On July 1, 2024, Julian Cooper will join the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Department of Chemistry as an assistant professor to research and unlock new modes of chemical reactivity in materials.
Cooper earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Rice University in 2014 and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2019. Most recently, Cooper has been conducting postdoctoral research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he worked for Prof. Jeffrey Moore in a highly interdisciplinary lab applying chemistry in new ways to tackle pressing real-world challenges.
The Cooper Group will combine the tools of chemistry, materials science, and mechanics to develop new ways to make materials and alter the capabilities of existing materials. “At the fundamental level, we will advance new ways to think about chemical reactivity,” Cooper explains. “More broadly, this research will help address a variety of existing challenges in materials, including challenges in sustainability, energy storage, and materials performance.”