October 2007
Dear Alumni and Friends,
Thank you for visiting our website, and I hope you get the chance to visit us in person. We are always happy to show you the progress we are making in our research, teaching, and service missions. We continue to refine and evaluate our program at every opportunity. For example, under the direction of Prof. Ben King, we have significantly revamped our shared instrument laboratory and continue to add research and teaching instrumentation. Thanks to the continued and generous contributions by the Boyntons, the “Russ and Peggy Boynton Chemistry Reading Room” is rapidly taking shape, and is becoming a focal point in the chemistry building where students and faculty can interact with each other in a comfortable setting.
I am also pleased to announce that the “Hyung K. Shin Award for Excellence in Research” was presented in 2005 to Prof. Roberto Mancini in the Physics Department and in 2006 to Prof. Wendy Calvin in Geological Sciences and Engineering in recognition of their research accomplishments. It is most fitting that this award be named after Professor Shin, as he continues to be a leader in promoting research in the department and in the university, and among other honors was the first recipient of the University Outstanding Researcher Award in 1975. The endowment of the Shin Award is being made possible through donations by alumni, his former students, and colleagues. For additional information, including how to contribute, please see the full description.
The “LeMay Award for Excellence in Teaching” was awarded to Prof. Roberto Mancini of the Physics Department in 2006 and Prof. Scott Mensing from Geography in 2005. We are especially proud as a department that both the research and teaching awards in the new College of Science are named after chemists: the Shin Award for Excellence in Research and the LeMay Award for Excellence in Teaching.
This past year, the department welcomed a new inorganic chemist, Professor Ana de Bettencourt-Dias, to the faculty. Dr. de Bettencourt-Dias is an established and respected lanthanide chemist who received her Licenciatura in 1993 from the University of Lisbon in Portugal and her Dr. rer. nat. in 1997 (magna cum laude) from the University of Cologne in Germany. Her research focuses on the luminescence of lanthanide ions and their utilization to develop new emitting materials for display applications.
We are also pleased to welcome Dr. Sarah Cummings as our new Organic Chemistry Coordinator. Dr. Cummings earned her B.S. degree in 2001 at Haverford College and her Ph.D. in 2006 from Columbia University where she worked with Prof. Jack R. Norton. After completing a Postdoctoral position at University of Utah, she joined our faculty in 2007. Dr. Cummings is involved in developing and upgrading the Organic Chemistry Laboratory program, and in the supervision and training of laboratory teaching assistants. In addition to overseeing the laboratory program, she also teaches General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry.
Our other big news is that the Nevada state legislature has funded a new math and science instructional building, to be constructed between Fleischman Ag and Palmer Engineering where the greenhouses are currently located. The new building will contain instructional laboratories for General and Organic Chemistry as well as for several other science departments and space for Mathematics and the College of Science dean's office. Architectural design is complete and construction is slated to begin in the fall of 2008. The instructional lab space in the current Chemistry Building will then be renovated for long-needed research laboratory expansion.
The Department of Chemistry continues to experience strong growth in enrollments. We are now serving over 2100 students each semester, with lab courses now scheduled two mornings, five afternoons, and three evenings per week. We have about 60 graduate students and 20 permanent teaching and research faculty. To learn about the exciting research going on in the department, I invite you to view the faculty research descriptions.
I would also like to bring your attention to various giving opportunities available for supporting the programs of the department. You will note several named scholarship, award, and lectureship funds in honor of faculty and former students. Unrestricted donations to the Chemistry Department Fund are also most appreciated to help us with student and faculty recruitment and the seminar program.
Our departmental newsletters are available (below) for downloading. We are always happy to hear from our former students and friends of the department. Please drop us a line and let us know what you are doing - any alumni news for this year's newsletter is appreciated.
Sincerely,
Vince Catalano, Chair
Periodic Tableaux, 2006
Periodic Tableaux, 2007