Professor of Chemistry Emeritus G. Charles Dismukes also was an affiliated member of the Princeton Environmental Institute and the Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials. He received a B.S. in chemistry from the Lowell Technological Institute, a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and did postdoctoral work in the Calvin Laboratory at the University of California–Berkeley.

Charles arrived at Princeton in 1978 as an assistant professor. His research interests include metals in biological systems, and biological and chemical methods for splitting water. His published works describe the biology and chemistry of photosynthetic oxygen production by water oxidation, and bioinspired synthetic catalysts for renewable energy production. His honors include: Searle Scholars Award, Alfred P. Sloan Award, Squibb Institute Fellowship, DuPont Young Faculty Award, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Fellowship, Monbusho Lecturer, National Research Council Fellowship, National Research Service Award Senior International Fellow, CNRS Fellowship (France), and the Lemberg Fellowship (Australia). He has been a visiting professor at the Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France (1997); Kansai- Gaikun University, Nishinomiya, Japan (1997); the Squibb Institute for Medical Research, Princeton (1991); and the Service de Biophysique, Dept. de Biologie, CEA-Saclay, France (1984).

Charles’s professional service has included: president of the Princeton Chapter of the American Chemical Society (ACS); ACS member and national meeting symposium organizer; program reviewer for the Department of Energy, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH); and roles in many other capacities for the NIH Metallobiochemistry Resource Center, NIH Study Group for National EPR Facilities, NIH Molecular Biophysics Training Grant Study Group, NIH-Chemistry and Bioanalytical Science Review Panel, and NIH-Postdoctoral Award Review Panel. He has been on the Biophysical Society National Committee on Careers, and is on the Board of Editors, Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry. Charles also acted as consultant to Sakana Inc., the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Sarnoff Laboratories, Agere Systems, Allied Innovative Systems, and Bingham McCutchen.

Charles currently is on the faculty of the chemistry department at Rutgers University.