Prof. Geraldine Richmond, Presidential Chair of Chemistry University of Oregon, received her bachelor's degree in chemistry from Kansas State University (1975) and her Ph.D. in chemical physics at the University of California, Berkeley (1980).

She has distinguished herself in her experimental and theoretical research aimed at understanding the structural and chemical properties of complex surfaces and interfaces that have relevance to important problems in energy production, environmental remediation, atmospheric chemistry and biomolecular surfaces.  She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Prof. Richmond has also played an important role in setting the national scientific agenda through her service on many science boards and advisory panels.  She has been elected as President (2015) of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and is currently serving as a President Obama appointee to the National Science Board (2012-2018).  She has testified on science issues before committees in the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives and the Oregon House of Representatives. 

She is the founder and chair of the Committee on the Advancement of Women Chemists (COACh), a grass-roots organization assisting in the advancement of women scientists in both the U.S. and in developing countries (http://coach.uoregon.edu).