About the Director

Vicki H. Grassian is currently a Professor of Chemistry in the College of Liberal Arts and Science with joint appointments in the College of Engineering and College of Public Health. Professor Grassian has research interests in the applications and implications of nanoscience and nanotechnology in environmental processes and human health. Her research in these areas is currently funded by the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, Army Research Office and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.

Professor Grassian is currently PI or co-PI on several recently funded and submitted research grant application totaling over six million dollars. She has been the recipient of two successful grant applications to acquire over one million dollars in instrumentation to characterize and investigate nanoparticles and nanostructures. This includes acquiring funds to purchase a state-of-the-art scanning probe microscope which will enhance the research infrastructure for nanoscience and nanotechnology on campus.

In the past two years, Professor Grassian has authored or co-authored over 10 publications in the area of nanoscience and nanotechnology including an invited contribution to the Encyclopedia of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology published by Marcell Dekker in 2004 and an invited chapter for a book entitled "Synthesis, Properties and Applications of Oxide Nanomaterials" to be published by John Wiley and Sons in late 2006. In addition, she is currently editing a book for John Wiley and Sons entitled "Nanoscience and Nanotechnology: Environmental and Health Impacts" that is scheduled to be published in 2007. Her recent participation in the EPA and NSF sponsored workshop on grand challenges in the environment nanotechnology/nanoscale science highlights her national efforts in this area as well. Professor Grassian is past chair of Research Council, an advisory committee to the Vice President for Research. She currently serves on the executive committees of several research centers on campus including the Optical Science and Technology Center and Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research. She is a member of the Faculty Council and Faculty Senate.

Besides her involvement in these important on-campus committees, she is a member of the advisory board of Nanoscale Materials a startup nanotech company located in the research park of Kansas State University and the editorial advisory board of the Journal of Physical Chemistry A&B published by the American Chemical Society. At the University of Iowa, she has received a Faculty Scholar Award (1999-2001) a Distinguished Achievement Award (2002), a James Van Allen Natural Science Faculty Fellowship (2004) and the Regents Award for Faculty Excellence (2006). In 2003, she received a National Science Foundation Creativity Award and in 2005, she was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.