The Department of Chemistry’s Dr. Christopher C. Mulligan will deliver the Spring 2023 College of Arts and Sciences Lecture on Monday, April 3, at 5 p.m. in the Circus Room of the Bone Student Center on the Illinois State University campus. His talk, “Pushing the Boundaries of Chemical Identification with Mass Spectrometry,” is free and open to the public. A reception will follow the lecture.
Mulligan is a professor of analytical chemistry who joined the Illinois State University faculty in 2008. In his research, he seeks to demonstrate the performance, impact, and practicality of portable mass spectrometric (MS) systems for use in forensic evidence screening, law enforcement/first response communities, and in environmental contaminant monitoring. His collaborative and interdisciplinary research on portable MS systems has been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), and the Research Corporation for Scientific Advancement. “Mass spectrometry is an important technique that can be found in a surprising number of places,” said Dr. George Barnes, chair of the Department of Chemistry. “I hope everyone will join us to hear more about Dr. Mulligan’s great work.”
Mulligan, who holds a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from Purdue University, is the author of more than 40 articles, chapters, and training manuals and has been awarded more than $1.4 million in external grant funding. He, his students, and collaborators have given more than 130 scientific presentations at national and international conferences.
His research in areas of societal need was acknowledged by back-to-back selections to the 2017 and 2018 “Power List” by the Analytical Scientist Magazine. He was named to the Illinois Science and Technology Coalition’s inaugural list of “Researchers to Know” in 2018 and received the 2021 American Society for Mass Spectrometry Primarily Undergraduate Institution Research Award.
Honors specific to Illinois State University include the Research Initiative Award (2010), the College of Arts and Sciences Award for Outstanding Teaching by a Pre-Tenured Faculty Member (2013), and the Million Dollar Club (2018). In 2022, he was awarded, along with Drs. Jamie R. Wieland and Michael Gizzi, the Illinois State University’s Cross-Disciplinary Team Research Award for their work in assessing the implications of using portable mass spectrometric devices in forensic investigation.
