Headshot of Dr. Frank

Natia Frank

Associate Professor She/her/hers

Summary

Prof. Natia L. Frank received her Bachelor’s degree with Honors from Bard College in 1987 (Chemistry), an M.Sc. in Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (Inorganic Chemistry, 1989), and Ph.D at the University of California-San Diego (1996, Organic Chemistry). She was a CNRS Postdoctoral Fellow with the late Prof. Olivier Kahn at the University of Bordeaux, France (spin-based materials), and an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow with Prof. Thomas Meade/Prof. Harry Gray (ET in DNA) at Caltech. She began her independent career in 2000 as an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington-Seattle in the study of multifunctional magnetic materials for spintronics and biosensing. In 2004, she was recruited as a Canada Research Chair Tier II in Multifunctional Materials Chemistry at the University of Victoria where she developed optically switchable spin-based qubits for quantum science. In 2012, she was a Visiting Scholar at Humbolt University (Physics), Berlin, Germany, and University of Rennes (Chemistry), France. In 2020, she joined the University of Nevada, Reno as Associate Professor of Chemistry. Her primary expertise is at the interface of organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, spin-based materials and photochemistry/electron transfer theory which allows her to be well-situated to address current challenges in molecular quantum information science and renewable energy technologies. Prof. Frank currently serves on two funded DOE EFRC advisory boards in quantum science, the ACS-PRF Advisory Board, and has served on numerous NSF funding panels in quantum relevant areas.

Research interests

Organic materials chemistry for development of spin-based organic electronics, spintronics, photoactive quantum materials, organic photovoltaics, charge-storage materials, magnetoreception, magnetism in medicine, and biosensors.

Expertise: Organic materials chemistry, magnetism, charge transfer, charge transport, photochemistry, structural organic chemistry, synthetic organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, characterization and property measurement of multifunctional materials, device fabrication and characterization.

Honors and awards

  • LeMay Teaching Award Nomination (2024)

Courses taught

  • Introduction to Organic Chemistry (I and II)
  • Honors Organic Chemistry (I and II)
  • Introduction to Organic Synthesis Advanced Organic Chemistry: Structure, Bonding and Reactivity
  • Advanced Organic: Structure and Function in Materials and Biology
  • Magnetism and Charge Transfer Processes in Chemistry
  • Measurements in Magnetometry Property Directed Synthesis Discussion

News features

Education

  • B.A. Chemistry, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY1987
  • M.Sc.Inorganic Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 1990
  • Ph.D. Organic Chemistry, University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 1996

Selected publications

  • Scholes, G. D.; Olaya-Castro, A.; Mukamel, S.; Kirrander, A.; Ni, K.; Hedley, G. J.; Frank, N. L. The Quantum Information Science Challenge for Chemistry. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2025, 16, 1376-1396.
  • Garcia, J.; Addison, J. B.; Liu, S. Z.; Lu, S.; Faulkner, A. L.; Hodur, B. M.; Balmond, E. I.; Or, V. W.; Yun, J. H.; Trevino, K.; Shen, B. W.; Shaw, J. T.; Frank, N. L.; Louie, A. Y. Antioxidant Sensing by Spiropyrans: Substituent Effects and NMR Spectroscopic Studies. J. Phys. Chem B. 2019, 123, 6799-6809.
  • Paquette, M. M.; Plaul, D.; Patrick, B.; Kurimoto, A.; Frank, N. L. Opto-Spintronics: Photoisomerization-Induced Spin State Switching at 300 K in Photochrome-Cobalt Dioxolene Thin Films. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018, 140, 14990−15000.
  • Jenkins, A.; Mao, Z.; Kurimoto, A.; Mix, L. T.; Frank, N.; Larsen, D. Ultrafast Spintronics: Dynamics of the Photoisomerization-Induced Spin-Charge Excited State (PISCES) Mechanism in Spirooxazine-Based Photomagnetic Materials. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2018, 9, 5351-5357. 
  • Wasielewski, M.; Forbes, M.; Frank, N.; Kowalski, K.; Scholes, G.; Yuen-Zhou, J.; Baldo, M.; Freedman, D.; Goldsmith, R.; Goodson, T.; Kirk, M.; McCusker, J.; Ogilvie, J.; Shultz, D.; Stoll, S.; Whaley, B. Exploiting Chemistry and Chemical Systems for Quantum Information Science. Nat. Rev. Chem. 2020, 4, 490-504.
  • “Antioxidant Sensing by Spiropyrans: Substituent Effects and NMR Spectroscopic Studies” Garcia, J; Addison, JB; Liu, SZ; Lu, S; Faulkner, AL; Hodur, BM; Balmond, EI; Or, VW; Yun, JH; Trevino, K; Shen, BW; Shaw, JT; Frank, NL; Louie, AY  J. Phys. Chem B. (2019) 123 (31), 6799-6809.
  • "Opto-Spintronics: Photoisomerization-Induced Spin State Switching at 300 K in Photochrome-Cobalt Dioxolene Thin Films” Paquette, M. M.; Plaul, D.; Patrick, B.; Kurimoto, A.; Frank, N. L.  J. Am. Chem. Soc. (2018) 140, 14990−15000. (Highlighted as JACS Spotlight)
  • “Controlling Photoswitching via pcFRET Conjugated Polymer Nanoparticles” Zhang, X.; Kurimoto, A.; Frank, N. L.; Harbron, E. J Phys. Chem C. (2018) 122 (39) 22728−22737 (Featured as ACS Editor’s Choice).
  • “Ultrafast Spintronics: Dynamics of the Photoisomerization-Induced Spin-Charge Excited State (PISCES) Mechanism in Spirooxazine-Based Photomagnetic Materials” Jenkins, A.; Mao, Z.; Kurimoto, A.; Mix, L. T.; Frank, N.; Larsen, D. J Phys Chem Lett. (2018) 9 (18) 5351-5357. 

Learn more about Dr. Frank's research

Books