Kirk Schanze, Ph.D.

The Robert A. Welch Distinguished University Chair in Chemistry

Professor, Chemistry

Kirk Schanze is the Robert A. Welch Distinguished University Chair in Chemistry at The University of Texas at San Antonio. 

The Schanze Research Group at UTSA is focused on the interaction of light with molecules, polymers, and materials. Currently, Schanze and his students are centering their work on light emission and how light/matter interactions can be used in applications such as solar cells, light emitting diodes, biosensors, and conversion of light into stored chemical fuels (artificial photosynthesis). They also use ultrafast laser spectroscopy to probe fundamental steps involved in the interaction of molecules and materials with light. 

Schanze graduated in Chemistry from Florida State University in 1979. Four years later, he earned his Ph.D., also in Chemistry, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Soon after, he was appointed a Miller Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1986, he joined the University of Florida (UF) as a professor of the Department of Chemistry. There, he chaired the Division of Organic Chemistry, held the Prominski Chair of Chemistry, and founded the Schanze Group, which today continues its research activities at UTSA. In 2016, Schanze left UF to hold the Robert A. Welch Distinguished University Chair in Chemistry at UTSA.