David Limmer

Assistant Professor of Chemistry

David Limmer was born in 1986 and is currently a Full Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. He earned his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in 2008 before pursuing graduate studies at UC Berkeley, where he completed his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry in 2013. Following his doctoral work, he held postdoctoral positions at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Princeton Center for Theoretical Science, where he further developed his expertise in theoretical and computational chemistry.

Limmer joined the UC Berkeley faculty in 2016 as an Assistant Professor and Chevron Chair in Chemistry, later becoming an Associate Professor in 2022 and Full Professor in 2025. In parallel, he has held appointments as a Faculty Chemist in both the Materials Sciences Division and the Chemical Sciences Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He is also a Kavli Energy NanoScience Institute Fellow and a faculty member in Berkeley’s Biophysics Graduate Group.

His research lies in theoretical chemistry, with a focus on developing new frameworks to describe complex condensed-phase systems, particularly those far from equilibrium. By drawing on ideas across multiple areas of theoretical science, his work seeks to better understand how materials behave under dynamic conditions where traditional equilibrium assumptions break down.

Limmer has received several honors recognizing both his research and teaching, including the U.S. Department of Energy Early Career Award, the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, and the Donald N. Noyce Prize for excellence in undergraduate teaching. In 2025, he was named Director of the CECAM-US-WEST node, reflecting his leadership in advancing computational approaches to chemical and materials research.