Robert J. Gilliard, Jr., Ph.D. – Gilliard Research Laboratory

Principal Investigator
Novartis Associate Professor of Chemistry
Department of Chemistry
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Email: gilliard@mit.edu

Dr. Robert J. Gilliard, Jr. is the Novartis Professor of Chemistry at the Associate Rank in the Department of Chemistry at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Before moving to MIT, he served on the faculty at the University of Virginia. He obtained his bachelor’s degree from Clemson University and doctorate from the University of Georgia. He was a UNCF-Merck Postdoctoral Fellow and a Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow where he completed joint postdoctoral studies at both the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zürich) and Case Western Reserve University.

Professor Gilliard specializes in the chemical synthesis of new molecules that impact the development of new main-group element reagents, including the discovery of unknown transformations of environmentally-relevant small-molecules [e.g., dinitrogen (N₂), carbon dioxide (CO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), and dihydrogen (H₂)]. In addition, he investigates the design, reactivity, and photophysical properties of boron-incorporated luminescent and redox-active polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons for use in optoelectronic and biomedical applications (e.g., stimuli-responsive materials, thermochromic materials, nanographenes, NIR emitters).

Professor Gilliard is the recipient of the American Chemical Society Harry Gray Award “for his outstanding achievements in the development of creative synthetic strategies for low-oxidation-state main-group inorganic materials with unusual bonding and photophysical properties.” He won the Organometallics Distinguished Author Award, which recognizes authors of exceptional articles that emphasize the importance of organometallic chemistry and have made a profound impact on the field. Professor Gilliard received the honor “in recognition of dynamic and ground-breaking research in main-group chemistry, in particular on novel complexes and electronic structures of magnesium and beryllium.” In the past, he has also been named to various lists of notable scientists by media such as Chemical and Engineering News and Forbes Magazine. Professor Gilliard has authored 75 publications and patents applications. He has been an invited speaker at over 100 colleges/universities and scientific conferences in the United States and abroad. He is an associate editor for the Journal of the American Chemical Society and serves on the editorial advisory board at leading international journals, including Inorganic Chemistry, Chemical Communications, Chem Catalysis, ChemistryEurope, and Angewandte Chemie. Professor Gilliard consults on matters related chemical processes, science policy, educational policy, faculty and student mentoring, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Honors and Awards

2025 NIH Maximizing Investigators Research Award (MIRA)
2024 Boron in the Americas (BORAM) Young Investigator Award
2024 Cottrell Plus Singular Exceptional Endeavors of Discovery Award, RCSA
2023 Robert Holland Jr. Award, Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA)
2023 Harry Gray Award for Creative Work in Inorganic Chemistry, American Chemical Society
2022 Lloyd N. Ferguson Young Scientist Award for Excellence in Research, NOBCChE
2022 Research Excellence Award, University of Virginia
2022 Kavli Fellow, National Academy of Sciences
2021 Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering, David and Lucile Packard Foundation
2021 Beckman Young Investigator Award, Arnold & Mabel Beckman Foundation
2021 Dr. Martin Luther King Visiting Professorship, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2021 3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award
2021 Organometallics Distinguished Author Award, American Chemical Society
2021 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow in Chemistry
2021 National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award
2021 Negative Emissions Science Scialog Collaborative Innovation Award
2021 Thieme Chemistry Journals Award
2020 Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN) Talented 12, American Chemical Society
2020 Scialog Fellow, Research Corporation for Science Advancement
2020 Journal of Materials Chemistry C Rising Star
2020 Chemistry-A European Journal Young Investigator
2019 Chemical & Engineering News Editors Choice Must-See Speaker (ACS Meeting)
2019 Inorganic Chemistry Emerging Investigator
2016 CAS/SciFinder Future Leader in Chemistry Award
2016 Forbes Magazine “30 under 30” in Science
2015 Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship (National Academies)
2014 UNCF / MERCK Postdoctoral Science Research Fellowship
2014 Carl Storm Fellowship (Gordon Research Conference)
2014 American Chemical Society Division of Inorganic Chemistry Travel Award
2013 Martin Reynolds Smith Prize (Best Research Publication) – U. of Georgia
2013 Member of the United States Delegation to the Nobel Laureate Meeting (ORAU)
2013 Graduate Research Spotlight Honoree, Georgia Local ACS Section
2013 Chemistry Department Excellence in Teaching Award – U. of Georgia
2012 The University of Georgia Teaching Portfolio Program Scholar
2010, 2012 Graduate School Outstanding Teaching Award – U. of Georgia
2009 Clemson University President’s List Scholar
2009 Clemson University Dean’s List Scholar
2008 American Chemical Society Award for Outstanding Undergraduate
2008 Merck Index Award (Clemson University Department of Chemistry)
2008 Clemson University Student Government Grant Awardee – ACS Meeting
2008-2009 Louis Stokes SC Alliance Participation Scholarship – Clemson University
2007 PEER Research Assistantship – Clemson University
2007/2008 American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Summer Fellow
2006-2007 W.Q. Thompson/Virgil Wells Scholarship
2006/2009 Joseph Albert Mathis Memorial Scholarship
2005-2006 South Carolina State Fair Scholarship
2005-2006 McLeod Health Auxiliary Scholarship
2005-2006 McLeod Regional Medical Center Scholarship
2005-2006 Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center Scholarship
2005-2010 Young Men’s Christian Association Book Scholarship
2005-2009 Sonoco Products Company Scholarship
2005-2009 South Carolina Life Scholarship
2005 Academic Booster Club Scholarship
2005 South Carolina Physics Scholar
2005 South Carolina Scholar Athlete Award

*See CV for a complete list of awards

Invited Lectures and Speaking Engagements

Boron in the Americas (BORAM), December 2024
MIT PEM/University Center for Exemplary Mentoring Seminar, November 2024
Southeastern Regional Meeting of the ACS (SERMACS) – Keynote, October 2024
Purdue University – Departmental Seminar, October 2024
McGill University – Departmental Seminar, October 2024
Princeton University – Departmental Inorganic Seminar, September 2024
20th International Symposium on Novel Aromatic Compounds (ISNA) -Toronto, Canada, August 2024
45^th International Conference on Coordination Chemistry (ICCC 2024) – Fort Collins, Colorado, July 2024
17^th International Conference on Inorganic Ring Systems (IRIS) – Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, July 2024
30th International Conference on Organometallic Chemistry (ICOMC) – Agra, India, July 2024
Stanford University – Departmental Student-Invited Seminar, April 2024
Stanford University – Undergraduate Research, Mentoring, Diversity, April 2024
ACS New Orleans – Symposium in Honor of Holger Braunschweig, March 2024
ACS New Orleans – Diversity in Inorganic Chemistry, March 2024
Dartmouth University – Departmental Seminar, January 2024
Modern Trends in Inorganic Chemistry (MTIC-XX) – Bangalore, India (Keynote Speaker), December 2023.
George Washington University – Annual Caress Lecture, November 2023.
Universal Display Corporation and Adesis (Wilmington, DE)
Packard Foundation Board of Directors (Colorado Springs, CO)
Gordon Research Conference – Photochemistry (Invited Speaker – Optical Materials), August 2023.
ACS Division of Organic Chemistry Graduate Research Symposium (Keynote Speaker), July 2023
Cottrell Scholar Conference – Robert Holland Award Presentation, July 2023
Gordon Research Conference – Organometallics (Invited Speaker – Main-Group), July 2023
Inorganic VIPER Keynote Speaker – June 2023
Canadian Chemical Society– Main-Group Session, June 2023 (Invited Lecture)
XIV International School of Organometallic Chem, (Alicante, Spain) (Plenary Lecture) – May 2023
POLYMAT: Molecular and Supramolecular Materials – Oficinas (San Sebatián, Spain) – May 2023
University of California, Riverside – Departmental Seminar – May 2023
Boston University – Departmental Seminar, April 2023
University of South Carolina – Departmental Seminar, March 24, 2023.
Gordon Research Conference – Inorganic Reaction Mechanisms (Invited Speaker, March 2023)
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign – John C. and Florence Bailar Endowed Lecture, April 4, 2023
International Conference on Main-Group Synthesis and Catalysis, India (Invited) – February 2023
Columbia University – Departmental Seminar, December 2022.
Royal Society of Chemistry Dalton Meeting – Plenary Lecture (London, UK), November 2022.
Virginia Tech – Gladys Yee Peng Endowed Lectureship, November 2022
Arnold & Mabel Beckman Foundation – October 2022
California Institute of Technology (Caltech) – Departmental Seminar, September 12, 2022
Packard Foundation, September 2022
Duquesne University – Departmental Seminar – August 2022
ACS Chicago – George A. Olah Award Symposium in Honor of T. Brent Gunnoe, August 2022.
ACS Chicago – International Crossroads of Organometallic and Group V Chemistry, August 2022.
Texas A&M Inaugural ADSE Lecture – August 15, 2022
29^th International Conference on Organometallic Chemistry – Prague (Keynote Speaker), July 2022.
Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany, July 2022
Boron in the Americas (BORAM), Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, June 2022.
2022 U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad Study Camper Speaker, June 2022.
Fusion Small Molecule Activation Conference – Cancun, Mexico, May 2022.
Yale University – Departmental Seminar, May 2022
University of California, Irvine (Black in Physical Sciences Lecture-Student Invited), May 2022
University of Missouri – Keynote Address (Mizzou Forward), April 2022.
Colorado School of the Mines – Departmental Seminar, April 2022.
University of California, Los Angeles – Departmental Seminar, April 2022.
ACS Hawthorne Award Symposium in honor Philip Power, San Diego, CA, March 2022
ACS Organometallics Distinguished Author Award Lectureship, San Diego, CA, March 2022
University of Minnesota – Departmental Seminar, March 2022.
University of Washington – Inorganic Seminar, March 2022.
University of Washington – Career Development Seminar, February 2022.
University of California, Berkeley – Inorganic Seminar, February 2022.
University of Eastern Africa, Barton – Seminar and Career Lecture – February 2022.
Penn State University – NOBCChE Career Lecture – February 2022.
Baylor University – Departmental Seminar, February 2022.
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI – Departmental Seminar, January 2022.
Boston College – Inorganic Seminar, November 2021.
New York University – Inorganic Seminar, November 2021.
Southwestern Regional Meeting of the ACS, Austin, TX (Invited Speaker), October 2021
Rutgers University – Departmental Seminar, October 2021.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Career Lecture, November 2021.
ChemCatChem and Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. Main-Group Catalysis Symposium, September 2021.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Departmental Seminar, September 2021.
Case Western Reserve University – Departmental Seminar, September 2021
IUPAC-CCCE 2021 (Invited Speaker – Main-Group Session), August 2021.
Pohang University of Science and Technology (South Korea) – Departmental Seminar, May 2021.
University of Strathclyde, Glasgow (Scotland) – Departmental Seminar, April 2021.
Tel Aviv University (Israel) – Departmental Seminar, April 2021.
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI – Departmental Seminar, April 2021.
University of Bath (United Kingdom) – Departmental Seminar, April 2021.
University of Texas, San Antonio, TX – Departmental Seminar, April 2021.
Texas State University, San Marcos, TX – Departmental Seminar, March 2021.
Indiana University, Bloomington, IN – Inorganic Seminar, March 2021.
Amherst University, Amherst, MA – Departmental Seminar, February 2021.
York University (Ontario, Canada) – Departmental Seminar, February 2021.
Western University (Ontario, Canada) – Departmental Seminar, February 2021.
Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS – Departmental Seminar, January 2021.
University of California, San Diego, CA – Inorganic Seminar, January 2021.
Clemson University, Clemson, SC – Departmental Seminar, December 2020.
North Carolina State University – Departmental Seminar, Raleigh, NC, October 2020.
The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH – Departmental Seminar, September 2020.
University of Virginia Chemical Engineering Departmental Seminar, September 2020.
ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry Webinar – Periodic Table Talks, September 2020.
Royal Society of Chemistry Main-Group Seminar, April 2020.
Global Inorganic Discussion Seminar, April 2020.
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN – Departmental Seminar, January 2020.
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD – Departmental Seminar, December 2019.
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX – Inorganic Seminar, November 2019.
University of Houston, Houston, TX – Inorganic Seminar, November 2019.
Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia – Departmental Seminar, October 2019.
Ford Foundation Conference, San Juan, Puerto Rico, October 2019.
University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, Chattanooga TN – Department Seminar, October 2019.
ACS National Meeting San Diego, FL, United States August 2019.
International Conference on Heteroatom Chemistry, Prague, Czech Republic, June 2019.
ACS National Meeting Orlando, FL, United States April 2019.
Juniata College, Huntington, PA, United States, September 2018.
Ford Foundation, Washington, DC, United States, April, 2018.
Claflin University, Orangeburg, SC, United States, April, 2018.
UNC-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States, October, 2016.
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, United States, October, 2016.
Mississippi State University, Mississippi, MS, United States, September, 2016.
Clemson University, Clemson, SC, United States, August, 2016.
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States, July, 2016.
University of Virginia (REU Program), Charlottesville, VA, United States, July, 2016.