Dr. Anindya Ghosh, chair of the Department of Chemistry, has been named the interim associate dean for the Donaghey College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (DCSTEM) at UA Little Rock.

“I am pleased that Dr. Ghosh has agreed to serve in this important role in the college,” DCSTEM Dean Lawrence Whitman said. “We are fortunate to have a recognized scholar and an experienced leader in STEM as a new associate dean in DCSTEM. I look forward to working with him as the college moves forward.”

In his new role, Ghosh will be valuable to DCSTEM’s overall mission and goals. His responsibilities include international agreements, pre-med student coordination, college curricular reviews, and graduation. He also serves as college safety coordinator, K12 STEM teaching coordinator, College Space/Lab coordinator, and STEM Hub supervisor.

“In this position, I look forward to working with the College Dean Lawrence Whitman and all other leaders of the college and the university toward the shared mission and goal of supporting students, faculty, and staff,” Ghosh said.

His research group at UA Little Rock focuses on work surrounding green catalysis and synthesis. They use simple materials and renewable resources to develop various functional and smart materials and catalysts that can be used in applications such as small molecule activation, pollution remediation, renewable synthesis, sensor, biomedicine, fuel cell, and supercapacitors. His research has been supported by funding from UA Little Rock, the Arkansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence, private companies, the National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, and Department of Energy.

After joining UA Little Rock as an assistant professor in 2007, Ghosh was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2012 and to professor in 2017. He has served as chair of the Department of Chemistry since 2019. Additionally, Ghosh has previously served as interim associate dean for research and graduate programs at UA Little Rock, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Kansas, and a senior research chemist at Halliburton Energy Services to develop oil-field chemicals.

Ghosh obtained his Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University, working in designing and synthesizing environmentally benign oxidation catalysts for remediation of hazardous pollutants. He also earned his bachelor’s degree from Calcutta University in Calcutta, India, and his master’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, India.

Ghosh was the recipient of the university-wide Faculty Excellence Award in Research in 2014 and 2020 and was selected as the Professor of the Year by the Central Arkansas American Chemical Society in 2015. He is the recipient of the Kenneth G. Hancock Memorial Award from the American Chemical Society and the Heinz Scholarship given by the Heinz Foundation. He is also a co-recipient of the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award in 1999 by the Environmental Protection Agency. Additionally, he serves as a member of the editorial board for the journal Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences: Molecular Diagnostics and a guest editor of Vacuum Technology & Coatings.