{{Short description|American Chemist}}{{Infobox scientist | name = Arthur B. Ellis | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1951|01|01}} | birth_place = Oakland, California, United States | fields = Inorganic chemistry, Materials chemistry | workplaces = University of Wisconsin–Madison<br>National Science Foundation<br>University of California, San Diego<br>City University of Hong Kong<br>University of California Office of the President | alma_mater = California Institute of Technology<br>Massachusetts Institute of Technology | thesis_title = | thesis_url = | thesis_year = | doctoral_advisor = Mark S. Wrighton | doctoral_students = {{plainlist|1= *Kathleen Gisser *Gerald Meyer *Catherine J. Murphy }} | known_for = Cyber-enabled chemistry, Applied chemistry on metals and semiconductors | awards = George C. Pimentel Award (1997) | website = }}
'''Arthur B. Ellis''' (born 1951) is an American inorganic chemist and research administrator. Formerly Director, Division of Chemistry, U.S. National Science Foundation, served as provost at City University of Hong Kong, vice chancellor for research at the University of California, San Diego, and as the Meloche-Bascom Professor of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is known for his work in applied chemistry on metals and semiconductors.
== Early life and education == Born in Oakland, California in 1951, Arthur Baron Ellis was a studious child who enjoyed chemical experiment from an early age, though he credits his high school and college teachers as the source of his "inspiration" for his field.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Gewin |first=Virginia |date=September 2006 |title=Arthur Ellis, vice-chancellor for research, University of California, San Diego |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/nj7109-368a |journal=Nature |volume=443 |issue=7109 |pages=368 |doi=10.1038/nj7109-368a |issn=1476-4687}}</ref>
After obtaining his BS from Caltech in his native California, Ellis went on to graduate work MIT in Cambridge, MA. His initial research was in optimizing semiconductors and electrolytes to build better solar panels, in the laboratory of Mark S. Wrighton.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Badger chemist : a newsletter from the Department of Chemistry--University of Wisconsin--Madison Newsletter 27 October 1980 - Full view - UWDC - UW-Madison Libraries |url=https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/AH6NIRPTDOPMPN8G/pages/A7D3E6TR7BEEBR8S?as=text |access-date=2025-03-13 |website=search.library.wisc.edu}}</ref> This work earned Ellis his first patent.<ref name=":0" />
== Career ==
Ellis went straight from graduate work at MIT to an assistant professorship at Wisconsin. He was known for in-classroom experimentation, levitating magnets and exposing undergraduates to high-level scientific equipment. "We can't have a static curriculum when research is so dynamic," he is quoted as saying.<ref name=":0" /> Ellis received one of the inaugural NSF Director's Distinguished Teaching Scholar Awards and an NSF Director's Meritorious Service Award.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Devitt |first=Terry |date=December 19, 2001 |title=Ellis named to NSF post |url=https://news.wisc.edu/ellis-named-to-nsf-post/ |access-date=2025-03-13 |website=W News}}</ref> Facing what he believed was a "culture of a traditional American college chemistry course [that] was also off-putting to many students," Ellis was part of a coterie of scientists who advocated "cooperative learning methods and more sophisticated assessment and evaluation tools with the intent of turning these courses into pumps rather than filters."<ref>{{Cite news |title=Student-centered, Nanotechnology-enriched Introductory College Chemistry Courses for Engineering Students |url=https://www.ijee.ie/articles/Vol18-5/IJEE1315.pdf |date=2002 |work=International Journal of Engineering Education |pages=551–56 |volume=18 |issue=5}}</ref>
Ellis published approximately 200 research papers in leading scientific journals while at UW-M, advancing through the ranks to sit for a decade as the Meloche-Bascom Professor of Chemistry.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=August 15, 2016 |title=Dr. Arthur Ellis named Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies at UCOP |url=https://link.ucop.edu/2016/08/15/dr-arthur-ellis-named-vice-president-for-research-and-graduate-studies-at-ucop/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250121034942/https://link.ucop.edu/2016/08/15/dr-arthur-ellis-named-vice-president-for-research-and-graduate-studies-at-ucop/ |access-date=2025-03-13 |website=Link: News from the University of California Office of the President |archive-date=2025-01-21 |url-status=live }}</ref> In this role he advanced the work of Ph.D. candidates who went on to leadership roles in American science, including chemists Peter K. Dorhout, Gerald Meyer, and Catherine J. Murphy.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Academic Tree: Chemistry:The Academic Genealogy of Chemistry Researchers |url=https://academictree.org/chemistry/peopleinfo.php?pid=63065}}</ref>
Ellis was director of the Division of Chemistry at the National Science Foundation (NSF) from 2002 to 2006.<ref name=":0" /> The Division of Chemistry at that time was one of the five divisions that made up the Math and Physical Sciences Directorate at NSF.<ref name=":2" /> While at NSF, Ellis, together with colleagues, continued his focus on integrating education and research development programs to enable the USA's national chemistry community to "pursue large-scale research projects, enhance diversity, and advance bilateral international collaborations."<ref name=":3" />
In his role as Director in the early 2000s, Ellis actively promoted cyber-enabled chemistry, the use of the cyber-infrastructure "to enable new chemical research and education activities through grid computing, community databases, remote access to instrumentation, electronic support for geographically dispersed collaborators, and other Web- and grid-accessible services."<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Morrissey |first=Susan R. |date=October 17, 2005 |title='Cyber-enabled' Chemistry: NSF encourages chemists to apply computers, information technology to research, education |url=https://cen.acs.org/articles/83/i42/Cyber-EnabledChemistry.html |access-date=2025-03-13 |website=Chemical & Engineering News }}</ref> In this capacity, Ellis oversaw creation of the Chemistry Research Instrumentation & Facilities: Cyberinfrastructure & Research Facilities (CRIF:CRF) program, providing millions of dollars of grant money to academic institutions across the United States in fields as varied as Process Informatics Modeling and first-principle quantum dynamics methods.<ref name=":4" /> Ellis's portfolio included the establishment of Chemical Bonding Centers, intended to support long-term projects and transform chemistry research; Discovery Corps Fellowships, which supported nontraditional postdocs along with sabbaticals directed at service-oriented projects; and undergraduate research collaboratives to "enable college students to gain experience in chemical research."<ref name=":0" />
Ellis moved to the University of California, San Diego in 2006, moving into academic administration as vice-chancellor for research.<ref name=":0" /> With colleagues, he "established a new research office to enhance the campus's infrastructure for research, promote interdisciplinary scholarship and create global research partnerships. He also helped launch campus-wide initiatives in sustainability, stem cell research and research cyber-infrastructure."<ref name=":3" />
Ellis served as provost at City University of Hong Kong from 2010 to 2016.<ref name=":3" />
In 2016, Ellis was named Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies at the University of California Office of the President.<ref name=":3" /> He retired from this position in 2019.
Ellis serves as a senior advisor at Elsevier, a scientific publisher and data analytics company.<ref>{{Cite web |title=THE World Academic Summit 2022 |url=https://www.timeshighered-events.com/world-academic-summit-2022/agenda/speakers/1783421 |access-date=2025-03-13 |website=www.timeshighered-events.com }}</ref>
== Recognition == * 1997 George C. Pimentel Award, sponsored by Union Carbide Corporation<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 1997 |title=Chemical Education Today: Award Address Elements of Curriculum Reform: Putting Solids in the Foundation |url=https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/ed074p1033 |work=Journal of Chemical Education |pages=1033–39 |volume=74 |issue=9|doi=10.1021/ed074p1033 }}</ref> * 1989 Guggenheim Fellowship (Chemistry)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Arthur B. Ellis – John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation… |url=https://www.gf.org/fellows/arthur-b-ellis/ |access-date=2025-03-13 }}</ref> * 1987 NSF Director's Distinguished Teaching Scholar Award * 1985 H.I Romnes Research Fellowship, UW-M * 1981 Sloan Research Fellowship<ref>{{Cite book |title=Alfred P. Sloane Foundation: Annual Report 1981 |date=1981 |publisher=Alfred P. Sloane Foundation |url=https://sloan.org/storage/app/media/files/annual_reports/1979-1982_annual_reports.pdf |pages=22}}</ref> * 1980 American Chemical Society Exxon Solid-State Faculty Fellowship<ref name=":1" />
== Selected publications ==
* Chemistry ConcepTests: A Pathway to Interactive Classrooms (Prentice Hall: 2001) Clark R. Landis, George C. Lisenky, Arthur B. Ellis * [https://www.isbns.net/isbn/9780393154122/ Build a Better CD Player: How Can You Get Blue Light from a Solid] (ChemConnections: 1999, 2004) Bradley Moore, George C. Lisensky , Arthur B. Ellis, Herbert Beall * Materials Chemistry: An Emerging Discipline<ref>{{Cite journal |editor-last=Interrante |editor-first=Leonard V. |editor2-last=Caspar |editor2-first=Lawrence A. |editor3-last=Ellis |editor3-first=Arthur B. |title=Materials Chemistry: An Emerging Discipline |journal=Advances in Chemistry |series=245 |publisher=American Chemical Society |issue=245}}</ref> (American Chemical Society: 1995) Leonard V. Interrante, Arthur B. Ellis, Lawrence A. Caspar * [https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED376081 Teaching General Chemistry: A Materials Science Companion] (American Chemical Society: 1993) Arthur B. Ellis et al
== External links ==
* [https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Arthur-B-Ellis-5704270 Research Gate] Arthur B. Ellis's research while affiliated with University of Wisconsin–Madison and other places * [https://academictree.org/chemistry/peopleinfo.php?pid=63065 Chemistry Tree]
== References ==
{{reflist}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Arthur B.}} Category:1951 births Category:Living people Category:Politicians from Oakland, California Category:American inorganic chemists Category:Inorganic chemists Category:California Institute of Technology alumni Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Category:American academic journal editors Category:Fellows of the American Chemical Society