Mark S. Wrighton

Mark S. Wrighton
14th Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis
Incumbent
Assumed office
July 1, 1995
Preceded by William "Bill" H. Danforth
Personal details
Born Mark Stephen Wrighton
June 11, 1949
Jacksonville, FL, US
Spouse(s) Risa Zwerling Wrighton
Residence St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Alma mater Florida State University
California Institute of Technology
Profession College administrator, Chemist
Website Office of the Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis

Mark Stephen Wrighton (born June 11, 1949)[1] is an American academic, an award-winning chemist, and the current Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis.

Early life and education

Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Wrighton grew up in Tennessee, where his father worked at the Naval Air Station in Memphis. As a child, Mark Wrighton enjoyed playing with a home chemistry set (and destroyed his bedroom floor in the process).[2]

He intended to take mathematics and government at Florida State University. Instead, inspired by his freshman chemistry professor, Jack Saltiel, he rapidly switched his major to chemistry.[2] Wrighton received his Bachelor's degree with honors in Chemistry at Florida State University in 1969, winning the Monsanto Chemistry Award for outstanding research. He received his PhD in 1972 at the age of 22 from the California Institute of Technology, working under Harry B. Gray and George S. Hammond. His doctoral dissertation subject was Photoprocesses in Metal-Containing Molecules. At Caltech he became the first recipient of the Herbert Newby McCoy Award.[3]

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Wrighton joined the faculty of the chemistry department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the fall of 1972 as an assistant professor. In 1976, he was promoted to associate professor and was made a full professor the following year, 1977. Wrighton held the Frederick G. Keyes Chair in Chemistry from 1981 to 1989, when he was given the newly endowed Ciba-Geigy Chair in Chemistry.[3] In 1983, he received a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant."[4]

Wrighton sees his role as a chemist as discovering and understanding new things about matter and nature, to lay the basic groundwork so that people can make future prudent choices about technology. He is interested in studying complex systems, where the entire system must be examined to gain full understanding of phenomena. Such research is often multidisciplinary. One such areas is micro-electronics, where molecular materials can be combined "to achieve functions analogous to either biological systems or solid-state electronic systems."[2] His research interests are centered on photochemistry and transition metal catalysis, and include surface chemistry, molecular electronics and photoprocesses at electrodes.[3] His goals include understanding the basic principles underlying the conversion of solar energy to chemical fuels and electricity, creating new catalysts, studying chemical activity at interfaces, and developing new electro-chemical devices.[5]

Wrighton has carried out landmark work in the areas of inorganic photochemistry, photocatalysis and the use of solar energy in photovoltaics. In the early 1970s he discovered photoluminescence in a new class of rhenium (I) tricarbonyl diimine complexes.[6] In the 1980s he and his co-workers developed molecule-based transistors using shadow deposition techniques to create polyaniline layers on Au electrodes.[7][8] Wrighton was one of the first researchers to introduce the idea of electrochemical gating as a way of controlling charge transport in molecular electronics.[9] One of his later areas of research involved attempting to chemically mimic photosynthesis.[10]

He has written more than 300 journal articles and holds at least 16 patents.[3] He is co-author of Organometallic Photochemistry (1979, with Gregory L. Geoffrey), and editor of books and conference proceedings. During his time at MIT, Wrighton supervised the doctoral research of more than 70 students.[5] In 1987, Wrighton became the head of MIT's chemistry department. He became MIT's provost in 1990.[3]

Washington University in St. Louis

In 1995, he left MIT to become chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis. The new position required him to give up an active research career.[10] He is among the highest paid university heads in the United States, making $738,000 in 2007.[11][12] In early 2007 Wrighton was mentioned as a candidate for Harvard University's presidency.[13][14]

As chancellor, he led an ambitious capital campaign and university reorganization process which resulted in the creation of 165 new endowed professorships, as well curriculum reform. In recognition of his achievements, he was elected chairman of the Association of American Universities.[4] He is also a past chair of the Business-Higher Education Forum.

Wrighton was criticized in May 2008 when the university's Board of Trustees voted to honor alumna Phyllis Schlafly with an honorary doctorate, leading to outrage from liberals opposed to her stance on gender issues and from many other members of the university community opposed to her disbelief in evolution. Wrighton distanced himself from the board's decision with a letter to the community disavowing Schlafly's views on science.[15]

National science policy

Wrighton has served as a presidential appointee to the National Science Board (2000-2006), which acts as science policy advisor to the President and Congress and the National Science Foundation.[16]

While at Washington University in St. Louis, Wrighton was one of the signees of a letter from the Association of American Universities, urging all representatives of the U.S. Government to vote in favor of H.R. 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005.[17] With leaders at three other Missouri universities, Wrighton wrote in support of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) research for medical treatment, urging Missouri legislators to distinguish it from the use of stem cells for human reproductive cloning.[18][19]

Awards and honors

Fellowships and appointments

References

  1. ↑ John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (1993). The MacArthur Fellows Program: the first decade, 1981-1991. Chicago: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. p. 176. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Kidder, Rushworth M. (December 11, 1989). "Formulas for Making Choices". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 "National Academy of Inventors elects Chancellor Wrighton as Fellow". Washington University in St. Louis. December 12, 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "FSU alumnus Mark Wrighton, leader in higher education, is awarded honorary doctorate". FSU News. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Mark S. Wrighton Chancellor, Washington University in St. Louis". Washington University in St. Louis. July 20, 2006.
  6. ↑ De Cola, Luisa; Chiorboli, C. (2005). Molecular wires : from design to properties. Berlin: Springer. p. 4. ISBN 9783540257936. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  7. ↑ Sasabe, Hiroyuki (2000). Hyper-structured molecules II : chemistry, physics and applications (2nd International Forum on Hyper-Structured Molecules Sapporo, Japan, 30 May - 1 June 1997). Amsterdam: Gordon & Breach. p. 25. ISBN 978-9056992156.
  8. ↑ Jones, E. Tracy Turner; Chyan, Oliver M.; Wrighton, Mark S. (September 1987). "Preparation and characterization of molecule-based transistors with a 50-nanometer source-drain separation with use of shadow deposition techniques. Toward faster, more sensitive molecule-based devices". Journal of the American Chemical Society 109 (18): 5526–5528. doi:10.1021/ja00252a039. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  9. ↑ Metzger, Robert M. (Jan 10, 2012). Unimolecular and Supramolecular Electronics II: Chemistry and Physics Meet at Metal-Molecule Interfaces. Springer Science & Business Media. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Hoke, Franklin (July 10, 1995). "MIT Provost Mark Wrighton Moves To Washington University As Longtime Chancellor William H. Danforth Steps Down". The Scientist. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  11. ↑ Kelsey Volkmann (November 19, 2008). "Wash. U.'s Wrighton takes pay cut, endowment drops 25%". St. Louis Business Journal. Retrieved 2010-01-12.
  12. ↑ Lewis, Elizabeth (October 26, 2005). "Chancellor's salary higher than Harvard, Duke". Student Life. Retrieved 2007-10-28.
  13. ↑ "Panel Considers 30 for Top Job | News | The Harvard Crimson". thecrimson.com. Retrieved 2014-12-11.
  14. ↑ "Wrighton likely contender for Harvard president position". studlife.com. Retrieved 2014-12-11.
  15. ↑ "Students, Faculty quietly protest Schlafly at Commencement". studlife.com. Retrieved 2014-12-11.
  16. ↑ Academies, Committee on America's Energy Future, National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, National Research Council of the National (2009). America's energy future : technology and transformation (Summary edition. ed.). Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press. p. 642. ISBN 978-0309141451. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  17. ↑ "Letter to all Members of the U.S. House of Representatives". Association of American Universities. May 23, 2005. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  18. ↑ Watts, Judy H. (2005). "Stem Cells Hold Great Promise". Washington University in St. Louis Magazine. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  19. ↑ McCook, Alison (January 3, 2005). "Missouri stem cell ban possible Both sides of somatic cell nuclear transfer debate are pleading their case to legislators". The Scientist. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  20. ↑ "Mark S. Wrighton". Corning Incorporated Board of Directors. Retrieved 24 April 2015.

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