​​​Schoenebeck Research Group

Michael was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA and received his BSc in Chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh in 2018 where he worked on the synthesis of a natural product and photocleavable caging group under Dr. Alexander Dieters. He then carried out his Ph.D. studies at the University of Notre Dame under Dr. Olaf Wiest and Dr. Paul Helquist. His thesis work included the computational study of several transition-metal catalyzed reaction mechanisms, development of a Transition State Force Field to make enantioselectivity predictions using Quantum-Guided Molecular Mechanics, and the experimental validation of stereoselectivity predictions made by Q2MM. Michael joined the Schoenebeck group as a postdoctoral researcher in January 2024.