Dr. John A. McLean, Promoted to Stevenson Professor of Chemistry
Professor John A. McLean has been promoted to Stevenson Professor of Chemistry at Vanderbilt University. Prof. McLean completed his doctoral dissertation at the George Washington University with Prof. Akbar Montaser, where he made significant contributions in plasma spectrochemistry in the development of new technologies for the analysis of complex and limited radionuclide and biological samples. Subsequently, he performed post-doctoral research at Forschungszentrum Jülich in Germany with Prof. J. Sabine Becker and then as a post-doctoral at Texas A&M University with Prof. David H. Russell in biological mass spectrometry. Working with David Russell from 2001-2006, he constructed ion mobility-mass spectrometers capable of broad-scale analyses of extremely complex biological samples, termed 'panomics,' on the basis of both molecular structure and mass. Sophisticated ion mobility-mass spectrometry platforms were subsequently released by multiple leading global scientific instrument manufacturers. In 2006, Prof. McLean was recruited to Vanderbilt University as Assistant Professor of Chemistry through both the Department of Chemistry and the Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology. At Vanderbilt, McLean and colleagues focus on the conceptualization, design, and construction of structural mass spectrometers, specifically targeting complex samples in systems, synthetic, and chemical biology as well as nanotechnology. His group applies these strategies to forefront translational research areas in drug discovery, personalized medicine, and 'human-on-chip' synthetic biology platforms. Prof. McLean and his group leverage these strengths with those across Vanderbilt, nationally, and Internationally in academe, industry, and government through cutting-edge interdisciplinary collaborations. Prof. McLean has received a number of awards, including the Agilent Thought Leader Award, Excellence in Teaching Award from the student members of the American Chemical Society, a Defense Threat Reduction Agency Research Award, an American Society for Mass Spectrometry Research Award, a Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh Award, an R&D 100 Award, and the Bunsen–Kirchhoff Prize from the GDCh (German Chemical Society), among others. The Stevenson Chair honors Eldon Stevenson Jr. (1893-1972), a member of the Vanderbilt Board of Trust and president of National Life and Accident Insurance Co. in Nashville. Generous gifts from Stevenson helped make possible the original construction of the Vanderbilt University natural science complex in the early 1960s.