ACA Election Candidate

Josh Chen: Candidate for Service SIG Chair Elect

I am the Director of the X‐ray Crystallography Core at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I fell in love with X‐ray crystallography since the undergraduate crystallography course I took from Dr. Golen at UMass Dartmouth. Continuing my graduate research under Professor Bruce Foxman at Brandeis University, I was tasked to provide X‐ray structure determination service to the Department of Chemistry, and for my own research explored various thermo‐ and radiation‐induced solid‐state reactions. Following the crystallography career path, I did my postdoc at the Indiana University Molecular Structure Center, where I had the opportunity to work with exciting research subjects in inorganic and organic chemistry, MOFs, supramolecular chemistry, and mineralogy using single‐crystal and powder X‐ray diffraction analyses via in‐ house source and/or synchrotron radiation. Since my work at UNC, besides expanding my scope of proficiency in the field of perovskites and MicroED, I am also investing heavily in graduate‐ and undergraduate‐ crystallographic education, and designing outreach programs for K‐12 to promote crystallographic literacy.

It would be my honor to serve as the next ACA Service SIG Chair, and bring my experience and passion to design the program with balance in leading‐edge crystallographic methods and advancement of established studies, and concurrently provide a friendly environment for the young crystallographers to thrive and grow.