Dr. Cynthia Jenks leads the Division of Chemical Sciences and Engineering at Argonne National Laboratory. Research in the division spans from fundamental chemical science through applied engineering research and development She co-leads Argonne’s efforts aimed at addressing the challenges of plastic upcycling and will chair the upcoming Department of Energy Basic Research Needs Workshop on Transformative Manufacturing.
Before joining Argonne in 2017, Dr. Jenks served as assistant director for scientific planning and as director of the Chemical and Biological Sciences Division at Ames Laboratory. Prior to that, she was a staff scientist and postdoctoral fellow at Ames Laboratory. Dr. Jenks holds Ph.D., and M.Phil. degrees in chemistry from Columbia University, a M.S. degree in chemical engineering, also from Columbia University, and a bachelor’s in chemical engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.