DAN KILLELEA is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and Associate Dean for Grants in the College of Arts & Sciences at Loyola University Chicago.  His research focus is on the chemical properties of metallic surfaces relevant to heterogeneous catalysis.  Of particular interest to his research group is how the relationships between the structure and chemistry of metal surfaces evolve upon oxidation and with increasing oxygen incorporation into the near surface region.  Such studies inform the larger goal of understanding the mechanisms and dynamics of gas-surface reactions.  His group is funded by the NSF, and has active collaborations with other groups at Leiden University in The Netherlands and The University of Göttingen in Germany.

Originally from Milwaukee, Dan received his BS in Chemistry from UW–Milwaukee in 2000.  He then moved to Medford, MA for graduate study in Chemistry at Tufts University with Art Utz. In 2007, he received his PhD, and from there, returned to the Midwest for a postdoctoral position at The University of Chicago with Steve Sibener.  Dan began his independent career at Loyola in the fall of 2011.  Since then, he has been active with the AVS, both national and local  (Prairie Chapter).  Dan was a co-champion for the Fundamental Discoveries in Heterogeneous Catalysis Focus Topic (HC) starting in 2016.  In addition, he was the AVS 66 overall Program vice-Chair in 2019 and the AVS 67 Program Chair.  Although AVS 67 was transformed due to CoVID, a showcase was held in 2020 and a virtual AVS 67 in 2021.  He also served on the AVS Board of Directors from 2020– 2022 and became an AVS fellow in 2023.  He is currently the secretary/treasurer for the AVS Surface Science Division and the chair of the Internation Interactions Committee.

As Associate Dean for Grants, Dan works with grant holders and submitters in CAS for proposal development and submission, as well as award management by interfacing with the relevant University offices.