Meet Caroline Sauoma

Caroline Saouma, Ph.D., joined the faculty of the Department of Chemistry as an associate professor of inorganic chemistry in August 2023.

Saouma earned her scientiae baccalaureus (S.B.) degree in chemistry from MIT where she   conducted research with Prof. Steve Lippard. Her undergraduate thesis focused on improving Pt-based therapeutics by attaching targeting agents. As an NSFGRFP recipient, she completed her Ph.D. with Prof. Jonas Peters at Caltech and MIT (and back at Caltech again). Her dissertation explored Fe-mediated reduction schemes for N² and CO². She joined Prof. Jim Mayer's group at the University of Washington where she explored proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) reactions at biomimetic Fe-S clusters and metal organic frameworks (MOFs).

She began her independent career as an assistant professor at the University of Utah in 2014. Her group investigates how catalyst design and environment impacts catalyst performance, emphasizing catalysis pertinent to clean energy.

Her research accolades include an NSF CAREER award, being named a JACS early career investigator, and being a Negative Emissions Science Scialog Fellow. She has also been widely recognized for her dedicated service and exemplary teaching.