Nathan Van Zee '10
Wilkes Honors College, Chemistry, 2010
Wilkes Honors College alumnus, Nathan J. Van Zee, Ph.D., is lead author on a study published in the journal "Nature" about water’s role in the formation of supramolecular structures. Van Zee is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands. He received his bachelor’s degree from the Wilkes Honors College in 2010 and earned his PhD in polymer chemistry from Cornell in 2015. The titled, “Potential enthalpic energy of water in oils exploited to control supramolecular structure” provides new insights on how small concentrations of water can impact results in laboratory experiments. Van Zee stumbled upon the topic on accident. “For months I struggled with irreproducible results, but, after making a small mistake in setting up an experiment, I observed that moisture plays a key role in my experiments. At that point I knew that I had found something important. Together with some really talented colleagues in Eindhoven, we ultimately gained a better fundamental understanding of how water molecules interact with surrounding molecules,” said Van Zee, Ph.D. Van Zee attended the Wilkes Honors College as a Flagler Scholar, a full merit award program that provides exceptional students with financial freedom to pursue higher education goals and participate in annual enrichment programs. He cites this experience and the college’s interdisciplinary curriculum as motivation to continue his scientific research career abroad. “As a Flagler Scholar, I was able to travel and do research abroad for the for the first time---I spent a summer in Stuttgart, Germany working on an analytical chemistry project at the University of Hohenheim. I loved that experience, and it motivated me to continue my career abroad,” said Van Zee, Ph.D. He is concluding his current position at Eindhoven University of Technology in September to move to the ESPCI Paris to lecture and conduct research in polymer science. (Pictured left-right: Bert Meijer, Ph.D., professor of Organic Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology; and Nathan Van Zee, Ph.D., postdoctoral researcher, Eindhoven University of Technology.)