Ison Wins NSF Career Award

Dr. Elon Ison, assistant professor of chemistry, received an Early Career Development Award from the National Science Foundation. The award is one of NSF’s highest honors for early-career science and engineering faculty.

Ison’s five-year, $530,000 grant will fund research related to his proposal, titled Rational Design of Green Catalysts for Chemical Oxidations. His goal is to develop chemical methods that reduce waste and environmentally hazardous materials and could potentially lead to more efficient use of chemical and natural resources, such as oil, coal, natural gas and biomass, to generate energy.

A native of Trinidad and Tobago, Ison came to the U.S. in 1995 to attend Kean University in New Jersey. After earning a bachelor’s degree in 1999, Ison moved to the University of Florida, where earned a doctorate in organometallic chemistry in 2004. He conducted postdoctoral research at Purdue University before joining the NC State faculty in 2006.

Ison is the 16th faculty member in the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences to receive a Career Award since 2004.