10 Facts About Polly Arnold

Polly Louise Arnold was born on 24 July 1972 and is a British chemist who is director of the chemical sciences division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and professor of chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley.

Polly Arnold previously held the Crum Brown chair in the School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh from 2007 to 2019 and an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council career fellowship.

Polly Arnold moved to the University of Sussex for postgraduate research where her Doctor of Philosophy degree was supervised by Geoffrey Cloke.

Polly Arnold's research focuses on exploratory synthetic chemistry, particularly in making complexes that exhibit unusual structure-bonding in early transition metal, and lanthanide and actinide chemistry.

Polly Arnold's research is focused on the design and synthesis of highly reactive f-block complexes that can activate inert small molecules such as carbon oxides, dinitrogen, and hydrocarbons, and that can provide fundamental information on structure and bonding at the bottom of the periodic table.

Polly Arnold has given lectures around the world, advised the government and industry, and appears regularly on mainstream media and social media to discuss the importance and benefits of diversity in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics workforce.

Polly Arnold was awarded the Rosalind Franklin Award in 2012 for her scientific achievements, and her suitability as a role model and proposal to promote women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.