Prof. John Miecznikowski was born and grew up in Bristol, CT. He graduated from Bristol Central High School in 1996 where he was named class valedictorian. He received his B.S. degree in Chemistry with Honors from Trinity College, in Hartford, CT. As an undergraduate student, he worked on developing and characterizing thin films of nanoporous silica with Prof. Christine Broadbridge and solving crystal structures of iridium hydrides with Prof. Ralph O. Moyer, Jr.
In September 2000, he began is doctoral studies in Inorganic Chemistry at Yale University, in New Haven, CT. His research with Prof. Robert Crabtree focused on developing several new aspects of transition-metal N-heterocyclic carbene chemistry. He was awarded his M.S. degree in Inorganic Chemistry in 2001 and his Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry in 2004.
Dr. Miecznikowski started as a Postdoctoral Faculty Fellow (PFF) at Boston University after receiving his Ph.D. There, he was involved in team teaching General Chemistry I (CH101), and Inorganic Chemistry (CH232), and he did postdoctoral research under the direction of Prof. John Caradonna. His research focused on synthesizing and characterizing Fe(II) and Fe(III) model complexes for the 2-His 1-Carboxylate Motif of mononuclear nonheme iron oxygenases.
Prof. Miecznikowski started his independent career at Fairfield University in September 2007. He was selected as the Undergraduate Teacher of the Year at Fairfield University by Alpha Sigma Nu (Jesuit Honor Society) in 2011