NIU Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

05/13/2026

Congratulations to Mariam Adegbenro (pictured here with her dissertation committee member Prof. Timothy Hagen) on her PhD degree! Mariam's dissertation work was performed in the lab of Prof. Doug Klumpp, Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus.

05/13/2026

One of our graduate students, Harouna Amadou, sadly passed away earlier this year. Thanks to the efforts of his research advisor, Prof. E. Nesterov (center), and with the full support of NIU administration, Harouna was awarded an honorary PhD degree. It was presented to Harouna's family friends Boubacar Mahamane (right) and NIU History professor Ismael Montana (left).

05/13/2026

Congratulations to Diksha Gautam Guatam (pictured with her advisor Victor Ryzhov) on her Master of Sciences degree! Diksha is now employed by Baxter!

05/11/2026

04/17/2026

You are cordially invited to the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department Annual Banquet Awards event. Please join us for an evening of recognition and celebration as we honor our distinguished award recipients.

Date: Thursday, April 23rd
Time: Social hour 5:00, Dinner 6:00, Awards and Speakers 7:00
Venue: River Heights Golf Course Club House
Dress Code: Business Casual
RSVP: Kindly respond to Ryan Damhoff at [email protected]

01/23/2026

Mary Wirth, '74, had a successful career in academia and scientific research before her retirement as a professor at Purdue, and when it came time to give back to her alma mater, she had a particular NIU mentor on her mind: Joe Vaughn.

“Dr. Vaughn was one of the good people, one of the very best,” she said.

Wirth had the opportunity to thank Vaughn personally during a visit to NIU in September 2025, when she met with him and his wife, Jean, M.A. ’91, and told him about her establishing the first endowed professorship in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in his honor, as part of a planned gift to NIU.

NIU Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Read the story here: https://bit.ly/3L06gZb

12/18/2025

Congratulations to our Graduate students at the December 2025 graduate commencement!

12/16/2025

Congratulations to Robert King (pictured with his PhD advisor Victor Ryzhov at the December 2025 graduate commencement) on his doctoral degree. Well done, Robert!

12/04/2025

Congrats Kiran!
See the announcement below from Wake Forest University.
https://ctsi.wakehealth.edu/announcements/2025/11/faculty-enews-spotlight-article-dr-kiran-k-solingapuram-sai

10/28/2025

Charles Lail and Dr. Tim Hagen after a successful Ph.D. Candidacy Exam!