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Karen Goldberg headshot

Karen Goldberg

Vagelos Professor of Energy Research, University of Pennsylvania

Summary

Dr. Karen Goldberg joined the University of Pennsylvania in 2017, as Vagelos Professor in Energy Research and the inaugural Director of the Vagelos Institute of Energy Science and Technology. She received her A.B. degree from Barnard College of Columbia University in New York City, then went on to the University of California at Berkeley where she earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry. After a postdoctoral year at The Ohio State University, she joined the faculty of Illinois State University, a primarily undergraduate institution, before moving to the University of Washington in 1995. She served as Director of the first National Science Foundation-funded Phase II Center for Chemical Innovation (CCI), the Center for Enabling New Technologies through Catalysis (CENTC) from 2007-17. In 2018, Professor Goldberg was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

Energy Solutions Forum Talk | Developing Alternatives to Oil as Feedstocks for Our Chemicals and Liquid Fuels

According to Dr. Karen Goldberg, a focus on energy and sustainability is a priority because "it's important for the survival of humanity." As such, at the University of Pennsylvania’s Vagelos Institute, the Goldberg Group is investigating ways to develop catalytic systems that will produce chemicals and fuels using environmentally responsible and economically feasible processes. In her talk, "Developing Alternatives to Oil as Feedstocks for Our Chemicals and Liquid Fuels," she will present a view of the current energy landscape, projections on where we are headed, and then look more closely at some of the exciting strategies that her research group and others are pursuing to allow the use of natural gas, carbon dioxide, and plastics, to sustainably prepare our chemicals and fuels.