OXFORD, Miss. – Jared Delcamp, an assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Mississippi, has won a prestigious $523,000 National Science Foundation CAREER Award for his teaching and research on converting solar energy to electricity.
Jared Delcamp
Delcamp was recognized for teaching, particularly his efforts to increase interest in STEM education among students of all majors and among high school students from Mississippi’s economically underprivileged regions. He was also recognized for his group’s research on converting solar energy to electricity through an affordable technology using dye-sensitized solar cells. He said the funding will greatly enhance that work.
“Personally, I have been blown away by the support shown to our research program and STEM recruiting efforts in the department and now by NSF,” Delcamp said. “I’m beyond overjoyed to have been awarded such a tremendous acknowledgement in my second year at Ole Miss, and I look forward to continuing our efforts to make the world a better place.”
The National Science Foundation is an independent federal agency that Congress created in 1950 to “to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity and welfare; to secure the national defense.” The NSF has a $7.3 billion annual budget, which funds about 24 percent of all federally supported basic research at U.S. colleges and universities.
“The NSF CAREER Award is the most sought-after recognition for any new science faculty member,” said Rich Forgette, interim dean of the UM College of Liberal Arts. “It is very competitive to receive a CAREER award, and our chemistry faculty members’ success indicates the quality of their research.”
Nathan Hammer and Amala Dass, two UM associate professors of chemistry and biochemistry, have previously been awarded NSF CAREER awards. The three awards for the department are a testament to the quality its faculty, said Charles Hussey, chair and professor of chemistry and biochemistry.
“This speaks to the quality of our younger faculty,” Hussey said. “We are fortunate that he has chosen the University of Mississippi for his career.”
Hussey said it’s no surprise the NSF honored Delcamp, whom he calls an “outstanding researcher and a dedicated student-centered instructor.”
“He has academic training from some of the best institutions in the world,” Hussey said. “He received this grant because he has many new ideas about organic materials for the conversion of solar energy that may revolutionize the field.”