David Waldeck was honored by the American Chemical Society

David Waldeck received the 2025 Award in Experimental Physical Chemistry from the American Chemical Society. Waldeck is a distinguished professor of chemistry and academic director of the Petersen Institute of Nanoscience and Engineering at Pitt.

His research program uses methods of spectroscopy, electrochemistry and microscopy to investigate primary processes in the condensed phase and in nanoscale assemblies. He and his research group are being recognized for their outstanding contributions to our understanding of electron transfer and the chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS) effect. Although the fact that electrons’ carry charge is widely known, they also act like spinning tops that have magnetic moments. Waldeck’s team is exploring how to quantify the spin selectivity more precisely and how CISS might be used to improve the selectivity and efficiency of redox reactions.