UA Chemistry Department News

August 2008

• The Department is pleased to welcome a new class of graduate students to the department.
  • Diane Michelle Benoist - Western Carolina University
  • Coley Cain - Auburn University (AL)
  • Jason Dyer - Huntingdon College (AL)
  • Changgeng Feng - Capital Normal University (China)
  • Dayne Fraser - Kennesaw State University (GA)
  • Ted Garner - University of North Alabama
  • Leslie Gentry - Frostburg State University (MD)
  • Amy Grano - Jacksonville State University (AL)
  • Brigitte Hunter - Alabama A&M
  • Sharifa Love - Tougaloo College (MS)
  • Justin Kreil - Austin Peay State University (TN)
  • Tanya Mikulis - Augusta State University (GA)
  • Todd Saylor - Auburn University (AL)
  • Harsimran Singh - Punjab University (India)
  • Katrina Staggemeier - University of Texas at Austin
  • Amanda Stott - The University of Alabama
  • Christopher Nigel Welch - University of Tennessee-Chattanooga
  • Jonathan Williamson - University of West Georgia
  • Xueyu Zhang - Sun Yat-Sen University (China)
• Dr. John Vincent will replace Dr. Dave Dixon as interim department chair. Dr. Carolyn Cassady is stepping down as Director of Graduate Recruiting. Dr. Shane Street will replace Dr. Cassady and Dr. Stephen Woski will replace Dr. Street as Director of Graduate Studies. The Department thanks Dr. Dixon and Dr. Cassady for their service in these positions.
• Congratulations to chemistry students who earned their degrees in the August commencement ceremony.
  • PhD
    • Junjie Gao - Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Time-of-Flight Studies of Natural and Synthetic Peptides
      Advisor: Dr. Carolyn Cassady
    • Julia L. Shamshina - New Synthetic Application sof Trichloromethylcarbinols. Syntheses of Small Molecule Natural Products
      Advisor: Dr. Timothy Snowden
  • MS
    • Mirela L. Maxim - Advisor: Dr. Robin Rogers
  • BS
    • Kelli I. McNamara - summa cum laude
    • Jessica L. McPherson
• The department is pleased to welcome two new faculty members to the department. Dr. Thomas Vaid comes to UA from Washington University, St. Louis. He earned his PhD under the direction of Prof. Peter Wolszanski at Cornell University and was a post-doctoral associate in Prof. Nate Lewis's lab at Cal Tech. Dr. Vaid's research is in the area of inorganic and organic electronic materials and solar energy conversion. Dr. Shanlin Pan received his PhD with Prof. Lewis Rothberg at the University of Rochester and was a post-doctoral associate with Prof. Alan Bard at Texas. Dr. Pan's research focuses onelectrochemistry and single molecule spectroscopy.

June 2008

• The department is pleased to welcome participants in the NSF-funded REU and RET program at UA.

REU Participants

REU Participants

May 2008

• Chemistry major Rebecca Long was one of two UA students to receive the prestigious Hollings scholarship sponsored by NOAA.
  • UA press release.
• Congratulations to the chemistry department students who received degrees during the May Commencement Ceremony. Department students received 4 PhD degrees, 2 MS degrees, and 25 bachelor of science degrees. Nearly 2/3 of the BS degree recipients graduated with honors.
  • PhD
    • James S. Burgess - Raman Spectroscopy of Thin Films
      Advisor: Dr. Shane Street
    • Meghna Dilip - Towards Greener Separations: Understanding the Role of Water in Aqueous Biphasic Systems
      Advisor: Dr. Robin Rogers
    • Alexandrina Ligia Focsan - EPR and DFT Studies of Proton Loss from Carotenoid Radical Cations
      Advisor: Dr. Lowell Kispert
    • Shelby F. Shuler - Dendrimer-Mediated Formation of Cobalt Nanoparticles via Ultraviolet Irradiation
      Advisor: Dr. Shane Street
  • MS
    • Jason G. Manning
      Advisor: Dr. Martin Bakker
    • Ning Sun
      Advisor: Dr. Robin Rogers
  • BS
    • Monique M. Abrams
    • Sarah E. Beaver - cum laude, University Honors Program
    • Heather S. Bryan
    • James D. Casteel - magna cum laude, University Honors Program
    • Meredith C. Corzine - magna cum laude
    • William B. Fellows - University Honors Program
    • Hayley L. Graham
    • Paul J. Guevara - cum laude, University Honors Program
    • Mary E. Killian - University Honors Program
    • Joan Marie S. Manolakis - summa cum laude, University Honors Program
    • Randall K. Mansell, II
    • Nicholas L. Massie - summa cum laude, University Honors Program
    • Andrew J. McKenny - summa cum laude, University Honors Program
    • Carrie L. Mitchell - summa cum laude
    • Heather L. Moody
    • Samantha K. Mroczynski - magna cum laude, University Honors Program
    • Brian G. Ondocsin - summa cum laude, University Honors Program
    • James W. Snider, III - University Honors Program
    • Jackson R. Switzer - summa cum laude, University Honors Program, Computer Based Honors Program
    • Jordan M. Thomas
    • Strudwick L. Tutwiler - magna cum laude
    • Andrew J. Vincent - summa cum laude, University Honors Program, Computer Based Honors Program
    • Lindsey A. Wargo - magna cum laude, University Honors Program
    • Ashley E. Weems
    • Vidhush K. Yarlagadda - cum laude, University Honors Program
• Congratulations to the following students who were inducted into Phi Beta Kappa for the 2007-2008 academic year. Phi Beta Kappa is the oldest and most prestigious academic honor society.
  • Fallon Brown
  • Stephanie Cantu
  • James Casteel
  • Meredith Corzine
  • Kristen Fitzpatrick
  • Joan-Marie Manolakis
  • Daniel Marion
  • Nicholas Massie
  • Andrew McKenny
  • Kelli McNamara
  • Carrie Mitchell
  • Samantha Mroczynski
  • Brian Ondocsin
  • Kristin Rogers
  • Cody Smith
  • Jackson Switzer
  • Strudwick Tutwiler
  • Andrew Vincent
  • Savannah Watts

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April 2008

• Senior Chemistry major Samantha Mroczynski was on the winning team in the Alabama Launchpad Business Plan Competition. Sam's team, Lambert Technologies, LLC (UA), has developed a stress responsive material that can be used to visualize strain on materials to more accurately determine its service life. The team earned $100,000 to help establish their start-up business, which will be incubated at AIME. Dr. Richard Swatloski (PhD 05) was a member of the second place team, Cellulosix, which earned $50,000. UA press release
• Professor Greg Szulczewski received the Outstanding Commitment to Students Award from the College of Arts & Sciences during the college Honor's Convocation. Dr. Szulczewski served as Director of Undergraduate Studies for the past 5 years and has been a dedicated teacher and advisor.
• The dissertation of Dr. Andrei Honciuc, "New Unimolecular Rectifiers and Through-Bond Electron Tunneling by IETS", defended in June 2006 (published in several articles in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, the Journal of Physical Chemistry, and Langmuir), was recognized as the College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Dissertation in the Natural Sciences in a ceremony on 18 April 2008. Dr. Honciuc (whose dissertation was directed by Prof. Robert M. Metzger) is currently a post-doctoral research associate in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where he is working with Prof. Daniel K. Schwartz.
• Chemistry department students swept the University level awards for Excellence in Research by a Doctoral Student and Masters Student. Dr. Marcin Smiglak won the dissertation research award and Corey Hines was the recipient of the masters research award. Both students worked for Dr. Rogers. Both students also received college level awards as well for their outstanding research efforts.
• The department held it's fourth annual Honor's Day Convocation to recognize students who have received department, college, and university awards. Follow these links for pictures of the graduate and undergraduate award winners.

March 2008

• Gamma Sigma Epsilon inducted 24 new members into the national chemistry honorary society on March 27th. Congratulations to the new members who were chosen based on their academic performance in chemistry.

Mary C. Bradley Stephanie M. Cantu David P. Dorn Anton L. Dukeman Michael C. Eddins William B. Fellows Seth H. Garrett Jonathan G. Kentros William A. Kilgo Laura T. Kyser Rebecca A. T. Long Randall K. Mansell, II

Jessica L. McPherson Okechukwu N. Mgbemena Désirée J. J. Picone Cody B. Smith Russell S. Terry Susanna S. Tubbs Tara M. Veasey Savannah I. Watts Emily J. Wayman Ashley E. Weems Laura K. Wells Christopher P. Yarbrough, Jr.

• Two UA students won prizes at the Alabama Academy of Science meeting. Quentin Sonnier won first place in the undergraduate paper competition. Quentin is an undergraduate researcher in Dr. Shaughnessy's group. Lensey Hill earned 2nd prize in the poster competition. Lensey is a graduate student in the Shaughnessy group.
• The chemistry department hosted Prof. Peter Stang as the inaugural Arduengo Lecturer. Prof. Stang a technical talk entitled, "Abiological Self-Assembly: Predesigned Metallacycles and Metallacages via Coordination," and a general talk entitled, "Chemical Publishing in the 21st Century: Perspectives of a JACS Editor," during his visit. The Arduengo Lecture Endowment was established in 2007to honor the achievements of Professor Arduengo and to promote academic excellence in the Department of Chemistry at The University of Alabama in perpetuity.

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February 2008

• Senior chemistry major Jackson Switzer was one of 7 UA students named to the USA Today All-Academic Team. Jackson was recognized for his research in Dr. David Dixon's lab on chemical weapons. Specifically, Jackson has studied how Sarin and other chemical agents decompose in the atmosphere, and ways this might be accelerated.
  • UA press release

January 2008

• Jesse Carrick has received an ACS Organic Division travel award to attend the National ACS meeting in New Orleans. Jesse is a member of the Jennings research group.
• The Department is happy to welcome several new graduate students who have started this semester.
  • Dripta De Joarder - University of Calcutta
  • Kristine Jecen - Clemson University
  • Venkateswara Reddy Karrepu - Jawaharlal Nehru Technical University
  • Preethi Reddy Vennam - Kakitiya University

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