served as president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and she received the 2013 National Medal of Science.
From 1980 to 1985 she was an assistant professor of chemistry at Bryn Mawr College. Since 1985, Richmond has been at UO, from 1985 to 1991 as an associate professor of chemistry, and as a professor since 1991. Until 1995 she was director of the Chemical Physics Institute. From 1998 to 2001 she was the Knight Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences and between 2002 and 2013, the Richard M. and Patricia H. Noyes Professor of Chemistry at the UO.[7] Richmond's scientific research encompasses the chemical and physical processes that occur in complex surfaces and boundary layers[8] including the structural and thermodynamic properties of solid / liquid and liquid interfaces.[9] Much of her work has utilised vibrational sum-frequency spectroscopy for studying surfaces and interfaces;[10] her review on the technique has been cited nearly 800 times since it was published.
Using these spectroscopic techniques with mixtures of H2O, D2O, and HOD, Richmond has studied the nature of hydrogen bonding surface structures and in the interfacial region.[11][12] She has also studied how these structures are perturbed by electrolytes like simple sodium halide salts[13] or acids or bases,[14] and by surfactants.[15] In examining the behavior of water at hydrophobic surfaces, Richmond found that weaker dipoles in an organic phase is more effective for orienting individual water molecules near the interface.[16] The interactions at aqueous / hydrophobic interfaces are important for understanding biochemical properties at boundaries such as cell membranes, as is the solvation of charge in such environments.[17] The study of zwitterionic species like amino acids is important for similar reasons.[18]
In 1997 Richmond co-founded COACh along with Jeanne E. Pemberton; Richmond is currently its director.[19] COACh grassroots organization based at the University of Oregon that organizes international conferences and provides career building workshops aimed at increasing the number and success of women scientists in the U.S. and in many developing countries. Over 22,000 women have attended COACh career building workshops to date.
Richmond is director of the NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program at the University of Oregon. Started in 1987 it is one of the longest-running REU programs in the United States. In the over 30 years of the REU program, it has hosted over 400 undergraduates from across the country with 90% continuing to graduate school.[26]
1993 Fellow, American Physical Society, "For seminal contributions to the understanding of dynamics at interfaces accomplished by innovative applications of nonlinear optical phenomena."[28]
2011 Joel Henry Hildebrand Award of the American Chemical Society, "For pioneering applications of nonlinear optical spectroscopies and modeling of liquid surfaces and the resulting new understanding of water structure and bonding at liquid interfaces."[39]
2013 Charles Lathrop Parsons Award of the American Chemical Society, "For distinguished public service to chemistry through advocacy for higher education, wise counsel and leadership in national science policy, and tireless advocacy for women chemists."[41]
2013 Davisson-Germer Prize for "elegant elucidation of the molecular structure and organization of liquid-liquid and liquid-air interfaces using nonlinear optical spectroscopies"[42]
2013 National Medal of Science[43][44][45] for “her landmark discoveries of the molecular characteristics of water; for her creative demonstration of how her findings impact many key biological, chemical and technological processes; and for her extraordinary efforts in the United States and around the globe to promote women in science"
2014 Pittsburgh Spectroscopy Award of the Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh[46]
2017 Honorary Doctorate Degree, Illinois Institute of Technology[47]
2017 Honorary Doctorate Degree, Kansas State University[48][49]
^Richmond, G. L.; Robinson, J. M.; Shannon, V. L. (1988). "Second harmonic generation studies of interfacial structure and dynamics". Progress in Surface Science. 28 (1): 1–70. Bibcode:1988PrSS...28....1R. doi:10.1016/0079-6816(88)90005-6.
^Richmond, G. L. (2002). "Molecular bonding and interactions at aqueous surfaces as probed by vibrational sum frequency spectroscopy". Chemical Reviews. 102 (8): 2693–2724. doi:10.1021/cr0006876. PMID12175265.
^Raymond, E. A.; Tarbuck, T. L.; Brown, M. G.; Richmond, G. L. (2003). "Hydrogen-bonding interactions at the vapor/water interface investigated by vibrational sum-frequency spectroscopy of HOD/H2O/D2O mixtures and molecular dynamics simulations". Journal of Physical Chemistry B. 107 (2): 546–556. doi:10.1021/jp021366w.
^Walker, D. S.; Richmond, G. L. (2007). "Understanding the effects of hydrogen bonding at the vapor−water interface: Vibrational sum frequency spectroscopy of H2O/HOD/D2O mixtures studied using molecular dynamics simulations". Journal of Physical Chemistry C. 111 (23): 8321–8330. doi:10.1021/jp070493v.
^Conboy, J. C.; Messmer, M. C.; Richmond, G. L. (1996). "Investigation of surfactant conformation and order at the liquid−liquid interface by total internal reflection sum-Ffrequency vibrational spectroscopy". Journal of Physical Chemistry. 100 (18): 7617–7622. CiteSeerX10.1.1.537.5368. doi:10.1021/jp953616x.