Karen Goldberg Is First Vagelos Professor in Energy Research

Dean Steven J. Fluharty is pleased to announce that Karen Goldberg has joined Penn as the Vagelos Professor in Energy Research. She also serves as the inaugural Director of the Vagelos Institute for Energy Science and Technology.

Formerly the Nicole A. Boand Endowed Professor of Chemistry at the University of Washington, Goldberg’s research focuses on developing mechanistic understanding of organometallic reactions relevant to the production of chemicals and fuels. At Washington, she served as Director of the first NSF Phase II Center for Chemical Innovation, the Center for Enabling New Technologies through Catalysis (CENTC).

Goldberg is the recipient of numerous grants, fellowships, and prizes, including the International Precious Metal Institute’s Carol Tyler Award and the American Chemical Society's Award for Organometallic Chemistry. She is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Goldberg has served on the Advisory Boards of several American Chemical Society and Royal Society of Chemistry journals, as a member of the Chemistry Selection Committee for Sloan Research Fellowships, and on the International Advisory Committee of the Solvay Institutes.

The Vagelos Professorship in Energy Research was established by P. Roy Vagelos, C’50, HON’99, and Diana T. Vagelos, parents. Dr. P. Roy Vagelos, a chemistry major who graduated from Penn in 1950 before going on to receive a medical degree from Columbia University, is the retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Merck & Co. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Vagelos served as Chair of the University’s Board of Trustees from 1995 to 1999, and he is a former member of the Penn Arts and Sciences’ Board of Overseers and the former Chair of the Committee for Undergraduate Financial Aid. Diana T. Vagelos is a former Overseer of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

The Vagelos Institute for Energy Science and Technology is made possible by Dr. and Mrs. Vagelos. This most recent philanthropic investment in energy research at Penn follows the couple’s gift to endow two professorships focused on energy research in Penn Arts and Sciences, and their 2012 creation of the Vagelos Integrated Program in Energy Research (VIPER), an undergraduate degree program of Penn Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Science. The Vageloses’ longtime support of Penn Arts and Sciences also includes gifts to establish many science-related programs, undergraduate scholarships, and endowed professorships.

To learn more about the Dr. Goldberg and the Vagelos Institute for Energy Science and Technology, click here.