Bassam Z. Shakhashiri (born 1939, in Lebanon) is a professor of chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he is the holder of the William T. Evjue Distinguished Chair.

presentations at community settings such as farmers' markets, shopping malls, schools, and colleges have reached tens of thousands of students, teachers, and parents throughout Wisconsin.

[7] The institute also sponsors a scholarship for graduate students in chemistry who include a chapter in their dissertation that describes their scholarly research for a general audience.

However, he was also anonymously criticized for having a "confrontational" style, overly personalizing policy campaigns, and introducing a political element into the grant award process.

In 1990 NSF Director Erich Bloch removed Shakhashiri from his post, replacing him with Luther Williams, a move that was both applauded and protested.

[12] One of his initiatives while president was to create a year-long Commission on Graduate Education in the Chemical Sciences, whose report, Advancing Graduate Education in the Chemical Sciences, recommended better preparation of Ph.D. candidates for employment, teaching communication skills for engagement in a global workplace, and inclusion of women and students from underrepresented populations.

[13][14] Shakhashiri has also spoken about changes in scientific practice, in particular the ways in which boundaries between chemistry and biology are blurring as scientists learn more in those fields.