David W. Oxtoby, Ph.D
President | Pomona College
Education
President Oxtoby received his bachelor's degree in chemistry and physics summa cum laude from Harvard University in 1972 and his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley in 1975.
Expertise
President Oxtoby became the ninth President of Pomona College in Claremont, California, in July 2003. Professor of Chemistry at Pomona College and annually teaches a course in environmental chemistry. Prior to Pomona College joined the faculty of the University of Chicago in 1977, rising through the ranks to become full professor in 1986 and later served as Dean of the Division of Physical Sciences at the University of Chicago.
He is a guest lecturer to conferences and institutions around the globe, and the co-author of two first-year chemistry textbooks. He is a visiting professor at the University of Paris, the University of Bristol, and the University of Sydney. His work has been recognized through fellowships from the Guggenheim, Sloan, Dreyfus, von Humboldt, Danforth, and National Science Foundation.
Affiliations
A Fellow of the American Physical Society and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, as well as a member of the American Chemical Society. A member of Phi Beta Kappa and currently serves on the Boards of Toyota Technological Institute-Chicago, the Claremont University Consortium Board of Overseers, the Association of American Colleges and Universities, and Harvard University’s Board of Overseers, as well as on Scientific Advisory Boards for HHMI and RCSA. Served on the boards of Argonne National Laboratory, the Webb Schools and Bryn Mawr College. Was a member of the National Science Foundation’s Mathematics and Physical Science Advisory Committee and the Advisory Committee on Cyberinfrastructure. In 2005 received an Honorary Degree from Occidental College.
Publications
Author or coauthor of over 160 scientific articles on the subjects of liquids, light scattering, chemical reaction dynamics, and phase transitions.
Coauthor (with Norman Nachtrieb and H. P. Gillis) of Principles of Modern Chemistry (Saunders College Publishing, 1986; second edition, 1990; third edition, 1996; fourth edition, 1999; fifth edition, 2003; sixth edition, 2008, seventh edition, 2011). Translated into Italian and Korean.
Coauthor (with Norman Nachtrieb and Wade Freeman) of Chemistry: Science of Change (Saunders College Publishing, 1990; second edition, 1994; third edition, 1998; fourth edition, 2003). Translated into Korean and Italian.
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