Cherif Matta, Ph.D.

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Chérif F. Matta, PhD, HDR, FRSA, FRSB, FInstP, FRSC is Professor at the Department of Chemistry and Physics at Mount Saint Vincent University (MSVU) and an Adjunct Professor at Dalhousie, Laval, and Saint Mary’s Universities (all in Canada) and at Zewail City of Science and Technology (Egypt). He obtained a Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science from Alexandria University (Egypt), a PhD in theoretical and quantum chemistry from McMaster University from the school of Richard F. W. Bader, and a Habilitation to Direct Research (HDR) from the Université de Lorraine (France) in the laboratory of crystallographer Claude Lecomte. Postdoctoral training opportunities then opened for him at the University of Toronto in the modeling of localized atomic reactions on surfaces (under John C. Polanyi), then at Dalhousie University in computational biochemistry (with Russell Boyd).
Professor Matta counts ca. 150 publications including two edited books and has given 200 seminars and conference presentations in 30 countries, work that has garnered around 6,700 citations. His research ranges from theoretical and computational chemistry focusing on the effects of electric fields on biochemical reactions to mitochondrial biophysics. For his work, Chérif F. Matta received the Award for Research Excellence from his university (MSVU), the NSERC-Acfas Science Exposed Prize, the Lady Davis Fellowship in Medicine, the Molecular Graphics and Molecular Simulation Society Silver Jubilee Prize, the John Charles Polanyi Prize in Chemistry, and the Izaak Walton Killam Fellowship. He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), of the Institute of Physics (FInstP), of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB), and of the Royal Society of the Arts (FRSA).
Chérif Matta served as Department Head/Chair at MSVU from 2015-18, a time during which he spearheaded the effort to obtain the Canadian Society for Chemistry accreditation to Majors and Honors from his Department for the first time. The accreditation status has been obtained 10 months after starting his term as Chair in 2016. He has also served as the Chair of the Board of Trustees of Dalhousie Legal Aid Services, a time during which he helped resolve a pressing space problem in the facility. Backing a substantial managerial experience in a number of positions including the military and at the WHO-EMRO, Matta also holds a Graduate Diploma in Hospital and Health Systems Management, which is roughly equivalent to an MBA.
Professor Matta is currently a Member of the Commission on Quantum Crystallography of the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr), a Member of the Canada Research Chairs (CRC)’s Interdisciplinary Adjudication Committee, and a past and present member of more than one NSERC adjudication panel. Matta is also a Member of the Canadian Society for Chemistry (CSC) Accreditation Committee. For additional information, please visit: https://www.cmatta.ca/
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