NLSD Banner

Navigation

Nate Musselwhite






1/23/19

Nate Musselwhite graduated from NL in 2007. He graduated summa cum laude from Lebanon Valley College in 2011 with a BS in Chemistry and an ACS Certified Degree in Chemistry. At LVC, Musselwhite participated in undergraduate research in nanotechnology and was awarded the Andrew Bender award for top graduating student in chemistry. In 2015, Musselwhite earned a PhD in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. As part of his doctoral studies, Musselwhite researched nanotechnology, catalysis, and energy and had over 40 publications in world class scientific journals. He was awarded the Chevron Technology Fellowship Award for impactful research in the field of energy and was granted four years of consecutive funding from Chevron Technology (totaling over $1M) for research in catalysis and energy. He also patented a highly efficient catalyst for hydrocarbon refining.

Musselwhite is employed by Lam Research Corporation, a semiconductor equipment manufacturing company (they make the machines that make computer chips). His job entails working with Intel, Samsung, TSMC, etc. on researching and developing new technologies for making the world’s most advanced logic and memory computer chips. Some of Musselwhite’s technology is currently employed at TSMC making the latest iPhone chip. He has numerous patents for advanced semiconductor manufacturing technology and has presented his work internationally at industry conferences and symposia.

Musselwhite currently resides in San Jose, California, more commonly known as Silicon Valley. He has a ten-year-old daughter, Alexis, who enjoys playing violin and exercising, and a girlfriend, Alice, who is an elementary teacher. His parents, Dave and Karen, live in Jonestown, as do his brother Graham and sister-in-law Amy. Musselwhite’s hobbies include snowboarding with his daughter in Tahoe, lifting weights (in grad school, he competed as a bodybuilder and became pro-qualified), playing guitar, and learning languages. He credits Mrs. Stoddard for sparking a love for Spanish, which is a huge asset when living in California, and he also recently began learning Mandarin Chinese, which is useful in the semiconductor industry. Musselwhite reflects about his time at NL, “I think the most important thing I learned at NL was not taught in the classroom. Being out on the football field or in the weight room every single day with Coach Beidler taught me dedication, perseverance, trust, respect, and the value of hard work. Those lessons stayed with me whenever life became tough and helped me to overcome those difficulties.” The following is Musselwhite’s advice for current NL students: Work hard in your classes, try new things inside and outside of school, and take some time to have fun! You only go through high school once, enjoy it!


If you would like to nominate a Viking for Life so that they appear on this page, please click here.

View all Viking for Life features.