Bio

Malika Jeffries-EL is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Iowa State University. She received BA degrees in Chemistry and Africana Studies at Wellesley College in 1996 and Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in chemistry from The George Washington University in 1999 and 2002 respectively. After spending one year at Smith College as a Mendenhall Fellow she worked as a post-doctoral fellowship under the direction of Professor Richard D. McCullough at Carnegie Mellon University. In 2005, she joined the faculty in the Chemistry Department at Iowa State University and was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2012.

Dr. Jeffries-EL's research focuses on the development of organic semiconductors–materials that combine the processing properties of polymers with the electronic properties of semiconductors. She has authored over 30 publications, received over 1200 citations and given over 75 lectures domestically and abroad. She has won numerous awards including the 3M untenured faculty award (2008), the Emerald Honors for most promising minority scientist (2008), the Lloyd Ferguson Award from the National Organization of Black Chemist and Chemical Engineers (2009), NSF CAREER award (2009), the ISU-College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Diversity Award (2011), the ACS-Women Chemist Committee Rising Star award (2012) and the Iota Sigma Pi Agnes Fay Morgan Award (2013). She also held the ISU Gregory L. and Kathleen C. Geoffrey Faculty Fellowship (2005-2008).

She is also a dedicated volunteer and has served in several activities within the American Chemical Society including the editorial advisory board for Chemical and Engineering News, the Society Committee on Education (SocEd), the advisory board for the Women Chemist of Color Initiative, Member-at-large for the Organic Division, Program co-Chair for the Polymer division and as a councilor for her local section. She also serves the community through her work with Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated (AKA), whose Lambda Upsilon Chapter happens to be MIT's first and oldest sorority. Dr. Jeffries-EL is a native of Brooklyn, New York.

Publications

Balaji, G.; Esfahani, M.S.; Joshi, P.; Bhattacharaya, J.; Jeffries-EL, M.; and Dalal, V. Synthesis and photovoltaic properties of a furan-diketopyrrolopyrrole-fluorene terpolymer. Eur. Polym. J. 2013, 49 (12), 3921–3928. DOI: 10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2013.08.021
 
Hellerich, E.S., Intemann, J.J., Cai, M. Liu, R., Ewan, M.D. Tlach, B.C., Jeffries-EL, M. Shinar, R.* and Shinar, J. Fluorescent polymer guest: small molecule host solution-processed OLEDs. J.Mater Chem. C. 2013, 1, 5191-5199. DOI:10.1039/C3TC31019A
 
Kobilka, B.M., Hale, B.J., Ewan, M.D., Dubrovskiy, A.V., Nelson, T.L., Duzhko, V. and Jeffries-EL, M.* Influence of heteroatoms on photovoltaic performance of donor-acceptor copolymers based on 2,6-di(thiophen-2-yl)benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b’]difurans and diketopyrrolopyrrole. Polym. Chem 2013, 4, 5329-5336.  DOI:10.1039/C3PY00138E.
 
Tlach, B.C., Tomlinson, A.L., Ryno, A., Knoble, D. and Jeffries-EL, M* Influence of Conjugation Axis on the Optical and Electronic Properties of Aryl-Substituted Benzobisoxazoles. J. Org. Chem. 2013, 78 (13), 6570–6581. DOI: 10.1021/jo4007927
 
Hinkens, D.M., Chen, Q, Siddiki, M.K., Gosztola, D., Tapsak, M., Qiao, Q., Jeffries-EL, M., Darling, S.B.* Model Compounds based on Poly(p-phenylenevinyleneborane) and Terthiophene:Investigating the p-n Junction in Diblock Copolymers. Polymer, 2013, 54, 3510-3520. DOI:10.1016/j.polymer.2013.05.008.
 
Intemann, J. J.; Mike, J. F.; Cai, M.; Xiao, T.; Shinar, R.; Shinar J.S; Jeffries-EL, M.* Synthesis, Characterization and Electroluminescence Properties of Poly(fluorenevinylene benzobisthiazoles). J. Poly. Sci. A., 2013, 51, 916-923. DOI: 10.1002/pola.26449.
 
Intemann, J.J.; Hellerich, E.S.; Tlach, B.C.; Ewan, M.D.Barnes, C.A.; Bhuwalka, A.; Cai, M.; Shinar, J.; Shinar, R. and Jeffries-EL, M.*Altering the Conjugation Pathway for Improved Performance of Benzobisoxazole-Based Polymer Guest Emitters in PLEDs. Macromolecules, 2012, 45, 6888-6897. DOI: 10.1021/ma300821m.
 
Kobilka, B. M.; Dubrovskiy, A. V.; Ewan, M. D.; Tomlinson, A. L.; Larock, R. C.; Chaudhary, S.; Jeffries-El, M.*: Synthesis of 3,7-diiodo-2,6-di(thiophen-2-yl)benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b’]difurans: functional building blocks for the design of new conjugated polymers.Chem. Commun. 2012, 48, 8919-8921. DOI:10.1039/C2CC34070D. -Invited Paper: Special Issue on Aromaticity
 
Klimavicz, J.S.; Mike, J.F.; Bhuwalka, A; Tomlinson, A.L.; Jeffries-EL, M*. Synthesis of Benzobisoxazole Based D−π-A−π-D Organic Chromophores with Variable Optical and Electronic Properties. Pure Appl. Chem., 2012, 84, (4), 991-1004. DOI:10.1351/PAC-CON-11-10-23. -Invited Paper: Special Issue on the International Symposium on Novel Aromatic Systems
 
Bhuwalka, A.; Mike, J. F.; He, M. Intemann, J.J.; Nelson, T.; Ewan, M.D.; Roggers, R.A.; Lin, Z.; Jeffries-EL, M*. Quaterthiophene-Benzobisazole Copolymers for Photovoltaic Cells: Effect of Heteroatom Placement and Substitution on the Optical and Electronic Properties. Macromolecules, 2011, 44, 9611-9617. DOI:10.1021/ma202133e.
 
Tlach, B.C.; Tomlinson, A.L.; Bhuwalka, A.; Jeffries-EL, M*. Tuning the Optical and Electronic Properties of 4,8-Disubstituted Benzobisoxazoles via Alkynyl Substitution. J. Org. Chem. 2011, 76 (21), 8670–8681. DOI: 10.1021/jo201078w
 
Mike, J. F.; Intemann, J.J.; Cai, M.; Xiao, T.; Shinar, R.; Shinar, J.; Jeffries-EL, M.* Efficient Synthesis of Benzobisazole Terpolymers Containing Thiophene and Fluorene. Polym. Chem. 2011, 2, 2299-2305. DOI: 10.1039/C1PY00218J.
 
Zhao, L.; Pang, X.; Adhikary, R.; Petrich, J.; Jeffries-EL, M. and Lin, Z.* Organic-Inorganic Nanocomposites by Placing Conjugated Polymers in Intimate Contact with Quantum Rods, Adv. Mater., 2011, 23, 2844-2849.DOI: 10.1002/adma.201190097
 
Mike, J F.; Nalwa, K.; Makowski, A. J.; Putnam, D.; Tomlinson A.; Chaudhary, S. and Jeffries-EL, M.* Synthesis, Characterization and Photovoltaic Properties of Poly(thiophenevinylene) Benzobisoxazoles. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2011, 13, 1338-1344.DOI:10.1039/C0CP00353.
 
Intemann, J. J., Mike, J. F., Cai, M., Bose, S., Xiao, T., Mauldin T. Shinar, J., Shinar, R.and Malika Jeffries-EL*. Synthesis and Characterization of Poly (9,9-dialkylfluorenevinylene benzobisoxazoles): New Solution Processable Electron-Accepting Conjugated Polymers. Macromolecules, 2011, 44 (2) 248-255. DOI:10.1021/ma102010s
 
Mike, J.F.; Makowski, A.; Jeffries-EL, M.* Synthesis and Characterization of Dialkoxy Substituted Poly(phenylenevinylene) Benzobisoxazoles. J. Poly. Sci. A, 2010, 48 (6), 1456-1460.DOI: 10.1002/pola.23869.
 
Mike, J.F.; Makowski, A.; Ellern, A.; Jeffries-EL, M.* Facile Synthesis of 2,6-Disubstituted Benzobisthiazoles: Functional Monomers for the Design of Organic Semiconductors. J.Org. Chem. 2010, 75(2), 495-497. DOI: 10.1021/jo9023864
 
Byun, M.; Laskowski, Robyn K.; He, M.; Qiu,F.; Jeffries-EL, M. and Lin, Z. Controlled evaporative self-assembly of hierarchically structured regioregular conjugated polymers Soft. Mat., 2009, 5 (8), 1585-1586. DOI: 10.1039/b822998h
 
Mike, J.F.; Makowski, A.; Jeffries-EL, M.* An Efficient Synthesis of 2,6-Disubstituted Benzobisoxazoles: New Building Blocks for Organic Semiconductors. Org. Lett, 2008, 10(21), 4915. DOI: 10.1021/ol802011y
 
Xu, J., Wang, J., Mitchell, M., Mukherjee, P., Jeffries-EL, M., Petrich, J., Lin, Z, Organic-Inorganic Nanocomposites via Directly Grafting Conjugated Polymers onto Quantum Dots.  JACS, 2007, 129(42), 12828. DOI: 10.1021/ja074133x