Tobin J. Marks is Vladimir N. Ipatieff Professor of Catalytic Chemistry, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and Professor of Applied Physics at Northwestern University, and Distinguished Adjunct Professor at Texas A&M Qatar and at Korea University.

His research interests include transition metal and f element organometallic chemistry; catalysis; vibrational spectroscopy; synthetic facsimiles of metalloprotein active sites; carcinostatic metal complexes; solid state chemistry and low-dimensional molecular metals; nonlinear optical materials; polymer chemistry; tetrahydroborate coordination chemistry; macrocycle coordination chemistry; molecular electro-optics; metal-organic chemical vapor deposition; polymerization catalysis; printed flexible electronics; solar energy; and transparent conductors.

Professor Marks has received American Chemical Society National Awards in Polymeric Materials, 1983; Organometallic Chemistry, 1989; Inorganic Chemistry, 1994; Chemistry of Materials, 2001; Distinguished Service in Inorganic Chemistry, 2008; Organic Chemistry/Cope Senior Scholar, 2010; Catalysis (Somorjai), 2013. He received the 2000 American Chemical Society Cotton Medal, 2000; American Chemical Society Willard Gibbs Medal, 2001; N. American Catalysis Society Burwell Award, 2001; American Chemical Society Linus Pauling Medal, 2001; American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal, 2002; German Chemical Society Karl Ziegler Prize, 2003; Royal Society of Chemistry Frankland Medal, 2003; American Chemical Society Bailar Medal, 2005; Principe de Asturias Prize for Scientific Research, 2009; N. American Catalysis Society Pines Award, 2009; 2009 Taylor Materials Research Award, Penn. State U., 2009; 2009 Von Hippel Award, Materials Research Society; 2010 American Chemical Society Nichols Medal; 2010 Distinguished Affiliated Professor Award and Wilhelm Manchot Prize, Technical U. of Munich; 2010 American Chemical Society Mosher Award; 2011 Schulich Prize, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology; 2011 Dreyfus Prize in the Chemical Sciences; 2012 American Chemical Society Richards Medal; 2012 National Academy of Sciences Award in the Chemical Sciences; Distinguished Alumni Award and Election, Circle of Discovery, U. of Maryland, 2012; MacDiarmid Medal, U. of Pennsylvania, 2013; Wilkinson Medal, Royal Society of Chemistry UK, 2014; Sacconi Medal, Italian Chemical Society, 2015; Materials for Industry Award, Royal Society of Chemistry UK, 2015; Einstein Award, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2016; UCLA Tannas Award, 2016; American Chemical Society Priestley Medal, 2017.

Peer-reviewed publications: 1,245; h-index = 141 on 78,600 citations; Issued US Patents: 260

Education

• B.S. University of Maryland, 1966
• Ph.D Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1970
  

Honors and Fellowships

• 2017 American Chemical Society Priestley Medal
• 2016 Honorary Professor, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics
• 2016 Eminent Scientist Award, American Chemical Society Undergraduate Program 
• 2016 Tannas Award in Materials Science, University of California, Los Angeles
• 2016 Member, U.S. National Academy of Inventors 
• 2016 Chinese Academy of Sciences President’s International Distinguished Scientist Award
• 2015 Honorary Foreign Fellow, Chinese Chemical Society
• 2015 UK Royal Society of Chemistry Award for Industrial Materials
• 2015 Luigi Sacconi Medal, Italian Chemical Society
• 2014 Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson Medal, Royal Society of Chemistry;
• 2013 Alan G. MacDiarmid Medal, University of Pennsylvania; 
• 2012 Theodore W. Richards Medal, American Chemical Society;
• 2012 U.S. National Academy of Sciences Award in the Chemical Sciences;
• 2012 Member, U.S. National Academy of Engineering;
• 2012 Distinguished Alumni Award and Election, Circle of Discovery, University of Maryland;
• 2012 American Chemical Society Somorjai Award for Creative Research in Catalysis;
• 2011 Schulich Prize, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology;
• 2011 American Chemical Society Arthur Cope Senior Scholar Award in Organic Chemistry;
• 2011 Member, Indian National Academy of Sciences;
• 2011 Dreyfus Prize in the Chemical Sciences 
• 2010 William H. Nichols Medal, American Chemical Society;
• 2010 Wilhelm Manchot Prize, Technical University of Munich; 
• 2010 Mosher Award, American Chemical Society; 
• 2009 Fellow, Materials Research Society; 
• 2009 Materials Research Society von Hippel Award; 
• 2008 American Chemical Society Award for Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Inorganic Chemistry; 
• 2008 Principe de Asturias Prize for Technical and Scientific Research (Spain);
• 2005 Induction into University of Maryland Hall of Fame 
• 2005 Fellow, Royal Society of Chemistry UK;
• 2005 John Bailar Medal, University of Illinois; 
• 2005 Member, Leopoldina German National Academy of Natural Sciences; 
• 2005 US National Medal of Science;
• 2004 Sir Edward Frankland Medal, UK Royal Society of Chemistry; 
• 2003 Karl Ziegler Prize, Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker;
• 2002 American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal; 
• 2001 American Chemical Society Award in the Chemistry of Materials; 
• 2001 Willard Gibbs Medal, American Chemical Society,
• 2001 Linus Pauling Medal, American Chemical Society; 
• 2000 Cotton Medal, American Chemical Society; 
• 1997 Centenary Medal, UK Royal Society of Chemistry; 
• 1994 American Chemical Society Award in Inorganic Chemistry; 
• 1993 Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences; 
• 1993 Member, U.S. National Academy of Sciences; 
• 1989 American Chemical Society Award in Organometallic Chemistry;
• 1989-1990 Guggenheim Fellow; 
• 1984 American Chemical Society Arthur K. Doolittle Award in Polymeric Materials Science and Engineering;
  

Distinguished Named Lectureships

• 2016 Zhang Dayu Lecturer, Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Chemical Physics 
• 2016 McElvain Academic Lecturer, University of Wisconsin Madison
• 2016 Science at the Cutting Edge Lecturer, Michigan State University
• 2016 ECS Distinguished Faculty Lecturer, University of Texas Dallas
• 2016 Munib and Angela Masri Distinguished Lecturer, American University of Beirut 
• 2016 Oryx Lecturer, Texas A&M Qatar
• 2015 Stone Lecturer, University of Bristol, UK
• 2015 Annual Center for Plastic Electronics Lecturer, Imperial College London
• 2015 Eyring Lecturer, Arizona State University
• 2015 Bergman Lecturer, University of California, Berkeley
• 2015 Texas Distinguished Faculty Lectureship, University of Texas Austin
• 2015 Bergman Lecturer, University of Calfornia, Berkeley
• 2015 Eyring Lecturer, Arizona State University
• 2015 Annual Center for Plastic Electronics Lecturer, Imperial College London
• 2014 University of Gerogia, King Lecturer
• 2014 Distinguished Clean Energy Lecturer, University of Washington
• 2014 Frontiers in Molecular Sciences Lecturer, Chinese Academy of Sciences
• 2014 Xingda Lecturer, Peking University
• 2014 Rausch Lecturer, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
• 2013 Bayer Lecturer, University of Pittsburgh 
• 2013 Bayer Lecturer, Cornell University
• 2012 Inaugural 3 MET Lecturer, University of Kaiserslautern
• 2012 Johnson Lecturer, Stanford University
• 2012 Karcher-Barton Lecturer, University of Oklahoma
• 2011 Distinguished International Lecturer, Institute for Advanced Study, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
• 2011 Shore Lecturer, Ohio State University
• 2011 Distinguised Visiting Professor, Weizmann Institute of Science
• 2010 Schaeffer Lecturer, University of New Mexico
• 2010 Jones Lecturer, Queens University (Ontario)
• 2010 Second Semana de la Ciencia y la Innovation Plenary Lecturer, Mexico City
• 2010 Abelson Lecturer, Washington State University
• 2010 Kilpatrick Lecturer, Illinois Institute of Technology
• 2009 First Semana de la Ciencia y la Innovation Plenary Lecturer, Mexico City
• 2009 Center Bangalore, India
• 2009 First International Materials Science Lecturer, International Centre for Materials Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru
• 2009 Director's Distinguished Lecturer, U.S. National Science Foundation
• 2009 Chevron-Phillips Lecturer, Virginia Tech
• 2009 Dawson Lecturer, University of Kentuck
• 2009 Frontiers in Chemistry Lecturer, Wayne State U
• 2008 Crano Lecturer, University of Akron
• 2008 MacLean Lecturer, McMaster University
• 2008 Whelan Lecturer, University of Texas El Paso
• 2008 Butler Lecturer, University of Florida
• Davis Lecturer, Unviersity of South Carolina
• 2007 Boulder Scientific Lecturer, Colrado State U
• 2006 Jortner Lecturer, Tel Aviv University
• 2006 Gomberg Lecturer, University of Michigan
• 2005 Abbott Lecturer, Montana State University
• 2005 Otto M. Smith Lecturer, Oklahoma State University
• 2005 Alumni Distringuished Lecturer, Michigan State University
• 2005 UNIVERSITY Pierre et Marie Curie Institut Universitaire de France Professor
• 2004 H.B. Jonassen Lecturer, Tulane U. 
• 2003 Milkovich Lecturer, University of Akron
• 2003 Walton Lecturer, Purdue University
• 2003 Arthur D. Little Lecturer, MIT
• 2002 Bigeleisen Lecturer, SUNY Stony Brook
• 2001 Renowned International Visiting Scholar, Hong Kong, Polytechnical University
• 2000 McElvain Lecturer, University of Wisconsin
• 1999 Convention Intercantonale Romande Lecturer, Switzerland
• 1999 Marcus Lecturer, Washington University
• 1999 Abbott Lecturer, University of North Dakota
• 1998 Closs Lecturer, University of Chicago
• 1998 Seaborg Lecturer, University of California Berkeley
• 1997 Siedle Lecturer, Indiana University
• 1996 Kilpatrick Lecturer, Illinois Institute of Technology
• 1996 Xerox of Canada Distinguished Lecturer (University of British Columbia; Victoria U) 
• 1996 H.C. Brown Lecturer, Purdue University
• 1996 Musher Lecture, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• 1995 Fishel Lecturer, Vanderbilt University
• 1995 Lind Lecturer, University of Tennessee- Oak Ridge Nat. Lab.
• 1995 Gooch-Stephens Lecturer, Baylor University
• 1994 Stieglitz Lecturer, University of Chicago- Chicago ACS Section
• 1994 Japan Society of Organic Chemistry Lectureship
• 1994 E.F. Smith Lecturer, University of Pennsylvania
• 1994 W.R. Grace Lecturer, University of Maryland
• 1993 ICI Distingiushed Lecturer, University of Calgary
• 1993 Purves Lecturer, McGill University
• 1993 Hill Lecturer, Duke University
• 1993 Karcher Lecturer, University of Oklahoma
• 1992 National Science Council of Taiwan Lecturer
• 1992 Gordon Lecturer, University of Toronto
• 1991 RIKEN Frontier Research Program Visiting Scientist (Japan)
• 1990 Dow Lecturer, Boston College
• 1990 Roberts Lecturer, Grinnell College
• 1989 Graduiertenkolleg Lecturer, Technical U./Free University of Berlin
• 1988 Frontiers in Chemistry Lecturer, Texas A&M University
• 1988 ESSO Lecturer, University of Toronto
• 1988 Kolthoff Lecturer, University of Minnesota
• 1987 Tables Rondes Roussel-Uclaf Lecturer, Paris
• 1987 Merck-Frosst Lecturer, University of British Columbia
• 1987 Boomer Lecturer, University of Alberta
• 1986-1987 Phi Lambda Upsilon Lecturer, University of Nebraska
• 1986 SACS Lecturer, University of South Carolina
• 1986 Asher Visiting Lecturer, Technion Israel
• 1986 Distinguished Visiting Lecturer, University of Hawaii
• 1984-1985 Reilly Lecturer, University of Notre Dame
• 1984 Lemieux Lecturer, University of Ottawa
• 1981 Distinguished Visiting Professor, University of Western Ontario
• 1980 President Lecturer, Technical University of Berlin
• 1980 Distinguished Visiting Lecturer, University of Texas at Austin
  

Current or Past Editorial and Advisory Board

Journal of Inorganic and Nuclear Chemistry; Inorganic Syntheses; Organometallics; Inorganica Chimica Acta; Polyhedron; Polymer; Progress in Inorganic Chemistry; Chemical Communications; Accounts of Chemical Research;Journal of Molecular Catalysis; Topics in Organometallic Chemistry; Catalysis Letters; Actinide and Lanthanide Reviewer for Annual Surveys of Organometallic Chemistry; Topics in Catalysis; Nouveau Journal de Chimie/New Journal of Chemistry; Chemistry of Materials; Advanced Materials, CVD; Oxford Monographs on the Physics and Chemistry of Materials; Crystal Engineering Communications; Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences; MRS Communications; Organic Photonics and Photovoltaics.

Governing Council, Gordon Research Conferences; External Advisory Committee, Beckman Institute, University of Illinois; ​​​​​​​

Companies Founded

Polyera Inc., in Skokie IL (Headquarter laboratories), San Francisco CA (Design center), and Hsinchu Taiwan (Applications center); currently 104 employees. 

Professional Societies

• American Chemical Society; 
• Society for Applied Spectroscopy; 
• International Society for Magnetic Resonance; 
• Materials Research Society; 
• Sigma Xi; 
• Phi Beta Kappa; 
• American Association for the Advancement of Science;
• U.S. National Academy of Sciences; 
• American Academy of Arts and Sciences;
• German National Academy of Natural Sciences; 
• Royal Society of Chemistry (UK); 
• Chemical Research Society of India, Indian National Academy of Sciences; 
• Israel Chemical Society, Honorary Member.
  

Professional Service

• Minuteman, Chicago ACS section, 9/71 2000. 
• Organizer, Inorganic Chemistry Symposia, Great Lakes Regional ACS Meeting, 6/76. Symposium Planning Committee, Inorganic Chemistry Division, ACS, 6/77 6/78. Director, NATO Advanced Study Institute, "Organometallics of the f Elements", SOGESTA Conference Center, Urbino, Italy, 1978.
• Principal Organizer, NSF National Organometallic Chemistry Workshop, 1980 1982. 
• Councillor, Inorganic Chemistry Division, ACS, 1/80 12/85. Member, National Research Council Solid State Sciences Advisory Panel, 1980 1985.
• Organizer, Lanthanide and Actinide Symposium, 28th IUPAC Congress, Vancouver, 1981. American Chemical Society Tour Speaker, 1981.
• Organizer, Organometallics of the f Elements Symposium, 15th Rare Earth Research Conference, Rolla, 1981.
• Organizing Committee, Second China Japan U.S.A. Inorganic and Organometallic Chemistry Conference, Shanghai, 1982. 
• Steering Committee, Gordon Research Conference on Organometallic Chemistry, 1982. Steering Committee, First International Conference on the Chemistry and Technology of the Lanthanides and Actinides, Venice, 1983. 
• Director, NATO Advanced Study Institute, "Fundamental and Technological Aspects of Organo f Ele¬ment Chemistry," Maratea, Italy, 1984. 
• Oversight Review Team, NSF Chemistry Division, 1982. 
• ACS Publications Committee, 1983 1985. Steering Committee, Second International Conference on the Chemistry and Technology of the Lanthanides and Actinides, Lisbon, 1987. Committee on ONR Chemical Sciences Research Planning, 1985-1988. 
• Task Force, ACS Materials Chemistry Journal, 1986. 
• Organizing Committee, NSF Workshop on Materials Preparation Facilities, 1987. 
• Organizing Committee, International Conference on Synthetic Metals '88. Chairman, Gordon Research Conference on Inorganic Chemistry, 1989. 
• Editor, Polyhedron symposium-in-print, "Metal-Ligand Bonding Energetics in Organotransition Metal Compounds",1988.
• Organizer, "Bond Energies and the Thermodynamics of Organometallic Reactions" Symposium, Fall ACS National Meeting, Miami, 1989. 
• Organizing Committee, Sixth International Symposium on "Relations Between Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Catalysis," Pisa, 1989. 
• Senior Scientist Appointments Committee, Chemistry Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 1988-1992. 
• Instrumentation Advisory Committee, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 1989. National Science Foundation Chemistry Advisory Committee, 1990-1992. 
• Organizer, First International Workshop on MOCVD of High-Tc Superconductors and Related Materials, Evanston, 1992. 
• Local Organizer, First NSF Joint U.S.-Russian Inorganic/Organometallic Chemistry Workshop, Evanston, 1993. 
• Organizer, Second International Workshop on MOCVD of High-Tc Superconductors and Related Materials, Tiburon, 1994. 
• American Chemical Society Willard Gibbs Medal Jury, 1994-2000; 2009-2012. 
• Co-Organizer, Third International Workshop on MOCVD of High-Tc Superconductors and Related Materials, Strasbourg, 1996.
• U.S. Department of Energy-Basic Energy Sciences Council on Chemical Sciences, 1996-2001; Chair, 1999-2001. 
• Task Force, ACS Review of Inorganic Chemistry, 1996-1997. 
• Organizing Committee, NSF Solid State Chemistry and Materials Workshop, 1998. 
• Committee of Visitors Review Team, NSF Chemistry Division, 1998 Editor Search Committee, Organic Letters, 1998. 
• Technology Vision 2020 Catalysis Report Team, ACS, CMA, AICHE, CCR, SOCMA.
• Organizer, U.S. Department of Energy-Basic Energy Sciences International Workshop on Opportunities for Catalysis in Carbon Management, Santa Fe, 1999. 
• National Research Council Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology, 2000-2003. 
• Editor Search Committee, ACS journal Inorganic Chemistry, 2000. 
• Co-Organizer, National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council Workshop “Carbon Management: Implications for R&D in the Chemical Sciences,” December 2000.
• Assessment Panel, University Grants Committee, Hong Kong, 2001. 
• ACS Task Force on Guidelines for Editor Search Committees. 
• Organizing Committee for Materials and Manufacturing Workshop, National Research Council Committee on Challenges for the Chemical Sciences in the 21st Century, Washington, June 2001.
• Lecturer, ACS Short Course on Inorganic Polymers, 1987-2003. Editor Search Committee, ACS journal Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2001. 
• Organizer, U.S. Department of Energy-Basic Energy Sciences Workshop “Frontiers in Homogeneous Catalysis”, O’Hare, Sept. 2002.
• Organizer, 11th International Symposium on Relations Between Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Catalysis, Evanston, July 2003.
• Assessment Panel, University Grants Committee, Hong Kong, 2004. 
• Review Committee Chair, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Feb. 2005. 
• Co-Organizer, ACS-IEEE-MRS Symposium on Organic Microelectronics, Newport, Rhode Island, 2005.
• Coauthor, NAS-NRC Report, International Chemical Research Benchmarking, 2007
• Co-Organizer, International Conferences on Transparent Conducting Oxides, Heriklon, 2006, 2008, 2010. 
• Co-author, U.S. Department of Energy-Basic Energy Sciences Report, Directing Matter and Energy: Five Challenges for Science and the Imagination, 2008.
• Co-author, ONR/NSF report, Hybrid Flexible Electronics Research in Europe, 2009 Review Committee, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, March 2010. 
• Co-author & NSF Coordinator, Five-Nation “Chemical Sciences and Society Symposium” report, Chemistry for a Sustainable Global Society, RSC Publications, 2010. 
• Council on Higher Education Review Committee on Israeli Chemistry Curricula, 2011. Organizing Committee, NAS Award for Initiatives in Research (Young Scientist Award), 2012 Co-author, NSF-ONR report Organic Photovoltaics-Current Status and Opportunities, 2013. 
• Co-Chair, Vice Chair, Gordon Research Conference on Hybrid Electronic and Photonic Materials and Phenomena, Hong Kong, 2014, 2016 
• NSF Chemistry Division Director Search Committee, 2015.
  

Others

• Publications in Peer-Reviewed Journals - 1245 
• H-index - 141 (on 78,500 citations) 
• Issued U.S. Patents - 260