Stephen Lee

Stephen Lee is a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Cornell University, where he has served on the faculty since 1999. Prior to this appointment, he was an associate professor of chemistry at the University of Michigan from 1993 to 1999. He earned his BA from Yale University in 1978 and his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1985. Lee's academic interests encompass organic, inorganic, materials, and theoretical chemistry. His research centers on the synthesis, structure, and electronic structure of extended solids. Specific projects involve developing porous organic coordination solids with fully covalent host frameworks by introducing cross-linkable guests such as di-isocyanides or disilyltriflates to create stronger materials. Another focus is examining long-range order in intermetallic phases, including noble metal alloys with unit cell dimensions ranging from a few angstroms to nearly 10⁴ Å. The Lee Group synthesizes intermetallic compounds exhibiting complex crystal structures, such as Cd₃Cu₄, Pd₅₉Cd₄₁, Pd₁₀₅Cd₃₄₃, and NaCd₂, while developing theoretical models that uncover pseudo-fivefold symmetries and links to periodic minimal surfaces.

Lee has produced over 100 publications, garnering more than 5,600 citations. Prominent works include "Spontaneous assembly of hinged coordination network" (Nature, 1995), "An organic solid with wide channels based on hydrogen bonding between macrocycles" (Nature, 1994), "Zeolite-like behavior of a coordination compound" (J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1995), "Exchange properties of a 3-D coordination compound" (J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1996), "Interpenetrating polar and nonpolar sublattices in intermetallics: The NaCd₂ structure" (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2007), and "The mystery of perpendicular 5-fold axes and the fourth dimension in intermetallic structures" (Chem. Eur. J., 2008). In 1993, he received the MacArthur Fellowship for combining theoretical and experimental methods in solid-state chemistry and electronic structure theory, advancing the understanding of crystal structure formation through novel materials preparation, property prediction, and the linkage of molecular to crystal structures via symmetric organic molecules, directional coordination bonds, and inorganic packing principles. Actively engaged in education, Lee teaches courses including CHEM 1070 General Chemistry I Workshop, CHEM 4210 Introduction to Inorganic Chemistry Research, CHEM 2770 and 2780 Methods in Chemical Education, and CHEM 1729 Solve It!. He is affiliated with the Cornell Center for Materials Research and the Cornell Department of Education Research.

Professional Email: sl137@cornell.edu