Talented 12 Symposium Program
Monday, August 18, 2025, 2 - 5 PM
Room 202A, Walter E. Washington Convention Center
Session Speaker Lineup and Timing
2:00-2:05 Opening Remarks
2:05-2:35 Keynote Address by Neil Garg, Distinguished Professor and Kenneth N. Trueblood Endowed Chair, University of California, Los Angeles
2:35-3:25 Talented 12 Talks
2:35-2:45 Tejas Shah
2:45-2:55 Ariel Furst
2:55-3:05 Nick Riley
3:05-3:15 Denise Okafor
3:15-3:25 Herdeline Ann Ardona
3:25-3:40 Intermission
3:40-4:50 Talented 12 Talks
3:40-3:50 Sascha Feldmann
3:50-4:00 Dayne Swearer
4:00-4:10 Pilanda Watkins-Curry
4:10-4:20 Alison Bain
4:20-4:30 Shira Joudan
4:30-4:40 Katrina Knauer
4:40-4:50 Ankur Gupta
4:40-5:20 Closing Remarks and Networking
Keynote Speaker
Neil Garg is a Distinguished Professor and holds the Kenneth N. Trueblood Endowed Chair in Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCLA. Prior to joining the UCLA faculty, he received a B.S. in Chemistry from NYU. He obtained his Ph.D. in 2005 from CalTech under the direction of Professor Brian Stoltz. He then joined Professor Larry Overman’s research laboratory at UC Irvine as a NIH Postdoctoral Scholar.
Neil joined the faculty at UCLA in 2007. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2012, Full Professor in 2013, and then Distinguished Professor in 2020. He has served as Department Chair (2019–2023) and Vice Chair for the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (2012–2016 and 2023-present).
He also served as Faculty-in-Residence in the UCLA undergraduate community for nine years. Neil is a decorated teacher and researcher, as well as a popular speaker and consultant for teaching, scientific, policy, government, and legal matters.
Talented 12 Class of 2025
Herdeline Ardoña
University of California, Irvine
Alison Bain
Oregon State University
Sascha Feldmann
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne (EPFL)
Ariel Furst
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Ankur Gupta
University of Colorado Boulder
Shira Joudan
University of Alberta
Kat Knauer
US National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Denise Okafor
Pennsylvania State University
Nick Riley
University of Washington
Tejas Shah
Corteva Agriscience
Dayne Swearer
Northwestern University
Pilanda Watkins-Curry
Louisiana State University
About the Talented 12
C&EN's Talented 12 Program identifies and celebrates outstanding early-career chemists across all areas of chemistry to be highlighted in an annual special issue of C&EN.
