Dr. Hepburn received his B. Sc. in chemistry in 1976 from the University of Waterloo and his Ph.D. in 1980 from the University of Toronto, where his supervisor was Nobel Prize winner Dr. John Polanyi. Following a period as a NATO Fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, he taught chemistry and physics at the University of Waterloo from 1982-2001, chairing the Chemistry Department for two years. In 2001, he became Head of Chemistry at the University of British Columbia before being appointed Dean of the Faculty of in 2003. He assumed the role of Vice President (Research) in October, 2005.
His research interests include: laser chemistry and laser spectroscopy; photoionization dynamics; applications of synchrotron radiation; surface reaction dynamics; laser ablation mass spectrometry; coherent control and ultrafast laser spectroscopy.
Prof. Hepburn was a member of the PIMS Board of directors from 2005 until 2016.
