Leonard R. MacGillivray
Prof. Leonard R. MacGillivray is an international leader in Crystal Engineering and its application to problems of organic synthesis, materials science, and medicine.
Prof. MacGillivray obtained a B.Sc. (Hons.) degree in Chemistry from Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada in 1994. He earned his PhD at the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1998, where he held a 1967 Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Fellowship. He then served as a Research Associate in the Functional Materials Program at the Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa from 1998- 2000. In 2000, he joined the faculty at the University of Iowa (UI) and was promoted to Professor in 2010. He was also a Professor in the UI College of Pharmacy. In 2019, he was appointed a UI Collegiate Fellow and began as Departmental Executive Officer (DEO) or Chairperson.
In 2023, Prof. MacGillivray was the recipient of a Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Crystal Engineering for Green Chemistry and Sustainable Materials which led him to move to the Université de Sherbrooke where he now occupies a joint position at the Faculty of Science, the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Health Science and Medicine.
Prof. MacGillivray is known internationally for his research in organic solid-state chemistry and crystal engineering. The research focuses on the development of a method to control the formation of covalent bonds in solids for applications in organic synthesis, materials science, and medicine, particularly as related to green chemistry and sustainable materials research. The method employs small-molecule templates and metal coordination complexes to direct covalent-bond-forming photochemical reactions in crystals.
Prof. MacGillivray is also internationally known for the development and advancement of organic semiconductor materials (OSM) and pharmaceutical solids. He has authored over 255 publications, holds seven patents, given over 210 invited national and international seminars in over 22 countries, mentored 24 students to the PhD degree, and received continuous support from the National Science Foundation, as well as other funding agencies. Prof. MacGillivray has an h-index of 57 and ranks in the top 0.50% of all cited scientists worldwide.
Prof. MacGillivray has received national and international awards and distinctions for his research, many of which are listed below. Prof. MacGillivray is a leader in the research community as demonstrated by his editorial activities including his time as chair of the Editorial Board for the RSC journal CrystEngComm – a flagship journal in crystal engineering.