Ep.33 – Non-Traditional Path to A Tenure-Track Position

Non-traditional path to a tenure-track positionIn this episode, Prof. Schilter talks about his unusual path to a tenure-track position and how his position as a senior editor of Nature Reviews Chemistry is helping his career today as a researcher and educator.   Guest bio: David Schilter attended The University of Sydney, where he received a BS with First Class Honours and the University Medal (2001−2004). He continued at Sydney to pursue graduate work in bio-inorganic and supramolecular chemistry, for which he was awarded a PhD (2005−2009). Combined postdoctoral/lecturing stints at The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2009−2014) and the Institute for Basic Science (2014−2016) saw him extend his repertoire into bio-organometallics and carbon materials, respectively. This experience was further complemented by his editorial roles at Springer Nature, where he helped launch Nature Reviews Chemistry while also serving at Nature Catalysis and Nature Communications (2016−2021). A passion to return to academia and exploit this diverse knowledge saw him join the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Texas State University as Assistant Professor (2021−). His interests lie in the synthesis and characterization of molecular inorganic complexes relevant to biology and catalysis.   https://www.txstate.edu/chemistry/About-the-Department/Faculty-Profiles/schilter.html     Reference list:   Sponsor: De Gruyter: This episode is sponsored by De Gruyter and its portfolio in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. For “Students and Researchers in Mathematics” De Gruyter’s 2022 catalog is now available on This Academic Life website. Contact list: If you have any comments about our show or have suggestions for a future topic, please contact us at info@thisacademiclife.org. You can also find us on the webpage https://thisacademiclife.org and on Facebook group “This Academic Life”.    Cast list:  

• Prof. David Schilter (Guest) is a Professor of Chemistry and BioChemistry at Texas State University.
• Prof. Kim Michelle Lewis (host) is a Professor of Physics and Associate Dean of Research, Graduate Programs, and Natural Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences at Howard University.
• Prof. Pania Newell (host) is currently an Assistant Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at The University of Utah.
• Prof. Lucy Zhang (host) is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI).

Editing team:  

• Music by RuthAnn Schallert-Wygal (schallert.wygal@gmail.com)
• Edited by Angella Chen
• Edited by Jared Duffy
• Artwork is created using Canva (canva.com)

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