The University of Massachusetts Amherst believes that a culturally diverse campus is integral to academic excellence and that our students, faculty, and staff should reflect the diverse world in which we live.

We lost a true scholar and gentleman. Peter Lillya’s passing leaves a huge hole in our hearts and a legacy of kind, intelligent collegiality that will be deeply missed. Peter came to UMass Amherst in 1963, straight from his doctoral work at Harvard, and became a linchpin of the Chemistry Department. He showed the same interest and gave the same level of support to everyone, regardless of their stature. Peter was an amazing combination of keen intellect, boundless curiosity, unlimited generosity, humbleness, and compassion. His devotion to the department, the campus, and most of all, the people he encountered in his career, was boundless and heartfelt.

Prof. Rachid Skouta’s Lab has received the Manning/IALS Innovation award to research ‘Novel Ferroptosis Inducer Drug Candidate to Target RAS-Positive Tumors.’

Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering, S. Thai Thayumanavan, develops liver-targeting drug which has reversed obesity and lowered cholesterol in mice.

The Biophysical Society (BPS) community has voted UMass Chemistry Professor Lynmarie Thompson to be their next President. She will be President-Elect as of February 2024 and serve as President in 2025.

Professor Min Chen received the CNS Outstanding Research Award in recognition of her contributions to designing and developing novel biological nanopores and using them to answer a wide variety of bio-analytical and biophysical questions. Her groundbreaking work has found applications in diverse areas such as protein sensing, disease diagnostics, drug candidate screening, and sequencing of nucleic acids and proteins.