Renyi Zhang is the holder of Harold J. Haynes Endowed Chair (2010-2024), Mr. and Mrs. James R. Whatley ’47 Chair in Geosciences (2024-present), and a University Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Atmospheric Sciences and Chemistry at Texas A&M University (TAMU). He earned a Ph.D. from MIT and completed postdoctoral research at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Caltech. Zhang is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American Meteorological Society (AMS), and the American Geophysical Union (AGU).

Dr. Zhang was honored in 2016 with a named symposium “Formation & Transformation of Atmospheric Aerosols – From Air Pollution to Climate Change” at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society. He received the Humboldt Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2023), recognizing his “exceptional contributions to atmospheric science and climate research“. He is the recipient of the American Meteorological Society Jule G. Charney Medal “for exceptional contributions and leadership in advancing understanding of atmospheric chemical and physical mechanisms influencing air pollution, weather extremes, climate, and public health” (2025).

Research Interest

His research has covered a variety of areas in atmospheric, chemical, environmental, climate, and public health sciences, including:

1. Photochemical oxidation of hydrocarbons from anthropogenic and biogenic emissions;
2. Nucleation, growth, and transformation of aerosols;
3. Development of state-of-the-art instrumentation to measure trace gases and aerosols in the atmosphere;
4. Assessments of aerosol-cloud-climate interaction and adverse human health effects of air pollution and climate change. 

His earlier research made important contributions to the understanding of stratospheric ozone depletion. His scientific endeavors have not only made breakthrough discoveries in these areas but have also provided insights into the impacts of anthropogenic activities on human health, ecosystems, and climate, which are critical to policy-making and mitigation for environmental and climate protections. 

Researchers shall not claim their authority by labeling their specialty but shall make convincing arguments by presenting scientific evidence. “Scientists may depict the problems that will affect the environment based on available evidence, but their solution is not the responsibility of scientists but of society as a whole.”

– Mario J. Molina, 1995 Chemistry Nobel Laureate

Our Scientific Findings on COVID-19 Transmission

(Zhang et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 2020; Li et al. Sci. Total Environ. 2020)

Airborne Particulate Matter and Children’s Health

(Zhang et al. Thorax, 2021; Rychlik et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 2019; Wu et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 2019)

Air Pollution and Hurricane Harvey

(Pan et al. Geophy. Res. Lett., 2020)

• Department of Atmospheric Sciences | TAMU
• Department of Chemistry | TAMU