Spectroscopy Magazine's Emerging Leader in Molecular Spectroscopy Award

The Emerging Leader in Molecular Spectroscopy Award recognizes the achievements and aspirations of a talented young molecular spectroscopist who has made strides early in his or her career toward the advancement of molecular spectroscopy techniques and applications. 

2024 Recipient

Joseph P. Smith

Dr. Joseph P. Smith is currently a Director at Merck within the Data Rich Experimentation organization in the Process Research & Development department. At Merck, Dr. Smith leads a research group devoted to inventing, developing, and deploying data rich tools to enable process-focused efforts across small molecules, biologics, and vaccines. Dr. Smith earned his B.S. in Chemistry from the Pennsylvania State University in 2012, where his research focused on synthesis, purification, and characterization of magnetic nanoparticles. Dr. Smith then earned his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Delaware in 2017, where his research focused on developing novel analytical tools leveraging spectroscopy, hyperspectral imaging, and multivariate analysis to analyze geological and planetary materials.

Dr. Smith then began his industrial career at Merck in 2017, where he remains today. Dr. Smith has published 53 articles to date and currently has over 1240 citations with an h-index of 15 and an i-10-index of 19. During his professional career, Dr. Smith and his research group have championed the development of next generation enabling technologies at the intersection of data science, machine learning, chemometrics, spectroscopy, imaging, and process analytical technology (PAT). Dr. Smith has presented at over 61 conferences with 31 invited presentations and 7 award symposia. Dr. Smith is deeply passionate about outreach and service. He has advised multiple postdocs and interns, served as a reviewer for 21 journals, volunteered in the SAS Early Career Committee, served as Merck-NIIMBL representative, and served as Merck-University of Delaware ambassador. He is a mentor in the Science and Engineering Leadership Initiative, designed to enable students with disabilities to pursue STEM careers. Dr. Smith has received the Bruce Kowalski Award, the Glenn Skinner Memorial Award, the EAS Graduate Student Award, and the University of Delaware’s Excellence in Teaching Award.

Nominations

Please check back for the 2022 nomination deadline, or visit the Spectroscopy magazine website for more information.

Past Recipients

2023      Dmitry Kurouski

2022       Lu Wei

2021       Bhavya Sharma

2020       Markita del Carpio Landry

2019       Ishan Barman

2018       Megan Thielges

2017       Russ Algar

2016       Matthew Baker