Faculty Profile: Adam D. Hill

Adam D. Hill
Associate Professor of Chemistry
Phone: (860) 297-5148	Office Location: Clement 307
Send e-mail to Adam D. Hill	Personal web page
Trinity College faculty member since 2023

Degrees:

Ph.D., Univ. of California, Berkeley
B.S., Trinity College

Prof. Adam Hill ’08 became interested in the chemistry of metals through art courses while in high school outside Chicago. As an undergraduate at Trinity College, he worked with Prof. Maria Parr to study ancient potshards using electron microscopy and with Prof. David Henderson to trace well water contamination. In graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley, Adam worked in the research group of Charles B. Harris, where he used ultrafast lasers to study the ways molecules with metal-carbon bonds react. In 2013, he graduated Berkeley with his Ph.D. in Chemistry and joined the faculty of St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York. After a sabbatical at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab’s Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division, his research has shifted to focus on the development of devices to mimic photosynthesis. Adam moved to Trinity College in 2023. His teaching uses hands-on experiences and problem solving to develop students’ grit and critical thinking; at Trinity College, he brings this approach to both his classroom and his work with his group of undergraduate researchers.

curriculum vitae

Areas of Specialty:

Physical Chemistry & Spectroscopy
Surface and Materials Science
Inorganic Chemistry
Renewable Energy
Introductory & General Chemistry
First-Year Seminar Courses

Courses taught:

CHEM-111	Introductory Chemistry I and Laboratory
CHEM-112	Introductory Chemistry II and Laboratory
CHEM-309	Physical Chemistry I
CHEM-310	Physical Chemistry II
CHEM-313	Principles of Inorganic Chemistry
FYSM-183	Science and Speculation

Research Interests:

Nonlinear and vibrational spectroscopy
Artificial photosynthesis
Charge transfer processes
Surface science
Heterobimetallic molecules and materials
Computational chemistry & density functional theory

Co-authors marked with † were undergraduate researchers.

1. Barton, Kaitlyn; ^† Smith, Chase; ^† Tartakoff, Stephanie A.; Stasio, Jason; ^† Rothe, Emma; ^† Dickhens, Leana; ^† Hill, Adam D., Tartakoff, Samuel S.* “Enhanced Reactivity for the Wagner-Jauregg Reaction Under Aqueous Conditions.” ACS Omega. 2025, 1, 1360-1368.

Undergraduate Research as the Stimulus for Scientific Progress in the USA special issue.

2. Brado, Olivia G.; ^† Hawkins, Aspen T.; ^† Hill, Adam D.; Puljung, Michael C.* “Measuring Serotonin Binding to Its Receptors In Vitro via Charge Transfer to ANAP.” International Journal of Molecular Sciences.2025, 22, 10815.

Advances in Fluorescent Sensors special issue.

3. Roys, Joshua S.; Stucchi, Nicholas D.; O’Brien, Jennifer M.; ^† Hill, Adam D.;* Brown, Ryan D. “Water Transport Dynamics and Kinetic Equilibria in Nanoblisters at the Graphene-Mica Interface.” Langmuir. 2025, 41, 3779-3786.

4. Salzmann, Heinrich J.; ^† Knapp, Annie S.; ^† Ashmore, Quinlan P.; ^† Heston, William B.; ^† Rundell, Lauren J.; ^† Cunningham, Timothy M.; ^† Jahncke, Catherine

National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program: “MRI: Acquisition of a 400 MHz NMR Spectrometer for Research and Research Training.” CHE-2018238. Co-PIs: Adam D. Hill, Amanda N. Oldacre, Samuel S. Tartakoff. Awarded August 15, 2020; 3-year grant. Total grant amount: $288,990.
National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program: “Acquisition of a high-performance computer (HPC).” CNS-1919554. Co-PIs: Edwin Harcourt, Jessica L. Chapman, Robert Haney, Adam D. Hill, Michael E. Schuckers. Awarded September 17, 2019; 3-year grant. Total grant amount: $236,477.
National Science Foundation Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) Program: “Improving Accessibility of the Liberal Arts Sciences (LAS++).” DUE-1930380. Co-PIs: Jessica L. Chapman, Erika L. Barthelmess, Adam D. Hill, Ivan P. Ramler, Jessica Sierk. Awarded July 3, 2019; 5-year grant. Total grant amount: $999,307.