Dr. Simon North, the John W. Bevan Professor of Chemistry, earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley in 1995, and spent two years as a postdoctoral fellow at Brookhaven National Laboratory before joining the Texas A&M faculty in 1997 as a member of the Department of Chemistry. He is co-director of the National Aerothermochemistry Laboratory and a former associate director of the Center for Atmospheric Chemistry and the Environment.
After serving as interim department head for chemistry for seven months, North was named head of the department in August 2016. He was associate department head from September 2013 to February 2016.
North also served for nearly a decade as one of the primary advising and recruiting contacts for the Texas A&M chemistry graduate program and played a lead role in the planning, programming and championing of Texas A&M’s Instructional Laboratory & Innovative Learning Building, which centralized the college’s undergraduate chemistry labs and classrooms under one roof. The facility stands among the nation’s leading laboratory buildings and is a showcase for undergraduate chemistry teaching laboratories spanning general chemistry to organic chemistry.
“Since I assumed the role of executive associate dean, I have developed a great appreciation for the people and talents within our college,” North said. “Despite the size and complexity of our college, we are united by a shared commitment to the foundational missions of teaching, research and service. The College of Arts and Sciences is at its best when we work together to engage challenges, support one another and collaborate to build on our existing strengths and create new opportunities for accomplishing our missions. This is true now more than ever.”
Widely respected for his teaching and research expertise in analytical and physical chemistry as well as in spectroscopy and dynamics, North and his research group seek to understand chemical reactivity on a microscopic quantum-state resolved level. His state-of-the-art laboratory contains equipment to perform experiments in chemical dynamics, energy transfer and kinetics and is associated with several interdisciplinary university research centers at Texas A&M. He also has led several impactful department-wide initiatives to revitalize the undergraduate chemistry curriculum, including an overhaul of the upper division physical chemistry laboratory courses to better reflect the current state of modern research in the area.
In addition to being recognized with the inaugural Administration Award in the College of Arts and Sciences last May, North was selected as one of Texas A&M University’s four Southeastern Conference Academic Leadership Development Program Fellows for 2024-2025. He also is a past recipient of The Association of Former Students Distinguished Achievement Awards in Teaching, at both the university (2009) and college levels (2004 and 2010).
Under North’s leadership, the College of Arts & Sciences benefits not just from his administrative expertise but from his deep, personal commitment to student success. He spearheaded — and personally helped endow along with his wife and parents — a paid, 10-week summer research program that allows chemistry majors to stay on in Aggieland, continue ongoing research and receive a stipend, thus making experiential learning more accessible.
“I wish to extend my sincere gratitude to Dr. Mark Zoran, whose leadership and vision inspired our college and led the development of our strategic plan, which is now nearing completion. Mark’s legacy will continue to guide our work and our collective mission,” said North.
The Office of the Provost at Texas A&M will launch a search for the permanent dean of the College of Arts and Sciences this fall.