Joseph Thrasher

Biography

Dr. Thrasher received his B.S. (1978) and Ph.D. (1981) degrees at Virginia Tech, where he was the last doctoral student of Prof. Alan Clifford. He was a postdoctoral research associate (1982-83) at the Freie Universität Berlin (Germany) under Prof. Konrad Seppelt before returning to the States as a Visiting Assistant Professor (1983-84) at Clemson University, where he carried out research with Prof. Darryl DesMarteau. He then started his independent career at The University of Alabama where he rose through the academic ranks (1984-2011), including serving as Director of Graduate Studies (1995-2002) and Department Chair (2002-2007). In the fall of 2011, Dr. Thrasher returned to Clemson University to both overlap with and then follow Prof. DesMarteau in the area of fluorine chemistry. He was a member of the Governing Board of the Council for Chemical Research (CCR) in 2005-06. He also served as Chair of the American Chemical Society (ACS) Division of Fluorine Chemistry (1994), co-chaired two ACS Winter Fluorine Conferences (1993 and 1995), and was lead organizer of the 19th International Symposium of Fluorine Chemistry (2009), held in Jackson Hole, WY. He has been a guest editor of two issues of the Journal of Fluorine Chemistry, joined their Editorial Board in 2013, and became Regional Editor for the Americas in 2016.

Research Interest

Dr. Thrasher’s research involves the preparation, characterization, and utility of novel sulfur-fluorine compounds; industrial fluorine chemistry including agro- and pharmaceutical intermediates, fluoropolymer chemistry, and electrochemistry; fluorine-containing molten salts/ionic liquids; fluorous media for improved separations and catalysis; batteries and fuel cell technology; development of new analytical methodologies in fluorine chemistry; and computational chemistry. Current projects in the Thrasher Group can be categorized into one of three different areas: (1) sulfur-fluorine chemistry, (2) industrial fluorine chemistry, and (3) fuel cell technology