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| Vol. 17, No. 37 | July 23, 1998 |
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| Vol. 17, No. 37 | July 23, 1998 |
Andrew Evans, chemistry and biochemistry, has been named a Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar for 1998, one of only 20 in the nation.
The $60,000 award will be used to enhance undergraduate research experiences in Evans' area of new transition metal catalyzed carbon bond forming relations.
The Dreyfus Foundation, dedicated to the advancement of the chemical sciences, selects 20 award recipients each year with the expectation that the awards will assist outstanding scientists to continue the high level of accomplishment in education and research they have demonstrated thus far. Awardees are young faculty members in the early stages of their academic careers.
The award to Evans brings the total amount the foundation has awarded to the University of Delaware to $158,000.
Evans said he is particularly pleased with the award because of the differences it will make to his students' research.
In the past year, Evans also has been honored with an award for excellence in research from Zeneca Pharmaceuticals and was named an Outstanding Young Scholar by the Francis Alison Society at UD. The Zeneca honor recognizes demonstrated abilities in scholarsly research, and the Alison prize is presented to a tenure-track, assistant professor at UD who has shown distinction in combining research and publication with teaching and curriculum.
"The Dreyfus award confirms our belief that Dr. Evans is a rising star in synthetic organic chemistry," Steven D. Brown, chemistry and biochemistry, said. "He was selected for the Dreyfus award on the basis of his growing national reputation in synthetic chemistry and the strength of his proposed research.
"The funds will be used to provide research experiences for undergraduates with Dr. Evans' group," Brown said. "He has a large number of undergraduates, and the money will help him make their time in his lab even more exciting. The students benefit from doing research at the leading edge of the field, and this connects well with our initiative to get undergraduates involved in research."
Jade Nelson of Newark, one of the graduate students working with Evans, said that previous winners of the Dreyfus award "are now 'household names' in organic chemistry, with very high-powered research groups. I have no doubt that Dr. Evans will be joining that group.
"What seems to drive Andy is a powerful love for chemistry. Furthermore, he has the ability to instill a similar desire in his students, both in the classroom and the laboratory," Nelson said.
"Our research group studies difficult problems that have often been overlooked by others, thereby finding solutions to long-standing problems. These studies often push the boundaries of organic chemistry to include organometallic and biochemical applications. Therefore chemists from diverse backgrounds find interest in Dr. Evans' research," he said.
Before joining UD, Evans was a NATO postdoctoral research fellow at the Department of Chemistry at the University of Texas in Austin. He earned his doctorate in synthetic organic chemistry from Cambridge University. He is the author of numerous scientific papers and is a popular presenter at scientific meetings. More detailed information about his research is available on the web at http://valhalla.chem.udel. edu/PAE.HTML
-Beth Thomas
