Dr. Edward Solomon

Biography

Professor Edward Solomon's research spans physical-inorganic, bioinorganic, and theoretical-inorganic chemistry. His work focuses on the spectroscopic elucidation of electronic structure in transition metal complexes and their contribution to reactivity. He has developed new spectroscopic electronic structure methods and applied them to understand the active sites in catalysis. Solomon has made significant contributions to understanding metal sites involved in electron transfer, copper sites engaged in O2 binding, and the activation and reduction of water, alongside structure/function correlations in non-heme iron enzymes. Solomon began his career at MIT in late 1975, became a full professor in 1981, and joined the faculty at Stanford University in 1982. He has held numerous visiting professorships internationally and received prestigious awards, including the ACS National Awards in Inorganic Chemistry and Distinguished Service in Advancing Inorganic Chemistry. His research employs both experimental and theoretical techniques to define the electronic and geometric structures of catalytically relevant transition metal sites, addressing fundamental questions about the relevance of chemistry in biology. Solomon has been a pioneer in using a wide range of spectroscopic and theoretical techniques to probe structure/function relationships and gain mechanistic insights into catalytic processes.

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