UA Chemistry Department News

December 2004

• Congratulations to the students who graduated with degrees in chemistry at the 174th Commencement on December 18th. During 2004, the department conferred 12 PhD degrees, 5 MS degrees, and 15 B.S. degrees.
  • PhD
    • Michael Curry - Physical, Mechanical, and Tribological Characterization of Dendrimer Metal Nanocomposites. Dr. Shane Street
    • Rebecca DeVasher - Water-Soluble Alkylphosphines as Ligands in Palladium-Catalyzed Aqueous-Phase Cross-Coupling Reactions: Mechanistic Advances and Catalytic Activity. Dr. Kevin Shaughnessy
    • Michael Hatfield - Isolation and Characterization of Chomoduline from Chicken Liver and Related Spectroscopic and Immuniological Studies in Chromium Biochemistry. - Dr. John Vincent
    • A. Brent Helms - I. Surface Science Studies of Quinones on Metals. II. a UHV Study of 2,4-Pentanedione on NiAl(100) and Thin Y-Al₂O₃ Films on NiAl(100). Dr. Shane Street
  • M.S.
    • Brian Abbott - Dr. Russ Timkovich
    • Meghna Dilip - Dr. Robin Rogers
  • B.S.
    • Tina R. White - International Honors Program

November 2004

• Sarah Nikles, daughter of Dr. David Nikles, was named a semifinalist in the Siemens Westinghouse Competition in Math, Science, and Technology. Sarah was recognized for work that she performed last summer in Dr. Nikles lab. Her project focused on making nanoparticles of iron, platinum, and nickel suitable for data storage. Tuscaloosa News story.
• Dr. Robin Rogers has been named a University Distinguished Research Professor by the Board of Trustees. This is the highest recognition that the University can bestow on its faculty in recognition of their research contributions.
• Dontarie Stallings, who works for Dr. Vincent, received a Future Faculty Fellowship award for this academic year from the Graduate School. The Future Faculty Fellowship is awarded to students from underrepresented backgrounds who plan to become college or university professors.

October 2004

• Dr. Kevin Redding was awarded the Robin Hill Award by the International Society of Photosynthesis Research for, "his outstanding contributions to understanding the structure and function of Photosystem I." The Robin Hill Award was initiated in 1998 by the Society to honor the contributions of Robin Hill to photosynthesis research. It is a monetary award made for outstanding investigations into physical aspects of the photosynthetic process to a scientist who is under 40 years of age on January 1st of the year of the presentation, or is less than 10 years from the granting of the doctoral degree. The award was presented at the International Congress of ISPR in Montreal. UA Press release.

September 2004

• "Electrodeposition of Mesoporous Nickel onto Foamed Metals using Surfactant and Polymer Templates" by Roger Campbell, Dr. Martin Bakker, Claude Treiner, and Jean Chevalet was one of the most viewed articles in the online version of the Journal of Porous Materials. The paper rose as high as number 2 in the rankings.
• "Crystal structures of imidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide ionic liquid salts: the first organic salt with a cis-TFSI anion conformation" by John D. Holbrey , W. Matthew Reichert and Dr. Robin D. Rogers was recognized as a "hot paper" by Dalton Transactions.

August 2004

• The Department of Chemistry is pleased to announce that David Dixon has been appointed to the Robert Ramsay Chair in Chemistry.
• The Department of Chemistry is pleased to announce that Kevin Redding has been promoted to Associate Professor.
• The Chemistry Department extends a warm welcome to our incoming class of graduate students.
  • Litao Bai, Jilin University
  • Naval Bajwa, Panjab University
  • William Scott Brown, Western Kentucky University
  • Bradford Bullock, University of Arkansas
  • Lauren Cafiero, The University of Alabama
  • Jeremy Carr, Assumption College (MA)
  • Yinghua Chen, China
  • Chuleekorn "Grace" Chotsuwan, University of Florida
  • Raluca Cracium, Romania
  • Sarah Dickinson, Butler College
  • Matthew Hennek, Gustavus Adolphus College (MN)
  • Lensey Hill, University of Tennessee-Chattanooga
  • Luigi Iconaru, Romania
  • Rajiv Luthra, The University of Alabama
  • Jason Manning, Louisiana College
  • Shiva Kumar Pinnoju, St. Peter's Institute of Pharmaceutical Science
  • Monica Vasiliu, Romania
  • Clifton Watkins, Mississippi Valley State
  • Yu Zhao, Nanjing University
  • Huizhen Zhu, University of Georgia
• We happy to announce that the following students graduated with degrees in Chemistry at the 174th Commencement on August 16th.
  • PhD
    • Darius Agoumba-Reduction of Methanol Crossover in Direct Methanol Fuel Cells, Dr. Thrasher
    • Luyi Sun-Part I: Modification and Characterization of Nafion for Fuel Cell Applications. Part II: Hazards Evaluation of Reaction Compounds with an Accelerating Rate Calorimeter, Dr. Thrasher
  • M.S.
    • Jelana Hamilton, Dr. Vincent
    • Andrei Honciuc, Dr. Metzger
  • B.S.
    • Lauren Rebecca Cafiero
    • Marjorie Nell Harris
    • Jonathan Lee Kai Tai, Cum Laude
    • Robert Scott Wilson
    • Scott Michael Zainey, Cum Laude, Honors Program
• The Southern Alliance for the Utilization of Biomass resources, a partnership between landowners, private business, government, and academia, was recently established in the Alabama Institute of Manufacturing Excellence at The University of Alabama.
• Thirteen REU students and 4 RET participitants are completing their summer research projects as part of the Department of Chemistry's Summer Undergraduate Research Participation (SURP) Program. The program was recently highlighted by the UA office of public relations.

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June 2004:

• Shelby Hall and a variety of exciting new research initiatives in the Chemistry Department were highlighted in the June 7th issue of Chemical and Engineering News.
• We are pleased to welcome participants in the 2004 Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP), which is an NSF-funded REU/RET site.

REU Participants

RET Participants

May 2004:

• We would like to congratulate all of our graduates who received their degrees in the Commencement ceremony held May, 17th 2004. For more information, go to our alumni pages for undergraduate and graduate degrees.
  • Ph.D.
    • Peera Acharasatian (New Modes of Crystal Engineering with N-O and S-O Functional Groups, Dr. Blackstock)
    • Scott T. Griffin (The Development and Applications of Aqueous Biphasic Extraction Chromatographic (ABEC) Resins, Dr. Rogers)
    • Hyo-Joong Kim (Designer Carbenes, Dr. Arduengo)
    • Kye-Young Kim (Polyarylamino Redox Arrays for Control of charge Transport and Charge Storage, Dr. Blackstock)
    • Wenjian Li (Toward the Synthesis of Tricyclic Tris(carbenes) Bicyclic Bis(carbenes) and their Metal Complexes, Dr. Arduengo)
    • Todd A. Morris (Mercury Adsoption to Gold Nanoparticle and Thin Film Surfaces, Dr. Szulczewski)
  • M.S.
    • Galina A. Gulis (Dr. Redding)
  • B.S.
    • Christine Chang cum laude
    • Claire N. Chisolm cum laude, ACS-certified
    • William R. Cunningham, Jr.
    • Kevin B. DeAndrade summa cum laude
    • David M. Fawls
    • Geoffrey M. Hudson magna cum laude
    • Christopher D. Key summa cum laude
    • Erin R. Oakley cum laude
    • Heather D. Scott summa cum laude
• Shelby Hall, the new home of the Chemistry Department as well as a variety of interdisciplinary research programs, was dedicated on May 14th. Senator Richard Shelby and Dr. Annette Shelby, for whom the building is named, were present at the dedication ceremony. Story in the Tuscaloosa News.

April 2004:

• The Chemistry Department is one of 10 academic and industrial partners in the recently announced Los Alamos National Lab/Pacific Northwest National Lab Center of Excellence in the Department of Energy's Grand Hydrogen Storage Challenge. This $350 million program is part of President Bush's $1.2 billion commitment in research funding into the development of the hydrogen economy. The UA effort will be lead by Dr. Anthony Arduengo, Dr. David Dixon, and Dr. Joe Thrasher.
• We are excited to announce that Junior Chemistry major Jason Spruell has been named a Barry M. Goldwater Scholar. Jason is one of 310 winners this year of this highly prestigious award presented to undergraduate students for excellence in education. Jason has worked for the past few years doing research for Dr. Silas Blackstock. This summer Jason will conduct research under the direction of Dr. Armido Studer at the University of Munster in Germany on a summer research fellowship.
• Congratulations to Jane Holly Poplin who received third place in the Sciences division of the First Annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Presentation Competition. Jane's talk was titled, "Cellulose-supported Colorimetric Sensors for Mercury Ion Detection." This work was done under the direction of Dr. Robin Rogers in collaboration with graduate student Rick Swatloski and staff scientists Dr. Scott Spears and Dr. John Holbrey.
• We are pleased to honor a number of our students as part of Honors Week festivities. The following awards will be presented during the week and during the Chemistry Department's Honors Convocation at 2:00 PM on April 16th.:
• College and University Awards
  • Universityof Alabama Outstanding Masters Thesis Award
    • Julius Nathan Henderson (Dr. Redding): "Creating and Characterization of an In Vitro System for the Study of Photosystem I Diassaembly and Degradation"
  • Randall Outstanding Undergraduate Research Awards
    • Christine Chang
    • Jane Poplin
    • Alison Pickering
    • Kevin DeAndrade
    • Jason Spruell
  • College of Arts and Sciences Dean's Award of Merit
    • Christopher Key
• Departmental Awards
• Outstanding Graduate Student Award (presented to students who have recently, or soon will, complete their degrees)
  • Dr. Buffie J. J. Clodfelder-Miller (Dr. Vincent)
  • Dr. Kye-Young Kim (Dr. Blackstock)
• Outstanding Third Year Graduate Student Award
  • Roger Campbell (Dr. Bakker)
• Outstanding Second Year Graduate Student Award
  • Dominic F. Qualley (Dr. Woski)
• Outstanding First Year Teaching Assistant Award
  • Dwayne F. Reed (Dr. Nikles)
• Outstanding Chemistry Student Award (Awarded to a Junior for outstanding work in the classroom and in undergraduate research)
  • Jason M. Spruell
• American Institute of Chemists Award (Awarded to a Senior planning a career in chemistry)
  • Erin R. Oakley
• Outstandind Undergraduate Research Awards
  • Christine Chang
  • Alison M. Pickering
• Analytical Chemistry Award (Presented to the top student in Quantitative Analysis)
  • Timothy J. Kucharski
• Outstanding Freshmen Chemistry Students Award
  • Todd R. Hartlage
  • Thomas G. Kelley
• 2004 Newmark Scholars
  • Amy Gipson
  • Benjamin Hinton
  • Miriam Bryant
  • Lauren Britt
• Dr. Robin Rogers was awarded the Burnum Distinguished Faculty Award, which is one of the top awards bestowed by the University on Faculty. The award presentation was held April 6th.
• Graduate students Lucas Moore (Dr. Shaughnessy) and Andrew Reed (Dr. Jennings) were awarded fellowships from the University of Alabama Alumni Association for the 2004-2005 academic year.

March 2004:

• Chemistry major Jason Spruell has been awarded the John Fraser Ramsey Award, which is one of the preeminent awards bestowed by UA on students in recognition of their intellectual accomplishments and commitment to the University. Story in Tuscaloosa News.
• Dr. Robin Rogers and Dr. Chris Brazel (Chemical Engineering) organized a symposium on Polymer Chemistry in Ionic Liquids at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Los Angeles. Highlights from this symposium, including talks by Dr. Rogers, Dr. Brazel, and Dr. Kevin Shaughnessy were discussed in an article in the May 3rd issue of Chemical and Engineering News.

February 2004:

• On February 21st, the Chemistry Department hosted the 3rd annual Advanced Instrumentation Techniques Colloquium (AITC) for students and faculty from area colleges and universities. Twenty-eight students and faculty from seven schools attended the day long event where they had the chance to see hands-on demonstrations of the Department's advanced research capabilities.
• Chemistry department graduate students have received a number of Graduate Council Fellowships for the 04-05 academic year.
  • Daniela Tapu (Dr. Arduengo) was awarded a Graduate Council Dissertation Fellowship.
  • Elizabeth Western (Dr. Shaughnessy) was awarded a Graduate Council Research Fellowship.
  • Qingmei Chen and Dan Pu (Dr. Cassady) were awarded Regular Graduate Council Fellowships.
• Graduate School student travel awards for the Spring 2004 semester were recently announced.
  • Michael Curry (Dr. Street)
  • Rick Swatloski (Dr. Rogers)
  • Marc Klingshirn (Dr. Rogers)
  • Matthew Reichert (Dr. Rogers)
• Nathan Henderson (Dr. Redding) has been awarded the Outstanding Thesis Award at the University level. Last fall Mr. Henderson was chosen as the winner of the College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Thesis Award. He will receive his award during Honors Week activities in April.
• Marc Klingshirn (Dr. Rogers) has been accepted to the Summer School on Green Chemistry sponsored by the American Chemical Society and the Green Chemistry Institute.

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January 2004:

• Dr. Kevin Redding recently received word that he will recieve a prestigious NSF CAREER award.
• It was recently announced that Dr. Robin Rogers will be awarded the Burnam Distinguished Faculty Award for outstanding service in research and education. The Burnam award is one of the top awards given by UA to faculty.
• We are pleased to welcome several new graduate students starting in the Spring semester.
  • Qingmei Chen
  • Ryan Clemens
  • Alexandrina Focsan
  • Zhufang Liu
  • Marcin Smiglak
  • Ligond Zhai

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