Diana Iovan, Ph.D. has joined the faculty of the Department of Chemistry as an assistant professor of inorganic chemistry. 

Diana earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Richmond where she worked with professors Bill Myers and Dean Harman (University of Virginia) to examine the reactivity of a tungsten dearomatization agent towards activating pyrroles. She went on to study at Harvard University under the tutelage of Ted Betley where she explored the electronic structure and reactivity of high-spin dipyrrinato iron complexes involved in C-H bond animation. After receiving her Ph.D. in 2017, she was selected as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute fellow of the Life Sciences Research Foundation and joined Chris Chang’s lab at the University of California, Berkeley. There, she focused on investigating the role of copper as a biological signaling agent.

Her research at Virginia Tech will combine synthetic inorganic, spectroscopic, and bioinorganic tools to tune and explore the reactivity of first-row transition metals. She is particularly focused on ​developing synthetic and biological approaches for tuning the reactivity of earth-abundant, first-row transition metals.

In her spare time, she enjoys going for walks, reading, and spending time with friends.

Welcome to the department, Diana!