Alumni Spotlight: Courtney DelPo ’18 Completes PhD at Princeton

I knew I wanted to go to graduate school from the start of my time at Ursinus, and Dr. Ellison quickly got me started doing research in his lab to help me gain more research experience to get into grad school. He supported me and my goals from the moment I started at Ursinus through to today. He encouraged me to apply to top chemistry PhD programs and then regularly checked in to see how I was doing in graduate school. He also invited me back to Ursinus to give a talk on my research to the chemistry department this past fall during a Friday seminar. It was a surreal experience to be the one giving the talk after attending so many of them while I was in the chemistry department as a student. I could not be more grateful for the support I received and continue to receive from all of the faculty in the chemistry department. At Ursinus, I also played rugby and I was a member of KDK. I loved everything about my time at Ursinus from the challenging academic work to the incredible students, faculty, and staff.

I earned my PhD in Chemistry and Materials Science from Princeton in February. My research was in the area of physical chemistry and my thesis focused on using the quantum effect of coupling light and matter to improve the properties of organic molecules for use in optoelectronic devices like solar cells and organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). At Princeton, I was also a Diversity Fellow and a member of the Princeton Women in STEM leadership council. In both roles I worked closely with the Access, Diversity, and Inclusion department of the graduate school to create a more inclusive graduate school environment for all students. I am now a research scientist at Universal Display Corporation where my research focuses on the advancement of OLED technology used today in displays in cell phones, watches, TVs, laptops, and more.