Texas A&M University Professor Kim Renee Dunbar and Her Research Team Make Strides in Inorganic Chemistry
Over an illustrious career spanning decades of scientific breakthroughs, Kim Renee Dunbar has received a variety of awards and accolades for her distinguished contributions. She and her research team at Texas A&M University continue making strides in the advancement of inorganic chemistry with backing from major institutions.
Kim Renee Dunbar has had a significant impact on the international scientific community with her work in the field of inorganic chemistry. She and her research team have spent years studying and developing projects that will aid humanity through novel magnetic materials, improved cancer treatments, and much more. And for her dedicated work, Dunbar has received a number of distinctions and awards that highlight her scientific achievements.
In 2004, Kim Renee Dunbar was named a Davidson Professor of Science as well as a joint holder of the Davidson Chair in Science, making her the first female chair holder in the College of Science. In 2007, she was named a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, which is Texas A&M University’s highest academic faculty rank. She received the ACS Award for Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Inorganic Chemistry in 2015 and has gone on to win a range of other awards and fellowships that recognize her and her team’s landmark discoveries.
Dunbar initially earned a degree from Westminster College before earning her Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from Purdue University in 1984. After graduating with her doctorate, she conducted postdoctoral research at Texas A&M and later returned to their chemistry department after almost fifteen years after leaving. There, she garnered the Davidson Chair in Science and developed the Dunbar Research Group with a strong international component of Postdoctoral Researchers, Visiting Scholars, graduate students, and undergraduate students.
Kim Renee Dunbar and the team behind the Dunbar Group conduct research that focuses on inorganic chemistry with a special emphasis on coordination chemistry. One of the main missions of the group is to understand and better explain the relationship between molecular structure and physical properties in each specific application of their research. The projects they cover span diverse topics including molecular magnetism, metal anti-cancer agents, and multifunctional materials with organic radicals.
The students involved in Dunbar Group have the opportunity to expand their chemical knowledge outside the boundaries of their degree specialty. They gain experience in a variety of state-of-the-art techniques and instrumentation, which include air-free synthesis (glovebox and Schlenk-line), X-ray crystallography, SQUID magnetometry, mass spectrometry, computational chemistry, cell viability assays, electrochemistry, and electronic, EPR, infrared, and NMR spectroscopies.
Kim Renee Dunbar has received great support from many respected institutions and organizations over the years that finance the group’s research efforts. Among notable contributors are the United States Department of Energy, the American Chemical Society, the Welch Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Science Foundation. Today, her research, with support from Texas A&M University, continues to change chemistry for the better in research facilities and laboratories around the world.