The Genna Lab

Doug Genna (dtgenna@ysu.edu)

Professor Douglas Genna was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania just north of Philadelphia. He received his BS in 2006 from Haverford College working in the area of total synthesis with Fran Blase. In the fall of that same year he joined the lab of Gary H. Posner at The Johns Hopkins University, where he studied chirality transfer in allylic substitution chemistry and the copper mediated conversion of carboxylic acids into a ketones. In December 2011, he defended his thesis and joined the lab of Melanie S. Sanford at the University of Michigan in January 2012 for his postdoctoral studies. In the Sanford lab he studied the heterogenization of homogeneous catalysts inside Metal-Organic Frameworks. After two and half years in Ann Arbor he joined the faculty at Youngstown State University in August 2014. He was promoted with tenure to Associate Professor in 2018, and promoted to Full Professor in 2023. In 2025, Doug served as a program director for the Solid State and Materials Chemistry Program at the National Science Foundation. In addition to his work as a Professor of Chemistry, he also serves as the University’s Director of Strategic Research Initiatives.

In his spare time Doug enjoys playing games with his family.