• Education
  • Innovation & Discovery
  • Workforce Development
  • Careers
  • About
  • News
  • Careers
  • Staff
  • Contact

Toby Nelson

Research Associate Professor

Email

tnelso31@utk.edu

LinkedIn

Google Scholar

Toby Nelson is a research associate professor with the University of Tennessee-Oak ridge Innovation Institute’s Clean manufacturing and Advanced Materials Convergent Research Initiative. 

His current research focuses on the design and synthesis of organic materials via green methods such as green solvent usage, C-H functionalization and solvent free techniques like high-speed ball-milled reactions and polymerization. Nelson’s research program covers the design and synthesis of organic semiconductors, polymer chemistry, green chemistry, mechanochemistry, organic electronics, biosensors, bioelectronics and development of bioinspired materials based on the natural pigment, Melanin. 

Nelson was an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Director of Student Engagement and STEM Initiatives in the College of Arts and Sciences at Oklahoma State University. Prior to that appointment, he was a UNCF-Merck Postdoctoral Fellow in organic materials at Carnegie Mellon University under advisement of Professor Richard D. McCullough (now President of Florida State University).

Education

Ph.D., Organic Chemistry

University of South Carolina, 2007 

B.S., Chemistry

Francis Marion University, 2001

UT-ORII is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified candidates, including individuals with disabilities and protected veterans, are encouraged to apply. UT-ORII is an E-Verify employer.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn

utorii@tennessee.edu
P.O. Box 2008, MS6173 | Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6173

Sign up for our mailing list.



The University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute is a partnership of the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.