May Nyman, her husband and three children (Kaarina, 14; Flynn, 10; Devin, 5) moved to Corvallis in August 2012, where both elder Nymans joined the OSU faculty; May in Chemistry and Matt in Science, Math Education. Prior to this, the Nymans lived in Albuquerque, NM where May worked at Sandia National Laboratories for 14.5 years as a staff chemist, working on materials for energy and environmental applications.  May’s main scientific passion is polyoxmetalate chemistry; polyoxoniobates and tantalates in particular, as well as related oxide materials.  These particular polyoxometalates and materials have properties useful for applications such proton conductors, base catalysis, selective binding and precipitation or crystallization of bio-macromolecules, water splitting for hydrogen production, and anti-viral applications. The polyoxoniobates and tantalates are also very interesting for investigating the fundamentals of ion-pairing in solution. May chose this challenging mid-career change due to her interest in working with students and developing a focused research program centered around polyoxometalate chemistry.

  Education and Prior Employment: 

BSc in Geology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University (1990)
MSc in Materials Science & Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University (1992)
PhD in Chemistry, University of New Mexico (1997)
Staff chemist at Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM (1998-2012)

Awards:
Special appointment of Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, 2012.