UBC Chemistry and Botany welcome new heads

UBC researchers Michael Wolf and Sean Graham will assume the leadership of the departments of Chemistry and Botany respectively, starting July 1, 2016.

Wolf specializes in inorganic and organic materials chemistry, and has served as the Department of Chemistry’s graduate academic advisor and as a director of the Canadian Society for Chemistry. He has published approximately 95 papers in top chemistry journals and his research is funded by both NSERC and CFI.

Graham is an expert in plant biodiversity. He has served as research director for the Centre for Plant Research and as associate director of the Biodiversity Research Centre. Graham has published more than 70 peer-reviewed papers in top journals including Nature and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and his work is funded by NSERC.

“Mike and Sean are very committed to their departments and I look forward to working with both of them to advance our undergraduate education, graduate training and research initiatives,” said Simon Peacock, Dean of the Faculty of Science.

“I’d like to thank all the outstanding candidates who expressed interest in the positions and who took the time to present their visions for the future of Chemistry and Botany at UBC. I’m also profoundly grateful for the outstanding leadership of Mike Fryzuk and Lacey Samuels as heads, particularly their work to strengthen their departments’ major research programs and our world-class STEM education initiatives.”

Wolf earned his PhD in chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1994 and was an NSERC post-doctoral scholar at the University of Texas, Austin from 1994 to 1995.  He was recruited to UBC as an assistant professor in 1995, was tenured and promoted to associate professor in 2001, and promoted to professor in 2007.

Graham earned his PhD at the University of Toronto in 1997 and was a research associate at the University of Washington before joining the University of Alberta as an assistant professor in 1999. In 2003, he was recruited to UBC as an assistant professor in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems and promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2006. In 2011, Graham moved to the Department of Botany and was promoted to professor in 2012.

Department of Chemistry Head Search Committee

Michael Blades, Takamasa Momose, Pierre Kennepohl, Jackie Stewart, Roger Beckie, Anne Thomas, Love Ese Chile and Chriag Apte.

Department of Botany Head Search Committee

Loren Rieseberg, Amy Angert, Patrick Martone, Sunita Chowrira, Bob Shadwick, Sarah Ruddick, Charles Copeland and Varsha Mathur.