Research Summary

Theoretical quantum chemistry research in the Shee lab involves the development of correlated electronic structure techniques.  With current focus on a nonperturbative, stochastic method called auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo, we aim to accurately model strongly correlated electronic states of relevance to chemistry, as found in, e.g., polynuclear transition metal clusters.

Keywords

Quantum, electronic structure theory, strong correlation, quantum Monte Carlo, transition metals

Biography

James Shee was born in Portland, OR and grew up in El Dorado Hills, CA.  He joined the faculty of Rice University in the summer of 2023 as a Norman Hackerman-Welch Assistant Professor of Chemistry.  Prior to this appointment, he was a postdoctoral researcher at UC Berkeley working with Martin Head-Gordon.  James received his Ph.D. in Chemical Physics from Columbia University in 2019, co-advised by Richard Friesner and David Reichman, and his A.B. in Chemistry from Princeton University in 2014.  Among other professional recognitions, Professor Shee received the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health in 2021, and the Louis Hammett Award for Excellence in Graduate Research from Columbia University in 2019.