Seminar
219 Brown Laboratory
Unless Otherwise Noted

Wednesday, March 21, 2008
12:30-1:30

Update on Research of Students in the CBI Program


Ana Fuzaylova
(Roberta Colman’s and
Brian Bahnson’s Lab)
Deciphering the Mode of JNK Inhibition by GST pi

Mary Boggs
(Thomas Beebe’s Lab)
The missing link to pain sensation in bone cancer patients: Osteocytes?



open house

Brown Lab Renovation Completed
Wednesday, May 14, 2008 marked the official re-opening of Brown Laboratory, home to the faculty, students and staff of UD’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.  Three years in the making, the project has restored the building to a state of the art facility for research and instruction in Chemistry.  Department Chair Klaus Theopold, joined by the residents of Brown Laboratory, hosted guests from across the University for an official ribbon cutting ceremony and open house. During his remarks Professor Theopold thanked all those who helped make the renovation possible and reminded the audience of Harry Fletcher Brown, whose generosity made possible the construction of the eponymous building in 1937. 

Honors Day, 2008
Although today's weather did not cooperate, Honors Day is always one of my favorite days in the academic year (second only to graduation), for it gives me the opportunity to congratulate a bevy of our students (and faculty) for their sterling accomplishments. As usual, a cornucopia of awards were doled out at today's College of Arts and Sciences ceremony in the Trabant Center:

UNIVERSITY AWARDS

AAUP Undergraduate Student Award: Patrick J. Knerr (BS/BIOC/08)
Panel of Distinguished Seniors: Patrick J. Knerr (BS/BIOC/08)


COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES AWARDS

Outstanding Advisement Award: Prof. Susan Groh
Beckman Scholar: Amy L. Styer (BS/BIOC/10)


DEPARTMENT AWARDS

American Chemical Society Award in Analytical Chemistry: Douglas Y. Desario (BS/CHEM/09)
American Chemical Society Award in Chemistry: Stephen J. Tereniak (BS/CHEM/09)
American Institute of Chemists Award in Biochemistry: Aly D. Bourreza (BS/BIOC/08)
Kevin Scott Beall Memorial Award: James L. White (BS/BIOC/11)
Bryce Hach Scientific Foundation Scholarship Awards: Otto C. Burger (BA/XCE/08), Brannon M. Moore (BA/XCE/10)
Wallace H. Carothers Scholarship: Amy L. Styer (BS/BIOC/10)
Frank W. Collins Undergraduate Award in Biochemistry: Patrick J. Knerr (BS/BIOC/08)
Quaesita Drake Scholarships: Ann E. Benavidez (BS/CHEM/09), Stephanie L. Myrick (BS/BIOC/09)
Elizabeth Dyer Awards for Excellence in Biochemistry and Chemistry: Patrick J. Knerr (BS/BIOC/08), Alyssa R. Nawrocki (BS/CHEM/08)
Elizabeth Dyer Awards to Graduate Teaching Assistants for Excellence in Teaching: Luke M. Ceo (GR), Heather R. Schmidt (GR)
Hypercube Scholar Award: Patrick J. Knerr (BS/BIOC/08)
Wallace H. McCurdy, Jr. Undergraduate Award in Analytical Chemistry: Gretchen A. Ritter (BS/BIOC/08)
Merck Index Awards: Matthew R. England (BS/BIOC/08), Jonathan E. Hullmann (BS/BIOC/08)
James A. Moore Undergraduate Award in Organic Chemistry: Patrick J. Knerr (BS/BIOC/08)
Joseph H. Noggle Undergraduate Award in Physical Chemistry: Marla S. Gilreath (BS/BIOC/08)
Gene J. and Frances E. Schiavelli Undergraduate Research Fellowship: John J. Meyers, Jr. (BS/CHEM/08)
C. Frank Shaw III Undergraduate Award in Inorganic Chemistry: Jonathan E. Hullmann (BS/BIOC/08)
Joel Silver Symposium Award: Lisa A. Capriotti (GR)
Glenn S. Skinner Memorial Award: Matthew T. Kieber-Emmons (GR)
Carl A. von Frankenberg Undergraduate Award in Chemistry Education: Elizabeth L. Buskirk (BA/XCE/08)
Dr. Marion E. Wiley Memorial Award for the Study of German: Christina H. Antonopoulos (BS/BIOC/09), Ionna H. Antonopoulos (BS/BIOC/09)

WELL DONE, all of you!

JB
P.S. I usually manage to miss one awardee every year. If I've done so, again, please accept my apologies, and set the record straight.

 

Professor Susan Groh honored by the College of Arts and Sciences with this year's 'Outstanding Advisement Award'
UD’s College of Arts and Sciences has named Professor Susan Groh of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry the recipient of the 2008 Outstanding Advisement Award. The Award is based on excellence in academic advisement of undergraduate students. Criteria include number of student advisees and quality of advisement, availability to advisees, communication with students regarding their academic needs and individual progress, knowledge of college programs and requirements, and overall impact on students through advising within the College and beyond.

Besides teaching a large number of classes, Professor Susan Groh’s is also affiliated with the Honors Program of the University of Delaware and has advised all of the Honors students in the Department since 1999. On average she takes care of 70-80 advisees each year, offering each of these students’ individual appointments, weekly office hours and beginning in their junior year Professor Groh starts informal ‘Senior’ checkouts, to catch potential graduation problems early.

The award was presented to Professor Susan Groh at the College’s Faculty Awards/State of the College event on Tuesday, May 6th, where UD faculty, staff, professionals, alumni and family were gathered.

Two UD Chem/Bioc Students Reap Awards at 72nd Intercollegiate Student Chemists Convention
The 2008 Intercollegiate Student Chemists Convention was held on
Saturday, April 19, 2008, at Elizabethtown (PA) College -  the 72nd
edition of the oldest, continuous annual meeting of its type in the
country. A total of 35 research papers were presented by undergraduate students from 10 colleges and universities in the Middle Atlantic region.

Five of these papers were presented by UD CHEM/BIOC majors:

Tyler C. Bazzoli (BS/CHEM/10), "Identifying Biomarkers of the MHC Gene to Investigate Chemosensory Discrimination" (Prof. Steven Brown, advisor)

Patrick J. Knerr (BS/BIOC/08), "Metal-triggered Hydrogelation of
Self-assembling Beta-hairpin Peptides for Bioremediation" (Prof. Joel
Schneider)

Meghan D. Woods (BS/BIOC/09), Elastin-Mimetic Hybrid Polymers for Vocal Fold Tissue Engineering" (Prof. Xinqiao Jia, Dept. of Materials Science)

Michael T. Pirnot (BS/CHEM/09), "1,4-Conjugate Addition of
2-Methylpyridines" (Prof. Douglass Taber)

Jonathan E. Hullman (BS/BIOC/08), "Synthesis and Structural
Characterization of New Alkaline-Earth and Rare-Earth Metal
Indium-Antimonides" (Prof. Svilen Bobev)

Mr. Knerr and Mr. Pirnot received second place awards for their
presentations in the Biochemistry and Organic Divisions, respectively. This brings the UD award total to 91 - by far, the largest number of awards garnered by the 62 schools who have participated in the ISCC throughout its history.

The UD delegation was led, as usual, by Profs. Harold White and John Burmeister, who enjoyed a reunion with Dr. Thomas Hagan (UD Ph.D. '92 [Prof. Susan Groh]). Tom is now a professor of chemistry at Elizabethtown. It should be noted that Elizabethtown has enjoyed a recent building boom, including a brand-new, state-of-the-art science building.

The 73rd ISCC will be held at Franklin and Marshall College (my alma mater) on April 18, 2009. The 2010 meeting, slated for St. Mary's College of Maryland, has not been confirmed. We are listed as the back-up site if St. Mary's hosting commitment does not reach fruition. Otherwise, our first hosting opportunity, following the recent renovation of Brown Laboratory, will not occur until 2014.
Go to website

Undergraduate Awarded 2008 Pfizer Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship
Michael Pirnot, UD Chemistry and Biochemistry Undergraduate, has been selected as a 2008 Pfizer Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship recipient for his research effort in Synthetic Organic Chemistry in the laboratory of Professor Douglass Taber. This initiative, sponsored by Pfizer Global Research & Development, provides support to undergraduate chemistry majors for independent research. Preference is given to outstanding students who propose to engage in a synthetic organic chemistry research project during the summer between their junior and senior years. The award will permit Michael to devote full-time effort to his research project for an eight to ten week period this coming summer, under the supervision of Professor Taber, and will culminate with an informal poster presentation of the research at Pfizer's PGRD, Groton/New London Laboratories in Groton, Connecticut on Friday, October 3, 2008.

Professor Cecil Dybowski Named Fellow of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy
The Society for Applied Spectroscopy has announced their recognition of Professor Cecil Dybowski for exceptional contributions to spectroscopy and service to the Society by election as a Fellow of the Society. To date, the Society has recognized 37 persons as Fellows of the Society, including such eminent scientists as Arnold O. Beckman, John Bertie, D. Bruce Chase, John Ferraro, Jeanette Grasselli-Brown, Ira Levin, Marvin Margoshes, R. A. Nyquist, Walter Slavin, J. D. Winefordner, and Ed Yeung.  The award consists of a plaque to be presented at a wine-and-cheese reception at the annual meeting of the Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies (FACSS), to be held in Reno, Nevada, at the end of September.

Professor Dybowski’s area of expertise is NMR spectroscopy and its applications to diverse chemical and physical problems.  He has published more than 170 research papers and two books on aspects of NMR of solids.  His current research focuses on the nature of NMR of heavy nuclei like lead, mercury, and tin, and how analysis with NMR might allow one to understand structure and function of materials incorporating these elements.  The early NMR studies of surface species (on catalysts) and of deformed polymer systems by his group have shown how NMR can be a significant tool for analyzing complex systems containing a variety of species, whether these be minerals, polymers, pharmaceutical formulations, or surface phases.  A native of Texas, Professor Dybowski has been a member of the faculty of the University of Delaware for 32 years.

Fellows of SAS that have been elected since 1957:
Sanford Asher, Ramon Barnes, A. O. Beckman, F. Bentley, J. Bertie, I. D. Brent III, B. Chase, N. B. Colthup, B. Crawford, Bonner Denton, W. G. Fateley, John Ferraro, Jeanette Grasselli-Brown, P. R. Griffiths, Joel Harris, G. M. Hieftje, Jim Holcombe, Sam Houk W. Kiefer, J. L. Koenig, S. Roy Koirtyohann, I. Levin, Marvin Margoshes, Michael Morris, A. G. Marshall, F. A. Miller, K. Nakamoto, Kay Niemax, R. A. Nyquist, N. Omenetto, T. C. Rains, H. Rose, W. Slavin, M. Tasumi, C. L. Wilkins, J. D. Winefordner, Ed Yeung

 

News

Brown Lab Renovation Completed Details

Honors Day, 2008 Details

Professor Susan Groh honored by the College of Arts and Sciences with this year's 'Outstanding Advisement Award' Details

Two UD Chem/Bioc Students Reap Awards at 72nd Intercollegiate Student Chemists Convention Details

Undergraduate Awarded 2008 Pfizer Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Details

Professor Cecil Dybowski Named Fellow of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy Details

Announcements

Chemistry Award Challenge
Thank you to all who participated in the Chemistry Award Challenge.  Due to the generosity of our alumni, faculty, staff and friends we raised $13,153.54.  Both the Trofimenko Memorial Award and the Carl von Frankenberg Award have reached endowment status!

Easter Egg Hunt in the Chemistry StockroomFisher Scientific hosted another Easter Egg Hunt in the Chemistry Stockroom on Thursday March 20, 2008.  Connie Smith, Senior On Site Specialist for Thermo Fisher prepared 70 plastic eggs containing numbers inside for corresponding prizes. Details

Friday, May  16th, 2008
American Institute of Chemists Chemical Pioneers 2008 Awardee Speeches Details


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