Jeff Petersen

After graduation from Wisconsin in 1974, Jeff conducted postdoctoral research at Northwestern University for one year before accepting an academic position at West Virginia University. His research interests lie in the areas of early transition metal chemistry and the application of X-ray crystallography for the determination of the molecular structure of inorganic, organometallic, and organic compounds. He taught general chemistry, a senior level inorganic chemistry as well as graduate level courses covering physical methods in inorganic chemistry and chemical crystallography. During his 44 years at WVU, I rose through the ranks to professor and served as the director of graduate studies from 1986-1995 and the associate chair from 2001-2017.

During his tenure at WVU, he served on the editorial boards of Inorganic Chemistry and Organometallics. In 1987 he was one of five professors who were recipients of the WVU Foundation Award for Outstanding Teaching. he also received several teaching awards from the WVU Honors program.

In May 2019, he moved to Manhattan, KS to be closer to his wife’s family. His family still resides in Wisconsin, so he often returns to Madison to visit the campus.