About Jeffrey

J. E. Dick Academic Ancestry
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Biography

When I was in third grade, we students were asked to draw a picture of what we wanted to be when we grew up. After mulling it over for a few seconds, I drew a picture of an explorer: In one hand, I held a rope (to tame wild animals) and in the other, a sharp machete (I made sure to put a little star along the edge of the machete to show its sharpness). On my head was an Indiana Jones hat, and the background was a lush and green rainforest, teeming with life. This rainforest was rife with discovery - I imagined a frontier of animals and plants not yet discovered in all of human history.

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Twenty some odd years later, things haven't changed that much, and I daresay I've achieved my third grade goal. I am an explorer: In one hand, I hold an expensive set of analytical and statistical tools (to tame new truths of nature and increase experimental reproducibility) and in the other, a sharp nanoelectrode. On my head is a pair of goggles, and the background is a laboratory equipped with the tools to creatively pursue new knowledge. The nanoscale is rife with discovery, a frontier where you can be the first person in all of human history to make an observation. I believe that frontier is where disciplines meet, particularly electrochemistry and biology.

Honors and Awards

  • Forbes' 30 Under 30 Class of 2019

  • NIH CORE Postdoctoral Fellowship (2017)

  • Medical Technology’s 30 Under 30 Young Innovators (2016)

  • Certificate to Teach Interdisciplinary Subjects, UT Austin (2016)

  • SEAC Travel Grant and UT Austin Student Travel Grant (2016)

  • NIH Director’s Early Independence Award UT Nominee  (2015)

  • Representative; US Delegation to Lindau Meeting for Nobel Laureates  (2015)

  • Society for Electroanalytical Chemistry Travel Grant (2015)

  • National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (2014)

  • Graduate Dean’s Prestigious Fellowship Award (2014)

  • National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Research Fellowship (2014)

  • US Fulbright Scholarship Recipient (2013)

  • NASA Fellowship – Ames Research Center (2013)

  • Mikal Sousa Memorial Scholarship: Ball State University (2012)

  • Ball State University Rhodes and Marshall Scholarship Nominee (2012)

  • ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry Undergraduate Award in Inorganic Chemistry (2012)

  • Member, Dean’s Advisory Council, Ball State University (2012-2013)

  • Presidential Scholarship: Ball State University; one-half tuition (2010 - 2013)

  • President of Class, Muncie Central High School (2009)

  • Editor-in-Chief, Munsonian Newspaper (2007-2009)