Outstanding Achievement Award Recipient
College of Science and Engineering, June 5, 2025
Angela K. Wilson, John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Michigan State University, received a PhD in chemical physics in 1995 from the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota. She is widely known for her exceptional scientific accomplishments in theoretical and computational chemistry and for her international scientific leadership. One of her significant research contributions resulted in accurately predicting the thermochemical properties of molecules. The importance of her research is confirmed by the numbers of citations and downloads her papers have received. For example, one of her papers (J.Mol.Struct. THEOCHEM 1996, 388, 339-349) is among the top ten most cited articles in that journal’s history. She has published more than 200 articles, papers, and reviews; and, she has been an invited lecturer at international conferences, symposia, universities, and companies. Wilson is the editor of two books and has served as the guest editor of several notable journals in the field of chemistry. Her research has been honored by national and international awards, including the American Chemical Society Francis P. Garvan-John M. Olin Medal (2105) and the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) Distinguished Woman in Chemistry (2013). She also is a Fellow of the American Chemical Society (2104) and the American Physical Society (2013). Not only is Wilson an outstanding leader in the international chemistry community, including service as director of the Division of Chemistry at the National Science Foundation, she also has had multiple service roles in the American Chemical Society and other professional societies. While at the University of North Texas (UNT), she founded the Center for Advanced Computing and Modeling (2005) and served as the center’s director until she left in 2016. She also served as UNT’s associate vice provost for faculty from 2015-16. Wilson is a dedicated mentor, who has trained numerous post-doctoral, PhD, and undergraduate students throughout her career. It is evident that Professor Wilson has given her absolute all to science and the success of chemistry.
Biographies are as-of time of award presentation.