David Grimes

David Grimes is an Instructor and Digital Learning Lab Scientist in MIT's Department of Chemistry, where he combines expertise in physical chemistry with educational innovation. After earning his B.A. in Chemistry from Amherst College in 2009 and Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from MIT in 2017, he conducted postdoctoral research at Harvard University before joining MIT's Digital Learning Lab in 2019. As an instructor, he teaches introductory chemistry, undergraduate thermodynamics, and contributes to graduate teaching assistant pedagogy. In his role as Digital Learning Scientist, he leads the development of innovative course content and tools for both campus and MOOC platforms, including spearheading the creation of MIT's comprehensive general chemistry course (5.01x) on edX. His work extends beyond teaching to include developing computational elements for residential courses and managing digital learning strategies alongside faculty. His contributions to chemistry education have been particularly significant in creating online problem sets and implementing pedagogical approaches custom-made for digital learning environments.