SCIART Chemistry Team Leader
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Contact Information
Email: mmacdonald@mica.edu
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Research Chemist for the US Army CCDC Chemical Biological Center; Part-Time Faculty at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA)
Dr. Margaret G. MacDonald is a chemist, curator, and educator focused on the intersection of art, science, and culture. She currently works as a Research Chemist for the US Army CCDC Chemical Biological Center, where her research probes macro and molecular-scale dynamics of liquids within porous media using the NMR-MOUSE Spectrometer. In addition, Dr. MacDonald is part-time faculty at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), where she teaches Materials Alchemy—a course exploring materials and new media, applying basic principles in chemistry and materials science, and unveiling how artists have innovated with new materials—and Art & Algorithm—a co-taught integrated studio and liberal arts course on cybernetic, kinetic, electronic, digital, net-art, biological, and AI-based Contemporary Art practices.
Dr. MacDonald holds a PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from UNC-Chapel Hill, an MFA in Curatorial Practice from MICA, and BA in Art History and in Chemistry from Grinnell College. She has been previously appointed as an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in Conservation Science at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a Postdoctoral Fellow in Conservation Science at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and a curatorial intern at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.