A native of New York City, Rosenthal received his bachelor’s degree from New York University, where he conducted undergraduate research as a Pfizer fellow with Prof. David I. Schuster. He completed a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a Fannie and John Hertz doctoral fellow. His thesis work, with Prof. Daniel G. Nocera focused on the mechanistic study of proton-coupled electron transfer reactions as applied to energy conversion processes. Rosenthal studied bioinorganic chemistry and metalloneurochemistry with Prof. Stephen J. Lippard at MIT as an NIH postdoctoral fellow, where he developed detection methods for reactive nitrogen species and neuronal signaling agents.
In 2010, Rosenthal joined the faculty in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Delaware where he currently holds the rank of Associate Professor and is the Associate Chair for Graduate Studies and Research. His research group is active in the fields of energy, catalysis, chemical synthesis, electrochemistry and photochemistry. Major emphasis within Rosenthal’s labs are dedicated to developing systems for energy conversion and alternative fuel production by working to identify the molecular design principles necessary to drive the energetically demanding conversion of stable molecules to fuels. His group is also actively pursuing new photochemotherapeutic agents for the treatment of certain cancers. Rosenthal is a faculty member of UD’s Center for Catalytic Science and Technology and the Delaware Energy Institute, and is a faculty trainer for the UD Chemical Biology Interface Program. He is also a member of the University Advisory Committee to the Delaware Teachers Institute.
Rosenthal’s honors include an MIT Sustainable Chemistry Award and the MIT Davison Thesis Prize. In 2007 he received a Young Investigator Award from the American Chemical Society and he was recognized with a Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from Oak Ridge Associated Universities in 2011. Rosenthal also received a DuPont Young Professor Award in 2012 and was named a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Environmental Chemistry Mentor in 2013. Rosenthal’s other awards include an NSF CAREER Award, an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, and an I-APS Young Investigator Award, which were all received in 2014. Finally, Rosenthal was named the 2014 Gerard J. Mangone Young Scholar by the UD Francis Alison Society and has also been recognized with an Undergraduate Research Mentorship award by the ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry.
