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Department of Chemistry's 2011 Mid-Year Update

Welcome to the Department of Chemistry's electronic newsletter, Communiqué, with updates on recent happenings in the department.

Student honors, awards, and accolades

Our undergraduate and graduate students received a number of honors and awards in 2010-11, testifying to the quality of education, teaching, and research in the Department of Chemistry. Read about our college and national fellowship award honorees, our top student researchers, and other scholarship and award recipients. We also have information on our 2010-11 bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degree recipients. In addition, photos from our undergraduate and graduate graduation receptions are available on our Facebook page. View all articles.

Faculty awards

Our faculty members have received several prestigious awards, including a DuPont Young Investigator award, Royal Society of Chemistry honors, and prestigious college and university faculty awards such as a Distinguished McKnight University Professorship and Morse-Alumni Undergraduate Teaching Award. Department of Chemistry faculty members continue to be some most distinguished teachers and researchers at the University of Minnesota. View all articles.

July 19, 2011
 
Chemistry researchers receive IREE large grant
Department of Chemistry scientists, Associate Professor Philippe Buhlmann and Professor Andreas Stein, have received a IREE large grant to work on high energy density, nanostructured supercapacitors for electrical energy storage. Read More

 
July 14, 2011
 
Massari group's polyaniline research featured on journal cover
Research by Assistant Professor Aaron Massari and his group is featured on the cover of the July 14 edition of The Journal of Physical Chemistry B. The article highlights the work of graduate students Audrey Eigner and Brynna Jones, and undergraduate Bryce Koprucki. Read More

 
July 12, 2011
 
Regents Professor Que elected American Chemical Society Fellow
Regents Professor Lawrence Que Jr. has been elected a 2011 Fellow of the American Chemical Society (ACS). This designation honors those who have distinguished themselves in multiple areas, including promoting the science and the profession of chemistry, and service to the ACS. Read More

 
July 12, 2011
 
Haynes receives 2012 Pittsburgh Conference Achievement Award
Associate Professor Christy Haynes has been chosen to receive the 2012 Pittsburgh Conference Achievement Award from the Society for Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh. Read More

 
June 30, 2011
 
Professors receive grant for international research
Professors Laura Gagliardi and Christopher Cramer have received an International Collaborations in Chemistry grant. They will assess factors affecting binding and recognition in the aqueous host-guest chemistry of organic molecules inside self-assembling, metal-templated cages. Read More

 
June 27, 2011
 
Outstanding teaching assistant honored
Victoria Chemistruck was chosen as a 2010-11 Outstanding Teaching Assistant by undergraduate students during the College of Science & Engineering’s CSE Week. She is a graduate student working with Assistant Professor Christopher Douglas. Read More

 
June 23, 2011
 
Truhlar receives alma mater's Distinguished Alumnus Award
Regents Professor Donald Truhlar receives the Distinguished Alumnus Award from his alma mater—Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, Winona—during its 2011 homecoming activities, Saturday, June 25. Read More

 
May 27, 2011
 
Seven doctorate students receive fellowship awards
Seven of the Department of Chemistry's top doctorate students—Zahid Ertem, Meng Jing, Yu-Shen Lin, Melissa Maurer-Jones, Sarah Page, Bo Wang, and Ligeng Yin—received 2011-12 Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship program awards. Read More

 
May 27, 2011
 
Douglas receives DuPont Young Investigator award
Assistant Professor Christopher Douglas has been awarded a 2011 DuPont Young Investigator award, which will support his ongoing work on discovering new small molecules for application in organic photovoltaic cells.
Read More

 
May 20, 2011
 
Two professors receive Royal Society of Chemistry honors
Two Department of Chemistry professors—Associate Professor Christy Haynes and Regents Professor Lawrence Que Jr.—have received prestigious awards from the Royal Society of Chemistry. Read More

 
May 18, 2011
 
Graduate Student Research Symposium honors
This year's "Beaker and Bunsen" award winners at the Graduate Student Research Symposium are Joshua Speros, Bess Vlaisavljevich, and Christopher "Kit" Zall. Read More

 
May 13, 2011
 
Undergraduate student's proposal receives award
Jack Doenges, an undergraduate student working in the laboratory of Professor Edgar Arriaga, received the Minnesota Chromatography Forum 2001 Undergraduate Award. Read More

 
May 13, 2011
 
Young chosen as crystallography congress delegate
Victor Young Jr., X-ray facility director, has been named a National Academy of Sciences delegate to the International Union of Crystallography 22nd Congress and General Assembly. Read More

 
May 9, 2011
 
Department of Chemistry honors graduates & scholars
The Department of Chemistry honored graduating seniors and scholarship recipients at a recognition reception, Friday, May 6, before the College of Science & Engineering's annual commencement ceremony. Read More

 
April 22, 2011
 
Graduating senior honored for research and course work
Nardine Abadeer, a senior chemistry major who will be graduating this May, has received a number of awards for her coursework and research. Read More

 
April 20, 2011
 
Undergraduate student receives oral presentation award
Alex M. Schrader, a junior and an undergraduate research assistant, won a best oral presentation prize at the Minnesota Academy of Science 78th Annual Meeting & 23rd Winchell Undergraduate Symposium. Read More

 
April 18, 2011
 
Professors honored by students for their teaching
Assistant Professor Christopher Douglas and Distinguished Teaching Professor Kenneth Leopold have received the 2010-11 Outstanding Professor Award in Chemistry from the College of Science and Engineering. Read More

 
April 6, 2011
 
Distefano receives Distinguished McKnight University Professorship
Professor Mark Distefano has received the University of Minnesota's 2011 Distinguished McKnight University Professorship. He is one of four university professors to receive this prestigious honor this year. Read More

 
April 6, 2011
 
Five chemistry students receive research fellowships
Four Department of Chemistry graduate students and one undergraduate student—Victoria Chemistruck, Christopher Roberts, Stephanie Roe, Katherine Stevens, and William Wolf—have received National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program honors. Read More

 
March 30, 2011
 
Professor Cramer receives Morse Alumni Award
Professor Christopher Cramer has been chosen to receive the 2011 Horace T. Morse-University of Minnesota Alumni Association Award for Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Education. He will be honored at an award ceremony, Monday, April 25. Read More

 
March 30, 2011
 
Doctoral Research Showcase features four graduate students
Four Department of Chemistry research assistants, who are among the top doctoral students at the university, are participating in the fourth annual Doctoral Research Showcase. The showcase—free and open to the public—is set for noon to 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 5, in the Great Hall at the Coffman Union. Read More

 
March 24, 2011
 
Two chemistry professors honored for teaching excellence
Department of Chemistry Professors Ken Leopold and Kent Mann have been selected as co-winners of the Brasted Award for Excellence in College Chemistry Teaching from the Minnesota Section of the American Chemical Society (ACS MN). They will be honored at an awards ceremony, Monday, May 16. Read More

 
March 23, 2011
 
Research assistant earns summer fellowship honor
Research Assistant Melissa Maurer-Jones has received a Summer American Chemical Society-Division of Analytical Chemistry Graduate Fellowship award sponsored by the Society of Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh. Read More

 
March 21, 2011
 
Professor Lodge chosen for prestigious visiting professorship
Professor Timothy Lodge is the 2011 Turner Alfrey Visiting Professor at the Michigan Molecular Institute (MMI), May 16 through May 19, Lodge is a leading researcher in understanding and controlling nano- and micro-structures that result from combining dissimilar polymer materials in new ways. Read More

 
March 10, 2011
 
Research assistant receives travel grant to major conference
Melissa Maurer-Jones, a research assistant in Associate Professor Christy Haynes' group, received a Society for Electroanalytical Chemistry Student Travel Award to present her work at the Pittcon Conference & Expo 2011. Read More

 
March 3, 2011
 
Chemistry alumnus receives national emerging leader award
Dwight Stoll, an assistant professor of analytical chemistry at Gustavus Adolphus College, has been awarded the LCGC 2011 Emerging Leader in Chromatography Award. Stoll earned his doctorate in chemistry from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Read More

 
March 2, 2011
 
Department of Chemistry alumnus receives prestigious award
Christopher Exstrom, a professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK), has been awarded the prestigious Leland Holdt/Security Mutual Life Award. Exstrom earned his doctorate in chemistry from the University of Minnesota in 1995. Read More

 
February 11, 2011
 
Chemistry professors honored at Celebrating Innovation event
Six professors from the Department of Chemistry were honored at a Celebrating Innovation event sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research. Celebrating Innovation honored researchers whose work has been patented, licensed to a company, or used to form a start-up company. Read More