Royce W. Murray Young Investigator Award

The Royce W. Murray Young Investigator Award was renamed in 2014.  Royce W. Murray, who counts among his many honors, was also the the 1988 Charles N. Reilley Awardee.  The decision to change the name of the award was based on Professor Murray’s long history of outstanding and inspiring research and, importantly, his mentoring and supporting young electroanalytical chemists. The latter included his undergraduate and graduate research students, postdoctoral associates, colleagues at the University of North Carolina, and other scholars who visited his laboratory over a career that has spanned more than 50 years.  In addition, Prof. Murray has given generously of his time to informally mentor three generations of young electrochemists who did not have a direct association with his research group. These activities have helped to ensure the vitality of the field of electrochemistry generally, and electroanalytical chemistry specifically.

Current Awardee – 2022

Justin Sambur

Colorado State University

Justin B. Sambur is an Assistant Professor in the Chemistry Department at Colorado State University. Justin earned his B.S. degree in 2006 from the State University of New York (SUNY)-Binghamton and completed an honors thesis under the direction of David Doetschmann. Justin earned his PhD under the direction of Bruce Parkinson at Colorado State University (CSU) in the area of semiconductor photoelectrochemistry. In 2011, Justin traveled back to NY and joined Peng Chen’s lab at Cornell University for NSF ACC-F Postdoctoral Fellow work in the area of single molecule photoelectrochemistry. Justin returned to CSU in 2016 as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry and started a research program that tackles fundamental problems in electrochemical energy production and storage. Sambur’s lab advances light microscopy tools to study single battery
particle electrochemistry and single nanosheet photoelectrochemistry. The single particle-level approach simplifies interpretation of experimental data, pin-points how and why nanoscale materials function or fail, and reveals fundamental knowledge that could not be obtained with conventional measurements. His work has been recognized with the Air Force Young Investigator Award, NSF CAREER Award, and DOE Early Career Award. Justin was also named a Scialog Fellow in Advanced Energy Storage.

Award Nominations

Candidates may be nominated by any member of SEAC. Nominations should include a letter describing the individual’s promise in the area of electroanalytical chemistry, at least one seconding letter of support, and a curriculum vitae for the individual. All nomination materials will be retained by SEAC. Once nominated, an individual will be considered for the Murray Award without being renominated for three years, unless the nominee is more than ten years past awarding of their Ph.D. or other terminal degree. The retained nominations can be updated annually by the nominator as needed to best reflect the nominee’s accomplishments to date.

Award Sponsors

Pine Research Instrumentation, Inc.

Sponsors: Royce W. Murray Young Investigator Award, Student Travel Awards

Awardee History