Liam was born in Texas — the heart of ‘murica. He went for a jaunt in Indiana to complete his B.S. in Chemistry at The University of Notre Dame (2009–2013), before returning to his home state for a Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin. Under the tutelage of Mike Rose, he studied pnictogen complexes of first-row transition metals, noting how heavier donor atoms can confer nobility on lighter metals like nickel and cobalt (2013–2019). After this work on manipulating electronic and magnetic structure, he abandoned metals altogether and moved to Texas State University. As a Postdoctoctoral Research Associate with Todd Hudnall, he developed diborylcarbon species as precursors to reactive electron-poor carbenes (2020–2022). He then moved all the way down the corridor to join the Schilter Lab, where he rekindled his relationship with nickel to study macrocyclic complexes as models for methyl-coenzyme M reductase (2022). Following his work in our Group, Liam scored a job at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, CA, where he now studies inorganic solids as hydrogen storage materials (2023–).
Away from the bench, he enjoys running and gaming.