The department is pleased to announce that Dr. Gayan Wijeratne has accepted a position as an assistant professor beginning in August 2023.  Dr. Wijeratne received his PhD from the University of Kansas under the direction of Dr. Timothy Jackson.  He then served as a post-doctoral associate with Dr. Kenneth Karlin at Johns Hopkins University.  Dr. Wijeratne began his academic career at the University of Alabama Birmingham in 2018.  He has established an exciting research program in mechanistic bioinorganic chemistry.  His research has focused on mechanisms for O₂ and NO_x activation by metalloenzymes using model iron heme complexes.  He is a recipient of a NSF CAREER award in 2021 and has published papers in the Journal of the Amercian Chemical Society and Angewandte Chemie.