Will was born in Houston, Texas, but spent most of his impressionable years growing up in Roanoke, Virginia. Roanoke is located in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains and features the world's second largest man-made star, lit up every night for your viewing pleasure.

He was an undergraduate student at MIT, where he majored in chemistry and was fortunate to gain his first research experience working in the laboratory of Prof. Tim Swager. Will then moved to UC-Berkeley for graduate school, where he earned his Ph.D. for investigating light harvesting macromolecules under the supervision of Prof. Jean M. J. Fréchet. He next moved to Los Angeles for a joint postdoctoral appointment with Prof. Fraser Stoddart, then at UCLA, and Prof. Jim Heath at Caltech. There his research focused on developing efficient strategies for the synthesis of mechanically interlocked compounds and incorporating these molecules onto surfaces and into solid-state devices.

Prof. Dichtel will begin his independent career in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Cornell University in Summer 2008. For more information about the group's current research efforts or for information about becoming a member, please see the relevant sections of this web site.

When away from the lab, Will enjoys swimming, especially in open bodies of water, cooking over his charcoal grill, and spending time with his family.

328 Baker Laboratory

Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY 14853

Tel: (607) 254-2356

wdichtel@cornell.edu