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 MLK VISITING PROFESSORS & SCHOLARS PROGRAM SEMINAR SERIES !
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2015 NOON – 1:30PM MIT SPOFFORD ROOM (1-­‐236) !!
Dr. Malika Jeffries-EL
MLK Visiting Professor, Chemistry
DESIGNING MATERIALS FOR
HIGH-TECH APPLICATIONS
Since their discovery almost 40 years ago conjugated polymers have been of tremendous scientific
and technological interest due to their semiconductor properties. As a result they are well suited for
organic use in applications, such as solar cells and light emitting diodes. Unfortunately, there are
several issues that have to be addressed before real-life commercialized products based on these
materials can be developed. Since the properties of organic semiconductors can be readily modified
through chemical synthesis, we have turned our attention towards the design and synthesis of
novel building blocks. Our system of choice, polybenzobisazoles posses many exceptional
electronic, optical and thermal properties and thus are ideally suited for diverse organic
semiconducting applications. However, these materials have found limited utility due their lack of
solubility in organic solvents and the harsh conditions required for their synthesis. Using
theoretical models, our group designed a series tunable materials, our recent developments in this
area will be presented.
Bio: Malika Jeffries-EL is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Iowa State University. She received BA degrees
in Chemistry and Africana Studies at Wellesley College in 1996 and Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in chemistry from
The George Washington University in 1999 and 2002 respectively. After spending one year at Smith College as a
Mendenhall Fellow she worked as a post-doctoral fellowship under the direction of Professor Richard D.
McCullough at Carnegie Mellon University. In 2005, she joined the faculty in the Chemistry Department at Iowa
State University and was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2012.
Dr. Jeffries-EL's research focuses on the development of organic semiconductors–materials that combine the
processing properties of polymers with the electronic properties of semiconductors. She has authored over 30
publications, received over 1200 citations and given over 75 lectures domestically and abroad. She has won
numerous awards including the 3M untenured faculty award (2008), the Emerald Honors for most promising
minority scientist (2008), the Lloyd Ferguson Award from the National Organization of Black Chemist and Chemical
Engineers (2009), NSF CAREER award (2009), the ISU-College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Diversity Award
(2011), the ACS-Women Chemist Committee Rising Star award (2012) and the Iota Sigma Pi Agnes Fay Morgan
Award (2013). She also held the ISU Gregory L. and Kathleen C. Geoffrey Faculty Fellowship (2005-2008). She is
also a dedicated volunteer and has served in several activities within the American Chemical Society including the
editorial advisory board for Chemical and Engineering News, the Society Committee on Education (SocEd), the
advisory board for the Women Chemist of Color Initiative, Member-at-large for the Organic Division, Program coChair for the Polymer division and as a councilor for her local section. She also serves the community through her
work with Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated (AKA), and is an initiate of the Lambda Upsilon Chapter
which is MIT's first and oldest sorority. Dr. Jeffries-EL is a native of Brooklyn, New York.
- Lunch will be served. To RSVP, please contact Shauna Bush-Fenty at sfenty@mit.edu -