EMU Chemistry Alumnus wins 2022 Alumni Achievement Award

Prof. Hrant Hratchian (B.S. 2001) has been awarded the 2022 EMU Alumni Achievement Award.  He graduated cum laude with a degree in Professional Chemistry from EMU, followed by a Ph.D. in theoretical chemistry from Wayne State University and a postdoctoral fellowship at Indiana University. While at EMU, he pursued several research projects under the guidance of Profs. Milletti and Brewer.

Prof. Hratchian spent the first part of his career as a Research Scientist at Gaussian, the foremost computer software provider for computational chemists. In 2013 he joined the Chemistry Department at the University of California – Merced, the youngest and most diverse University of California campus. He has since received tenure and has been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor. He has served in a number of leadership positions at UC Merced and was recently appointed Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

During his time at UC-Merced, Prof. Hratchian has obtained several grants, totaling more than five million dollars. Most impressively, he has been awarded a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) grant from the National Science Foundation. He has authored and co-authored more than 50 research publications to date.