Janice Reutt-Robey is currently professor and chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her experimental research program centers on mass and charge transport processes for real-world applications in energy and sustainability. Her interdisciplinary research has resulted in nearly 100 publications in leading scientific journals. She has held leadership positions in many science and technology organizations, including Maryland’s Materials Science Research & Engineering Center, the Physical Electronics Conference, the AVS Science & Technology Society and the American Physical Society, and been further recognized as a Sloan Fellow, Packard Fellow, and Presidential Young Investigator.
As a faculty member, she brought on line at UMD a number of shared research facilities with cutting-edge instruments that demand stringent site requirements. Since becoming department chair in 2012, she has led the department through the design, construction, and occupation of two new chemistry buildings. The 2017 Edward St. John’s Teaching & Learning Center, added nine instructional chemistry laboratories in a dedicated chemistry wing. The 2024 Chemistry Building replaced an obsolete wing of the chemistry complex with a state-of-the art research building for molecular science. Important insights were gained throughout the design, construction, and early occupation of the Ballinger-designed building.
A native of western Massachusetts, Janice Reutt-Robey earned a B.A. in chemistry from Haverford College, a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California Berkeley, and then joined the A.T.&T Bell Laboratories as Post-doctoral Member of the Technical Staff in Surface Physics before launching her academic career. When she is not managing a complex academic unit and engaged in research and teaching, she enjoys cooking and outdoors activities and spending time with her husband and daughters.