Professor Molander received his B.S. degree in chemistry from Iowa State University under the tutelage of Richard C. Larock and earned his Ph.D. with Herbert C. Brown at Purdue University.  After a postdoctoral stint at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, with Barry M. Trost, he began his independent career as an assistant professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, rising through the ranks to professor before moving to the University of Pennsylvania, where he served as Chair from 2009 to 2018.  His research interests are in the development of new synthetic methods for organic synthesis.

He has won numerous awards for his research, including the American Chemical Society Herbert C. Brown Award for Creative Research in Synthetic Methods. He currently serves on the editorial board at Thieme with Science of Synthesis, as Editor-in-Chief of Comprehensive Organic Synthesis 3e, and the Advisory Board of Chem Catalysis.  He has been an active member of the Division of Organic Chemistry of the American Chemical Society, serving as Member-at-Large of the Executive Committee, Secretary-Treasurer, and Chair of the Division.  He was also the Executive Officer of the National Organic Symposium, currently serves as one of the co-chairs of the Division of Organic Chemistry Graduate Research Symposium, and was elected a Fellow of the American Chemical Society.