Faculty Spotlight
Jesse Gordon is an inorganic chemist whose research develops new catalytic strategies for sustainable synthesis and energy conversion. By leveraging coordination chemistry and physical inorganic principles, he designs catalysts that address pressing challenges in energy and chemical production. Gordon emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration, connecting fundamental chemistry with practical applications, while mentoring the next generation of chemists in an environment that values creativity, rigor, and innovation.
What excites you most about joining Northwestern Chemistry, and what do you hope to bring to the department?
I’m especially excited to join Northwestern Chemistry because of its strong culture of collaboration. Throughout my career, working with great colleagues has not only strengthened my research but also led me in new and unexpected directions. Northwestern’s incredible faculty and students create an environment where that kind of exchange is not just possible but actively encouraged, and I look forward to being part of it. Additionally, Northwestern has long been a hub for inorganic chemistry, and I’m eager to contribute to that tradition. I hope to bring fresh perspectives in molecular inorganic chemistry, foster meaningful collaborations, and help shape the field’s future.
Can you tell us about your research focus and how it might intersect with ongoing work at Northwestern?
My research leverages coordination chemistry and physical inorganic principles to develop more efficient, selective, and sustainable catalytic processes. We aim to address key challenges in energy conversion and synthetic chemistry by integrating transition-metal and organometallic chemistry with photochemistry and electrochemistry. Collaboration will be central to our approach, and Northwestern’s strong tradition of interdisciplinary research makes it the perfect environment for this work. Spectroscopic methods will also play a crucial role in understanding our catalysts, and I’m eager to take advantage of Northwestern’s remarkable expertise in spectroscopy, which spans an impressive range of energy and time scales. Additionally, the intersection of molecular and materials chemistry is one of the most exciting frontiers in inorganic chemistry, and I look forward to collaborating with Northwestern’s experts in materials chemistry to bridge these fields and address pressing challenges in catalysis.
How does your research align with or complement the work already happening in Northwestern Chemistry?
A central goal of my lab is to develop more sustainable and selective chemical processes—an area deeply embedded in Northwestern Chemistry. The department has a strong emphasis on catalysis, and I am excited to contribute my perspective as a molecular inorganic chemist to this collaborative effort. The opportunity to engage with the Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy will also be invaluable in advancing research at the intersection of catalysis and sustainability. By working alongside experts in chemistry and energy science, I hope to develop innovative strategies that make chemical transformations more efficient, scalable, and environmentally sustainable.
As you start this new chapter, what are your short- and long-term goals for your lab and graduate student mentorship?
One of my immediate goals is to create an environment where students actively shape the lab. From setting up instrumentation to establishing workflows, students will be directly involved in building the lab from the ground up, fostering a sense of ownership in our shared research space. Beyond the physical setup, I want to cultivate a supportive, curiosity-driven culture where everyone feels valued and empowered. A key part of this is ensuring that students take true ownership of their projects. While I will provide guidance and mentorship, I want them to develop the confidence and independence to drive their research forward and make meaningful contributions to the field. I also believe the best science happens when people with diverse perspectives and backgrounds collaborate, and I want our lab to be a place where students feel supported in bringing their ideas to life.
In the long term, I aim to build a lab that not only produces high-impact science but also develops creative and thoughtful scientists. I hope to see my students grow into independent researchers and leaders who apply their problem-solving, collaboration, and scientific communication skills across a range of careers. I also want our lab to be a place where strong mentorship and collaboration fuel discovery, tackling big challenges in inorganic chemistry and catalysis through interdisciplinary approaches.
Describe your mentorship style.
I view mentorship as a partnership that grows and evolves over time. At the heart of research is learning how to generate new knowledge in an unstructured environment. That freedom can be both exciting and overwhelming, and I see my role as helping students build the confidence and resilience needed to succeed in that setting. I want students to feel supported in taking risks, asking ambitious questions, putting consistent effort into their work, and learning from setbacks. As they become more comfortable navigating this lack of structure, my role as a mentor naturally shifts. I continue to provide guidance and feedback, while also helping them refine their research agenda, share their work with broader audiences, and develop the professional skills they will need for the next stage of their careers. Above all, I want to serve as both a mentor and an advocate, creating opportunities, offering perspective, and supporting students as they grow into independent scholars prepared to thrive in whatever career path they choose. At the same time, my own approach to mentorship continues to evolve, shaped by the perspectives and experiences that emerge from each mentoring relationship.
If you could design a dream collaboration across any field, who would you want to work with and on what problem?
My dream collaboration would bring together people from many different fields to tackle the challenge of storing renewable energy in chemical bonds, spanning everything from fundamental science to practical application. That might mean working with spectroscopists to capture individual steps of a chemical process on ultrafast timescales, with engineers on device design and manufacturing, with economists on technoeconomic analysis, or with toxicologists on assessing environmental impacts. These are only a few examples, and what excites me most about this kind of project is discovering how complex and multifaceted the solutions to global challenges really are. That is why I am especially excited about the various collaborative institutes at Northwestern, which helps bring together people with very different expertise to tackle shared problems.
At the same time, some of my favorite collaborations happen less by design and more by chance. I get especially excited when I come across a technique I did not know existed, particularly when it suddenly opens the door to studying phenomena I could not probe before. I have enjoyed working with spectroscopists who not only develop new methods to explore previously inaccessible processes but also think creatively across the electromagnetic spectrum and over a vast range of time scales. It’s also nice when a reaction I am studying turns out to be a good system for a spectroscopist to showcase their technique.
What’s one thing about you that might surprise your future students or colleagues?
One thing that might surprise my future students or colleagues is that I once seriously considered becoming an economist. In high school I thought that might be my career path, and when I started college, I was strongly considering economics as a major. During my freshman year, I wandered into a seminar where someone was talking about inorganic chemistry. I remember leaving and thinking, “That sounds cool, I’ll try that.” I asked around the department about research opportunities, joined a lab, and quickly fell in love with research. Obviously, I didn’t end up pursuing economics as a career, but I did complete the major, so now I also have a degree in economics.
Discover more about Jesse and his research:
- Education:
- B.S. in Chemistry, University of Florida
- Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, studying metal–oxygen complexes
- NIH NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University
- Research Focus:
- Developing new catalytic strategies for sustainable synthesis and energy conversion
- Leveraging coordination chemistry and physical inorganic principles
- Highly oxidizing photoredox reagents for catalytic organic transformations