Rate My Professor Michael Messina

Michael Messina is a professor of chemistry at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW), where he conducts research and teaches in the Department of Chemistry. His academic journey began with an A.S. in Chemistry from Nassau Community College in May 1985, followed by a B.S. in Chemistry from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in May 1987. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh in April 1992, with a doctoral thesis titled “Quantum Dynamics of Many-Body Systems” supervised by Professor Rob D. Coalson. During his graduate studies, Messina was honored as a Mobay Scholar in 1987 and served as a Mellon Fellow from 1989 to 1990. Upon joining UNCW, he has distinguished himself through exceptional teaching, receiving the Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence Award in 2002, the Distinguished Teaching Professorship Award in 2003, the Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar award from 2007 to 2011, and the prestigious Board of Governors Award for Teaching Excellence in 2012.

Messina's research interests center on computational quantum dynamics, encompassing H atom tunneling in enzyme-catalyzed quantum dynamics, coupled electron-nuclear quantum dynamics of metal-mediated dihydrogen activation, development of modules for real-time visualization of laser-molecule interactions using UV and IR spectroscopy, and algorithms for solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation for long-time non-adiabatic processes. His contributions to the literature include key publications such as “Quantum control of I₂ in the gas phase and in condensed phase using optimal strong-field coherent control” (The Journal of Chemical Physics, 1997), “On the Possibility of Detecting Low Barrier Hydrogen Bonds with UV Spectroscopy” (Journal of Chemical Information and Computer Sciences, 2003), and “Observing Quantum Dynamics in Real Time: An Excel-Ready Finite Difference Time Domain Approach” (Journal of Chemical Education, 2020). Messina mentors undergraduate researchers and serves on several university committees, including as a member of the University Curriculum Committee and the University IDS Advisory Council, chair of the Chemistry Department Scholarship Committee, and provider of transfer advising for the department.