The HVCC Chemistry Club recognizes Dr. Lei Zhu (1.31.1964 — 5.14.2024) for for Asian and Pacific Islander Month in 2025.
Lei Zhu graduated from Columbia University in 1991 with a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry. After completing her postdoctoral fellowship as an Enrico Fermi Scholar at Argonne National Laboratory in 1993, she joined Wadsworth Center, NY Dept. of Health and subsequently the faculty at the University at Albany. Over the course of her 30+ year career, she made significant contributions to the field of atmospheric chemistry and achieved the rank of full Professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, at the University at Albany’s School of Public Health. (1) Her research interests included kinetics and photochemistry of homogeneous and heterogeneous atmospheric reactions, atmospheric application of cavity ring-down spectroscopy and its variants, and atmospheric application of time-resolved FT-IR. (2). From 2015 to 2016, she served on the National Academies’ Committee on the Future of Atmospheric Chemistry Research. (1).
Each summer in 2010-2019, Dr. Zhu invited one or two students from HVCC to her lab for a paid internship, providing them with a valuable opportunity to participate in novel research. Some of these students went on to major in Chemistry.