UA Chemistry Department News

December 2003

• Congratulations to our December graduates. In 2003, the Chemistry Department conferred 6 PhD degrees, 5 MS degrees, and 9 BS degrees.
  • M.S.
    • Rongcai Huang (Dr. Shaughnessy)
  • Ph.D.
    • Buffie Clodfelder-Miller (Dr. Vincent)
• The Chemistry Department has received funding from the NSF-CRIF program to add X-Band capability to our EPR facility. Co-PIs for this proposal were Dr. Kevin Redding, Dr. Lowell Kispert, Dr. Martin Bakker, and Dr. John Vincent.
• Chemistry Department alumni Dr. Tao Xu and Nathan Henderson were awarded the Outstanding Dissertation and Outstanding Thesis awards respectively for the College of Arts and Sciences. They will go on to compete for the University Dissertation and Thesis awards.
• Chemistry majors Bret Wilson and Jason Spruell were chosen to as nominees for the Goldwater Scholarship from the College of Arts and Sciences.

November 2003

• Dr. David Dixon has a accepted a position as Professor of Chemistry at The University of Alabama. Dr. Dixon comes to UA from Pacific Northwest National Lab where he is currently a Battelle Fellow. Dr. Dixon is a world-leader in the use of high-performance computing in solving chemical problems.
• Dr. Robin Rogers has been eelcted as an ACS Divisional Representative on the ACS Joint Board Concil Committee on Science. Dr. Rogers will serve on the board for the 2004-2006 term.

October 2003

• The Chemistry Department took part in the Homecoming festivities with its always popular fun with liquid nitrogen demonstration.
• Dr. H. Keith McDowell has been appointed Vice President for Research by University President Robert Witt. In addition, Dr. McDowell will have an appointment as Professor of Chemistry. Dr. McDowell comes to UA from University of Texas-Arlington where he was V.P for Research and Professor of Chemistry.
• Dr. Silas Blackstock was named a College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Teaching Fellow by the Dean at the Fall A&S Faculty meeting. Dr. Blackstock joins Dr. John Vincent and Dr. Bing Blewitt as Chemistry faculty who have been named Distinguished Teaching Fellows.

Return to the top

September 2003

• Dr. Arunava Gupta has accepted a position as MINT Professor at The University of Alabama. In addition to working with the MINT Center, Dr. Gupta will have a joint appointment in the departments of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. Dr. Gupta comes to The University of Alabama from IBM.
• Graduate Student Research and Travel Awards. Several Chemistry students have won awards to present their research at regional or national meetings.
  • Qiaoli Liang (Dr. Timkovich)
  • Megan Turner (Dr. Rogers)
  • Daniela Tapu (Dr. Arduengo)
  • Peera Acharasatian (Dr. Blackstock)

Return to the top

August 2003:

• We are pleased to welcome our new class of incoming graduate students.
  • Ryan Bennett, Georgia Southern University
  • Patricia Briea, Mediterranian Argonomic Institute of Chania
  • Meghna Dilip, University of Madras
  • Alexandrina Focsan, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Cluy-Napoca
  • Ashok Ganta, Osmania University
  • Monica Khural, Panjab University
  • V. Gopal Pothana, University College of Pharmaceutical Science
  • Dwayne Reed, Georgia Southern University
  • Andrew Reed, The University of Alabama
  • Julia Shamshina, Russian Chemical Technology University
  • Marcin Smiglak, University of Technology, Poznan Poland
  • Jian Tang, Beijing University of Chemical Technology
  • Smitha Vokkaliga, University of Mysore
  • Weihao Xu, Donghua University
  • Lidong Zhai, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine
• Congratulations to our summer graduates!
  • PhD
    • Dion Hepburn (Dr. Vincent)
  • M.S.
    • Grant Broker (Dr. Rogers)
    • Shannon Byrd (Dr. Woski)
    • Elizabeth Western (Dr. Shaughnessy)
  • B.S.
    • Sharell Bindom

Return to the top

July 2003:

• Dr. Kevin Shaughnessy and Dr. Russ Timkovich have received a grant from the National Science Foundation through the Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement program to implement NMR spectroscopy as a hands-on technique throughout the undergraduate curriculum. This award provides partial funding for a new 300 MHz NMR spectrometer that will be used in undergraduate lab classes.

Return to the top

June 2003:

• Funding News:
  • Dr. Joseph Thrasher is part of a multi-investigator project that received renewal funding from the Center for Advanced Vehicle Technology (CAVT).
  • Dr. Martin Bakker has received individual funding from CAVT.
  • Dr Robin Rogers has received funding from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research for a project entitled, "Energetic Ionic Liquids."
  • Dr. Shane Street in collaboration with Dr. Mark Weaver (Metallurgical Engineering at UA) have received funding from the National Science Foundation for a project entitled, "Dendrimer Based Nanocomposites for Nanotribological Applications."
  • Dr. Kevin Redding's renewal application to the Department of Energy will be funded.
  • Dr. Martin Bakker has been awarded a AC-type award from the Petroleum Research Fund for a project entitled, "Synthesis and Characterization of Mesoporous Electrodes and Utilization in Electrochemical Chromatography."
• Congratulations to all on their successful proposals.

• The Chemistry Department is pleased to once again welcome a number of undergraduates and high school teachers to our National Science Foundation funded REU/RET Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP).
• Undergraduate Researchers:

  Sara Burdette	Eastern Kentucky U.	Dr. Vincent	Separation Chemistry
  Joseph Chambers	State Univ. of W. Georgia	Dr. Rogers	Ionic Liquids as Green Alternative Solvents
  William Childs	Davidson College, NC	Dr. Redding	Re-engineering Photosynthesis to Destroy Environmental Pollutants
  Lisa Fox	Georgia Southern U.	Dr. Redding	Redirecting Biological Electron Transfer
  Lillian Fondren	Univ. of Montevallo, AL	Dr. Bakker	Laser Flash Photolysis Transient Absorption and Time Resolved EPR
  Matthew Hennek	Gustavus Adolphus Coll., MN	Dr. Thrasher	Trifluoromethyltrimethylsilane (Ruppert's Reagent) for Synthesis of New Main-Group and Transition Metal Compounds
  Joanie Isom	Columbus St. U., GA	Dr. Woski	Synthesis of Building Blocks for Molecular Electronics
  Jonathan King	Univ. of Alabama	Dr. Arduengo	Hydrogen Bonding Network Involving Imdazolium Ions
  Thomas Millstead	Midland College, TX	Dr. Cassady	Calculations of Peptide Structure as They Relate to Mass Spectrometry
  Michael Parker	U. of North Alabama	Dr. Szulczewski	Thermal Desorption of Mercury from Gold Surfaces
  Deidre Sandrock	Washington and Jefferson College, PA	Dr. Shaughnessy	Synthesis of Novel Chelating, Water-Soluble Phosphines
  Jason Spruell	Univ. of Alabama	Dr. Blackstock	Thianthrene-S-Oxide Electron Donor-Acceptor Lattices. Exploration of Sulfoxide Donora-Acceptor Bonding
  Christopher Thode	Ripon College, WI	Dr. Nikles	Synthesis and Surface Chemistry of FePt Nanoparticles
  Tina White	Univ. of Alabama	Dr. Metzger	Langmuir Blodgett Films of Organic Rectifiers

• High School Teachers

Return to the top

May 2003:

• Congratulations to our May graduates!
  • Ph.D.
    • Yunlong Gao (Dr. Kispert)
    • Uthai Wichai (Dr. Woski)
    • Tao Xu (Dr. Metzger)
    • Hyung-Sun Youn (Dr. Timkovich)
  • M.S.
    • James Loyd (Dr. Bakker)
  • B.S.
    • Samantha Page Clark: summa cum laude
    • Stephen Elliott Colvin
    • David Thomas Corbett: summa cum laude
    • April Renee Hammonds
    • Holly Adrianna Reed: magna cum laude
    • James Andrew Reed
    • Joseph Ryan Turner: summa cum laude
    • Sommer Lynn Willis
• Interim Provost Judy Bonner has recently announced the following promotions that will take effect August 16th 2003.
  • Dr. Silas Blackstock: promotion from associate professor to professor
  • Dr. Shane Street: promotion from assistant professor to associate professor with tenure.
  • Dr. Greg. Szulczewski: promotion from assistant professor to associate professor with tenure.
• Fellowships for the 2003-2004 academic year have been awarded to the following students.
  • Mr. Rick Swatloski (Dr. Rogers): Graduate Council Research and Creative Activity Fellowship.
  • Mr. David Arrington (Dr. Street): Graduate Council Research and Creative Activity Fellowship.
  • Mr. Junjie Gao (Dr. Cassady): Graduate Council Research and Creative Activity Fellowship.
  • Ms. Rebecca Booth (Dr. Shaughnessy): National Alumni Association Graduate Fellowship in Synthetic Chemistry.
  • Mr. Michael Curry (Dr. Street): National Alumni Association Graduate Fellowship through the MINT center.
  • Mr. Roger Campbell (Dr. Bakker): NASA Fellowship.
• Mr. Rick Swatloski has been awarded the Hancock Memorial Award in Green Chemistry for his research in Dr. Rogers group. This prestigious award sponsored by the American Chemical Society will be presented to Rick at the 2003 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards Ceremony in Washington, DC.

Return to the top

April 2003:

• The Chemistry Department is pleased to announce the following student awards. The awards will be presented during UA Honors Week, April 14 - 18. Congratulations to all of the winners on their accomplishments.
  • Outstanding Freshmen Chemistry Student Award: Goes to the students with the highest grades in Freshman Chemistry.
    • Rebecca Gail Falls
    • Hye-Won Oh
    • Jennifer Lynn Phillips
  • Analytical Chemistry Award: Awarded to the student with the highest average in CH 223
    • Bhavik Natvar Patel
  • American Institute of Chemists Award:
    • Claire Nichole Chisolm
  • Outstanding Chemistry Student Award:
    • Christopher Dwayne Key
  • Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award
    • Brandon Walter Evans
    • Jason Michael Spruell
  • First Year Graduate Student Teaching Award: Awarded to student(s) who performed best as teaching assistants in their first year.
    • Enrilyn Robles Thronson
    • Shelby Fencil Shuler
  • Alan B. Hisey Scholarship:
    • Jelana R. Hamilton
    • Kailas B. Sawant
  • Outstanding Graduate Student Award:
    • Yunlong Gao
• Also to be honored at Honors Day are Dr. Ann Visser and Mr. Yongju Chu who have won previously announced University-wide awards for Excellence in Research by a Doctoral Student and Outstanding Masters Thesis awards respectively.

Return to the top

March 2003:

• Dr. Shane Street co-chaired a symposium on Molecular Tribology at the 225th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in New Orleans.
• Dr. John Vincent's research into the biochemistry of chromium points to the fact that commonly used chromium supplements may cause sterility and birth defects. Dr. Vincent's work, which was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was highlighted in The Tuscaloosa News.
• The Department of Chemistry hosted the 2nd Annual Advanced Instrumental Techniques Colloquium on March 1st. A total of 36 students and faculty from 6 regional colleges or universities attended the event. Attendees saw presentations on advanced instrumental techniques, and were able to tour UA facilities for mass spectrometry, NMR, EPR, and surface techniques, such as AFM, STM, and XPS. We will be hosting this event again in future years. If you are interested in participating, please contact .

February 2003:

• Recent Funding News
  • Dr. Robin Rogers was recently informed that his major Department of Energy funding will be renewed.
  • The Chemistry Department has been awarded a renewal of its National Science Foundation funded Summer Undergraduate Research Program. Funding will continue for the next three years.
  • The department has been awarded funds by the National Science Foundation Chemical Research Infrastructure/Facilities program to update the departmental mass spectrometer. This effort was spear headed by Dr. Carolyn Cassady.
• Chemistry Department students win two of the six University-wide honors for graduate students. Congratulations to Ann Visser and Yongjun Chu.
  • Ann Visser, who recently completed her Ph.D. with Dr. Rogers, was given the award for Excellence in Research by a Doctoral Student at The University of Alabama. This award is given to one student at The University who has graduated with an doctoral degree in the past year.
  • Yongjun Chu, who recently completed his M.S. degree with Dr. Woski, was given the award for Outstanding Masters Thesis at The University of Alabama. This award is given to one student at The University who has graduated with an masters degree in the past year.
• Rick Swatloski, a graduate student in Dr. Rogers's group, has been chosen by the Department of Energy to attend the Nobel Laureates meeting in Lindahl Germany.
• David Arrington, a graduate student Dr. Street's group, has been awarded a Graduate Council Research & Creativity Fellowship for the 2003-2004 academic year.
• Four Chemistry Department graduate students have received Graduate Student Research and Travel Fund awards to attend meetings and present the results of their work.
  • Andrew Helms--Dr. Street.
  • Dion Hepburn--Dr. Vincent
  • William Reichert--Dr. Rogers
  • Elizabeth Western--Dr. Shaughnessy
• The Chemistry Department is pleased to announce that Dr. Timothy Snowden has accepted a position as Assistant Professor starting fall 2003. Dr. Snowden's research interests are in the area of synthetic methodology development and natural product synthesis. He earned his PhD at University of Texas at Austin under Dr. Eric Anslyn and is currently a NIH post-doctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania working with Dr. Gary Molander.

Return to the top

January 2003:

• The efforts of Chemistry Department faculty in fuel cell research was highlighted in the Tuscaloosa News. Chemistry faculty working with other campus researchers in the Center for Advance Vehicle Technologies are working to develop the next generation of fuel cells.
• The Chemistry Department is pleased to announce that Dr. Michael Jennings has accepted a position as Assistant Professor starting this summer. Dr. Jennings's research interests are in the synthesis of bioactive natural products and synthetic methodology development. He earned his PhD at Purdue University with Dr. P. V. Ramachandran and is currently a post-doctoral fellow at the Scripps Research Institute under Dr. K. C. Nicolaou
• We would like to welcome to Tuscaloosa new graduate students starting this semester. Good luck!
  • Mr. Godwin Ihejeto--Howard University (MS) and Stillman College (Tuscaloosa, AL) faculty member
  • Ms. Tatyana Sidorova--Kazakhstan State Medical University
  • Mr. Brad Payne--University of West Alabama
  • Ms. Dipali Chauhari--University of Pune (India)

Return to the top