Alexandra Velian

avelian (at) uw.edu  | (206) 616-5179 | 304B/C Chemistry Building

Alexandra’s bio, interviews, cv & invited talks below.

Short Biography
Alexandra began her independent career at the University of Washington in 2017. A central goal in the group is to create next-generation catalysts geared to turn green-house gases like methane and carbon dioxide into value added products. Her approach is to use molecular strategies to synthesize single-site catalysts that harness metal-support interactions, and shine light on processes that govern the substrate/active sites/support interactions.

Alexandra’s scientific and academic contributions have been recognized with several awards and distinctions, including the Sloan Fellowship (2024), the Inorganic Chemistry Lectureship Award (2023), the Camille Dreyfus Teacher Scholar Award (2023), the Marion Milligan Mason AAAS Award (2023), the C&EN Talented 12 distinction (2022), a Cottrell Scholar Fellowship (2020), the NSF Career Award (2019), the Young Investigator Award – ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry (2016) and the Alan Davison Prize for the Best Thesis in Inorganic Chemistry at MIT (2015). Most recently, Alexandra Velian was elected chair for the ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry, Organometallic Subdivision (2024), and is also serving on the Editorial Advisory Board for JACS and Inorganic Chemistry (ACS; 2024), as well as Early Career Advisory Board of Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers (RSC; 2024).

Alexandra completed her undergraduate studies in chemistry at Caltech, where she conducted research primarily with Professor Theodor Agapie. As the first member of his group, she developed the synthesis of low-valent mono- and bimetallic complexes supported by a terphenyl diphosphine framework. She received her Ph.D. under the direction of Professor Christopher C. Cummins at MIT, where she developed the synthesis of anthracene and niobium-supported precursors to reactive phosphorus fragments and studied their behavior using chemical, spectroscopic, and computational methods. Notably, this work gave rise to the synthesis of the 6π all-inorganic aromatic anion heterocycle P2N3−, produced in the “click” reaction of P2 with the azide ion. Following her PhD, Alexandra was a Materials Research Science & Engineering Center postdoctoral fellow with Professor Colin Nuckolls at Columbia University, where she worked on creating well-defined functional nanostructures by linking atomically precise metal chalcogenide clusters. Alexandra was born in Tulcea, Romania, and currently lives in Seattle with her husband, two kids and two cats. Outside chemistry, she loves the outdoors and ballroom dancing.
Interviews & Media
Read Alexandra’s C&EN Talented 12 profile here, and watch a short research presentation recorded as part of the C&EN Talented 12 Symposium. Read an interview with Prof, Velian for the Inorganic Chemistry Lectureship Award, here. Listen here to a fun discussion with graduate student Aidan Looby — creator and scope of the podcast “Under the Scope”, about creating undergraduate research opportunities, science in our research group at UW Chemistry & snippets from Alexandra’s time as an undergraduate student at Caltech, graduate student at MIT with Kit Cummins, and postdoc at Columbia University with Colin Nuckolls. 
Professional Appointments & Education
9/16/2024- Associate Professor of Inorganic Chemistry (with tenure),  University of Washington
2017-2024  Assistant Professor of Inorganic Chemistry,  University of Washington
Research Focus:  Atomically precise inorganic clusters and two-dimensional crystals for catalytic, electronic and quantum information applications
2015−2017 MRSEC Postdoctoral Fellow, Columbia University
Advisor: Prof. Colin Nuckolls; Research Focus: Designer materials from superatomic building blocks
2009−2015 Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Advisor: Prof. Christopher C. Cummins; Thesis: “Taming Reactive Phosphorus Intermediates with Organic and Inorganic Carriers”
2005−2009 B.S. with Honors in Chemistry, California Institute of Technology
Advisor: Prof. Theodor Agapie; Thesis: “Mono- and Bi-metallic Complexes Supported by a Versatile Diphosphine Terphenyl Framework”; Advisor: Prof. Jonas C. Peters; Project: Tuning the luminescence in Cu2N2 diamond-core complexes
Selected Awards,  Honors & Leadership
2024 Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry
Kavli Fellow, Chinese-American Kavli Frontiers of Science Program, National Academy of Sciences
Sloan Research Fellowship, Sloan Foundation (one of twenty three chemists)
Chair-Elect for the ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry Organometallic Subdivision
Member of the Early Career Advisory Board for Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers (ACS)
Member of the Editorial Advisory Board for JACS (ACS)
Member of the Editorial Advisory Board for Inorganic Chemistry (ACS)
2023 Pack Leader in Safety (UW)
Inorganic Chemistry Lectureship Award (one of one)
Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, Dreyfus Foundation (one of eighteen)
Marion Milligan Mason Award for Women in the Chemical Sciences, AAAS (one of four; biennial)
Thrust Co-Lead, UW Molecular Engineering Materials Center (MEM-C), NSF
2022 Theme Leader, Programmable Quantum Materials (Pro-QM) EFRC Center, DOE
C&EN Talented 12 (one of twelve)
2021 Cottrell Scholar Award, Research Corporation for Science Advancement (one of fifteen chemists)
Reviewer Award Inorganic Chemistry, ACS (one of one hundred and ten)
2020 JACS Young Investigators (one of twenty-seven)
CAREER Award, NSF
2017–20 Bernard and Claudine Nist Endowed Fellow
2016 Young Investigator Award (ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry)
2015 Alan Davison Prize for the Best Thesis in Inorganic Chemistry (MIT)
Chair, Organometallics Gordon Research Symposium
2013 Morse Travel Grant (MIT)
2006–09 Hannah Bradley Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow (Caltech); Milton and Rosalind Chang Scholarship (Caltech); Edward W. Hughes Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (Caltech); Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (Caltech); Diane and Henry H. Hilton Scholarship (Caltech)
2002–04 Bronze medal, 38th Edition of D. Mendeleev International Chemistry Olympiad; Several prizes, Romanian National Chemistry Olympiad and C. D. Nenițescu National Competition
Invited Lectures & Seminars
  1. University of Chicago, Department of Chemistry, Chicago, IL, February 12, 2024
  2. “Rising Stars Symposium”, Columbia University, Department of Chemistry, New York, NY, January 26, 2024
  3. University of Minnesota, Department of Chemistry, Minneapolis, MN, December 7, 2023
  4. Yale University, Department of Chemistry, New Haven, CT, November 13, 2023
  5. Johns Hopkins University, Department of Chemistry, Baltimore, MD, October 24, 2023
  6. University of Washington, Department of Chemistry, Seattle, WA, October 3, 2023
  7. The University of Western Ontario, Department of Chemistry, Ontario, Canada, September 20, 2023
  8. Boston University, Department of Chemistry, Boston, MA, September 11, 2023
  9. Indiana University, Bloomington, Department of Chemistry, Bloomington, IN, August 25, 2023
  10. University of Michigan, Department of Chemistry, Ann Arbor, MI, June 6, 2023
  11. University of California at Davis, Department of Chemistry, Davis, CA, May 9, 2023
  12. Harvard University, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cambridge, MA, May 4, 2023
  13. The Ohio State University, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Columbus OH, March 22, 2023
  14. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Chemistry, Madison, WI, March 1, 2023
  15. Purdue University, Department of Chemistry, West Lafayette, IN, January 24, 2023
  16. Caltech, Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Pasadena, CA, January 9, 2023
  17. University of Pennsylvania, Department of Chemistry, Philadelphia, PA, November 16, 2022
  18. Colorado State University, Department of Chemistry, Fort Collins, CO, September 27, 2022
  19. University of California at Berkeley, Department of Chemistry, Berkeley, CA, September 9, 2022
  20. Stanford University, Department of Chemistry, Stanford, CA, May 26, 2022
  21. University of Rochester, Department of Chemistry, Rochester, NY, May 9, 2022
  22. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Chemistry, Chapel Hill, NC, April 26, 2022
  23. University of Maryland, Laboratory for Physical Sciences, College Park, MD, (virtual) April 13, 2022
  24. University of Houston, Department of Chemistry, Houston, TX, (virtual) April 20, 2021
  25. University of Diponegro, Department of Chemistry, Semarang, Indonesia (virtual) April 13, 2021
  26. Western Washington University, Chemistry Department, Bellingham, WA, May 10, 2019
  27. Pacific Lutheran University, Department of Chemistry, Tacoma, WA, October 29, 2018
  28. Whitman College, Chemistry Department, Walla Walla, WA, November 2, 2017
Conferences & Symposia
  1. Fall 2023 ACS National Meeting, Division of Inorganic Chemistry, “2023 Inorganic Lectureship” Award Address, San Francisco, CA, August 13–17, 2023.
  2. Organometallic Gordon Research Conference, Salve Regina University, Newport, RI, July 9-14, 2023.
  3. Spring 2023 ACS National Meeting, Division of Inorganic Chemistry, “2023 M. Frederick Hawthorne Award in Main Group Inorganic Chemistry: Symposium in Honor of Christopher Cummins”, Indianapolis, IN, March 26–30, 2023.
  4. Atomically Precise Nanochemistry Gordon Research Conference, Ventura, CA, October 16-21, 2022.
  5. C&EN Talented 12 Symposium (virtual) September 19-21, 2022.
  6. The 2022 M. Frederick Hawthorne Award in Main Group Inorganic Chemistry Symposium, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, September 16, 2022.
  7. Fall 2022 ACS National Meeting, Division of Inorganic Chemistry, “Emerging Areas in Inorganic Chemistry” Symposium, Chicago, IL, August 21–25, 2022.
  8. Organometallic Gordon Research Conference, Salve Regina University, Newport, RI, July 10-15, 2022.
  9. Inorganic Gordon Research Conference, Salve Regina University, Newport, RI, May 29 – June 3, 2022.
  10. 105th Canadian Chemistry Conference & Exhibition (CCCE), “Main Group Chemistry: Concepts, Catalysts, and Materials” Symposium, Calgary, Alberta June 13–17 2022 (Missed due to COVID; seminar presented by graduate student Kendahl Walz Mitra).
  11. Spring 2022 ACS National Meeting, Division of Inorganic Chemistry, “Phosphorus Symposium”, San Diego, CA, March 20–24, 2022.
  12. Spring 2022 ACS National Meeting, Division of Inorganic Chemistry, “Organometallics Distinguished Author Symposium in Honor of Robert Gilliard”, San Diego, CA, March 20–24, 2022.
  13. Spring 2022 ACS National Meeting, Division of Inorganic Chemistry, “Multimetallic molecular and extended platforms for energy applications” Symposium, San Diego, CA, March 20–24, 2022.
  14. ACS Periodic Table Talks (Nanoscience Division); Virtual seminar series of the Division of Inorganic Chemistry of the ACS; March 9, 2022.
  15. 2021 Nanocrystals Northwest, University of Washington, August 25-27, 2021.
  16. Spring 2021 Northwest Regional Meeting, “Cottrell Scholars from the NW and Beyond”, May 9–11, 2021. (virtual)
  17. Spring 2021 ACS National Meeting, Division of Inorganic Chemistry, “Harry Gray Award for Creative Work in Inorganic Chemistry by a Young Investigator Symposium in Honor of Smaranda Marinescu”, April 7, 2021. (virtual)
  18. Spring 2021 ACS National Meeting, Division of Inorganic Chemistry, “Harry Gray Award for Creative Work in Inorganic Chemistry by a Young Investigator Symposium in Honor of Hemamala Karunadasa”, April 8, 2021. (virtual)
  19. Phosphorus Chemistry Seminar Series, July 7, 2020. (virtual)
  20. Global Inorganic Discussion Weekends (GIDW), May 25, 2020. (virtual)
  21. Northwest Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, The “Bioinspired Catalysts, Compounds, and Reactions” Session; Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA June 28th -July 1, 2020. (Canceled due to COVID-19)
  22. Organometallic Gordon Research Symposium and Conference, Salve Regina University, Newport, RI, US, July 2019. (poster)
  23. Spring ACS National Meeting, Division of Inorganic Chemistry, “Fresenius Award Symposium in Honor of Brandi Cossairt”, Orlando, FL, March 31 – April 4, 2019.
  24. Spring ACS National Meeting, Division of Inorganic Chemistry, “Chemistry at the Interface of Solution-processed Inorganic Materials”, Orlando, FL, March 31 – April 4, 2019.
  25. International Conference on Energy Systems and Storage, Biannual conference by the Clean Energy Institute, WA, September 2018. (poster)