Patrick Hanley was born in St. Albans, West Virginia, on July 4, 1985. As an undergraduate at West Virginia University, Patrick worked under the supervision of Dr. Jeffrey Petersen exploring the synthesis and reactivity of Group IV transition metal complexes. He joined the Hartwig Group in the fall of 2008 to pursue his interest in organometallic chemistry, and is currently working on olefin insertion into palladium-nitrogen bonds. Outside of the lab, Patrick enjoys spending time with his fiancé, home brewing, and watching WVU sports.

David Huang was born in Iowa in 1983. He grew up in San Diego, CA, after brief stints in Iowa and Alabama. David received his B.S. from UC Berkeley in 2006, where he worked in the Toste lab on the synthesis of pentabromopseudilin analogues along with the Au (I) catalyzed cyclization of silyl enol ether and its applications in total synthesis. David wanted to continue research in transition-metal catalyzed reactions and joined the Hartwig Group in the fall of 2006. He is currently working on the palladium-catalyzed coupling with enolates.

Jessica Klickenberg was born in Cleveland, OH and grew up in a boring suburb just to the south of the city. She completed her undergraduate studies in chemistry at the University of Virginia and worked with Professor Cassandra Fraser on the synthesis and application of polymeric metal complexes. In 2007, she made the decision to move to Illinois, because she really likes a challenge, the -22 0F temperatures have made her appreciate the warmth of the lab ovens even more, and downhill skiing is too expensive anyway. She joined the Hartwig Group after becoming enamored with alkane borylation in March of her junior year in college (the only inorganic lecture she didn't doodle during!). She's currently working on C­–N cross coupling and not trying to flood the lab with CO. In her spare time, she exhausts herself with marathon and cycling century training, cooking, and having Martha Stewart moments.

Carl Liskey was born in 1985 and grew up in North Judson, Indiana. He then attended Purdue University, where he worked in Tong Ren’s lab investigating diruthenium paddlewheel complexes and their charge transfer properties. Carl spent the summer of 2007 in the Hartwig Group, which greatly influenced his decision to come to the University of Illinois and join the Hartwig Group in Fall 2008. Carl is currently working on C-H Activation. Outside of the lab, he enjoys watching and playing a variety of sports.

Sherzod Madrahimov

Sherzod Madrahimov was born in 1981 in Namangan, Uzbekistan. He graduated from the Tashkent Institute of Chemical Technology in 2003 with a BS in Food Engineering. In 2007, he earned a Master’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, working with Dr. Brian Ward on materials based on tetrathiafulvalene with conducting and magnetic properties. In the fall of 2007, he started his PhD work at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and joined the Hartwig group the same year. He is studying the mechanisms of iridium-catalyzed asymmetric allylic substitution. Sherzod is married has a daughter. Outside of lab, he enjoys spending time with his family, playing/watching soccer and practicing judo.

Seth Marquard was born in 1984 and spent his early years in El Paso, TX and Chardon, OH. He attended Ohio University and researched dye-sensitized solar cells with Prof. Jeffery Rack. He also participated in an REU program at the National Institute for Standards and Technology. Seth joined the Hartwig Group at UIUC in 2006 and is studying anti-Markovnikov hydroamination. Seth likes the congenial atmosphere of the Chemistry Department at the University of Illinois. Outside of lab, Seth enjoys cooking and reading about WWII history.

Dale Pahls was born in 1987 in Atchison, KS, and grew up in Kansas City, MO. For his undergraduate education, he attended Truman State University and worked under Dr. Barbara Kramer on applying solid phase microextraction (SPME) to the analysis of organics in local lakes. He participated in a Research Experience for Undergraduates through the Research Internships in Science and Engineering program and spent a summer working in Dr. Walter Vetter's lab at the Universität Hohenheim. His project was the separation of toxaphene by countercurrent chromatography (CCC). Since joining the Hartwig group in 2008 his studies have focused on C-H activation. He chose the Hartwig group because of his interest in the functionalization of alkanes. Outside of lab Dale likes to read, write, and play video games.

Cass Richers grew up in Bryan, Texas, and attended Texas A&M University. He graduated in 2006 with a B. S. in chemistry and joined the Hartwig Lab the following spring. He is currently studying the effects of phosphines on olefin insertions into metal-alkoxo and -amido bonds. He chose the University of Illinois because of the people who do research there and the friendly environment. In his spare time, Cass follows Texas A&M athletics and occasionally plays sports.

Dan Robbins was born in 1984 in Milwaukee, WI, and spent his formative years in Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and Indianapolis. Dan obtained his bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering and Chemistry in 2007 from Purdue University, where he conducted undergraduate research under the direction of Professor Philip Fuchs on the total synthesis of apoptolidin. During his undergraduate years, Dan also completed two summer internships at Merck Research Laboratories in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, where he completed a process improvement project and developed a real-time reaction monitoring system using IR spectroscopy. Dan had another summer internship at Lilly Research Laboratories in Indianapolis. In 2007, Dan moved to Urbana-Champaign to begin graduate studies and joined the Hartwig Group after becoming enthralled with catalysis and reaction kinetics during one of his summers at Merck. Dan is currently working on the development of a reaction discovery system using high-throughput screening and Ir-catalyzed C-H borylation. In his spare time, Dan enjoys music and is an avid soccer fan.

Christo Sevov was born in 1986 in Sofia, Bulgaria. In 1990, he and his family immigrated to the United States where they finally settled in South Bend, Indiana. There, he received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from the University of Notre Dame. Working in physical organic chemist Olaf Wiest’s lab, he performed mechanistic studies on electron transfer catalyzed Diels-Alder reactions. Inspired by the idea of catalysis, he joined the Hartwig group at UIUC in 2009 to study and further develop catalytic intermolecular hydroamination reactions. Outside of the lab, Christo enjoys playing a variety of sports, relaxing with friends, and of course, going back to his alma mater for Notre Dame football games.

Yichen Tan was born in 1985 and grew up in the southeast of China. He obtained his bachelor degree from Peking University, where he did his research on the synthesis and self-assembling of disk-shaped supramolecules via hydrogen bonding. In 2007, Yichen came to UIUC and joined the Hartwig Group because of the interesting projects and awesome lab mates in this group. Now, he is working on aryl C-H amination. Outside of lab, Yichen enjoys watching movies and playing tennis.

Giang Vo was born in Saigon, Vietnam. He and his family moved to the US in 1995. Giang obtained a bachelor's degree in 2005 from the Illinois Institute of Technology, where he studied the application of transition-metal-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions in the total synthesis of conocurvone. Giang joined Yale in Fall 2005 and the Hartwig Group in May 2006. He moved to Illinois with John because of the very interesting projects and good learning opportunities available in the Hartwig Group. Outside of the lab, Giang enjoys reading, playing guitar, swimming, and cooking.

Yang Wang was born in 1987 in Renqiu, China. He attended the College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering at Peking University, where he received his bachelor degree in 2009. When he was at Peking University, he worked in Prof. Zhangjie Shi’s group for two years, focusing on C-H bond activation with palladium catalysis. In 2009, with a passion for organometallics, Yang became a member of the chemistry department at UIUC and joined the Hartwig group. He is now working on the mechanism study of direct arylation reaction. Outside the lab, he prefers to spend his time in the gym, swimming or playing basketball.