Lee Penn
They/Them
I am nonbinary/genderqueer/queer and I am a chemistry professor. //
Hello! My name is Lee Penn, and I am the Merck Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities campus and the Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Department of Chemistry. My research group of nine graduate students and several undergraduate students focuses on fundamental formation and growth mechanisms of nanoparticles, green methods for making nanomaterials, and the roles nanoparticles play in chemical transformations in the environment. I am also an Institute on the Environment Resident Fellow and won the Horace T. Morse University of Minnesota Alumni Association Award for Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Education in 2015. I am a Distinguished University Teaching Professor, and I am especially proud of awards I’ve received for advocacy for the LGBT community including: the Community Excellence Award from the University of Minnesota’s Gender and Sexuality Center for Queer and Trans Life (2017), Charlotte Stribel Equity Award.