ACS NEWS/AWARDS
BARTON IS NAMED COTTON MEDALIST
industrial waste) that can be used to produce biofuels and biomaterials. • Storage and transportation: Feedstocks for biofuel and biomaterial production are generally confined to a specific geographic region, such as the midwestern U.S. or the center-south region of Brazil. Posters are invited that explore the development of methods for the storage and transportation of biofuels and biorefined products, a key aspect of production and distribution. • Standards and measurement: The use of biofuels is relatively new, and as such, not many well-defined standards or methods for measurement are available. It will become increasingly important to identify the properties of biofuels that determine fuel combustion quality and to develop regulation standards. Some of the important properties of biofuels include viscosity, density, energy density, sulfur content, oxidation stability, and flash point, for example. Posters are invited that explore the development of analytical methods for easy and accurate measurement of the physical properties of biofuels. • By-products: The production of liquid fuels from biomass often results in unwanted by-products. For example, the breakdown of cellulose results in lignin, and biodiesel production generates glycerol. Posters are invited that explore how to utilize these by-products, either in the production of biofuels or in some other capacity. To be considered for this program, submit your poster abstract online through ACS OASYS at oasys.acs.org/acs/233nm/ oasys.htm through an ACS technical division relevant to your interest and background in chemistry by its published (C&EN, Sept. 4, page 79) deadline. Once you receive notification that your poster has been selected for presentation at the ACS national meeting in Chicago, send an e-mail to Bradley D. Miller, ACS manager of African, Latin American, and Middle Eastern affairs and NSF Senior Discovery Corps Fellow 2006-07, at the address below. Indicate the assigned number of the session and include a PDF version of your accepted poster presentation. For more information and to submit materials, contact Bradley D. Miller, ACS, 1155—16th St., N.W., Washington, DC 20036; telephone (202) 872-4088; fax (202) 872-6317; e-mail:
[email protected]. •
JACQUELINE K. BARTON, Arthur & Marian Hanish Memorial Professor of Chemistry at California Institute of Technology, has been awarded the 2007 F. A. Cotton Medal in recognition of her many contributions to molecular biology, especially her intercalation techniques for the study of DNA. Barton pioneered the application of transition-metal complexes to probe recognition and reactions of double helical DNA. With these transition-metal probes, she has targeted nucleic acid sites with affinities and specificities rivaling those of DNA-binding proteins, developed luminescent and photochemical reagents as diagnostic tools, and elucidated electrontransfer chemistry mediated by the DNA double helix. Her work maybe critical to understanding the chemical consequences of radical damage to DNA within the cell. Barton will receive the Cotton Medal at a symposium and dinner at Texas A8cM University on April 26,2007. T n e award consists of a gold medal and a bronze replica as well as a certificate and a cash honorarium. It is named for F. Albert Cotton, W. T. Doherty-Welch Foundation Chair and Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Texas A8cM University. The award has been given annually since 1995 by the Texas A8cM department of chemistry and the ACS Texas A8cM Section. Separately, Barton has been named an Outstanding Director for 2006 by the Outstanding Directors Exchange (ODX). This annual awards program honors independent directors of public companies who have been recognized by their peers for making a courageous or valuable contribution to the companies on whose boards they serve. Barton, a director of Dow Chemical, is among eight directors who received the award this year. Barton is being recognized for helping to create the post of chief technology officer at Dow. Previously, Dow had a group vice president for R8cD, but Barton successfully argued that the company needed someone who was less an administrator and more a practitioner of science. Barton has also assumed the role of translator for fellow board members, identifying
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for the board how new Dow technologies may work, what they can do, and whether there could be other implications, such as possible environmental or health impacts. "Jackie is one of those directors who advance the board and who, in doing so, help to advance corporate governance for us all," says Michael D. Griffin, chairman of ODX. Barton will receive the Outstanding Director award at the ODX corporate governance conference in San Francisco on March 21-22,2007.
WANG IS AWARDED SHAW PRIZE XIAODONG WANG, Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and George L. MacGregor Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Science at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, has been awarded the $1 million Shaw Prize in Life Science & Medicine. The award recognizes Wang's discovery of the biochemical basis of apoptosis, or programmed cell death. He discovered several proteins that play a key role in apoptosis, including cytochrome c. His research could lead not only to treatments for cancer but also to therapies targeting the abnormal cells in neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. The Shaw Prizes consist of three annual awards, the Prize in Astronomy, the Prize in Life Science & Medicine, and the Prize in Mathematical Sciences; they honor individuals who have achieved significant breakthroughs in academic and scientific research or application and whose work has resulted in a positive and profound impact on humankind.
NEGAS WINS SPRIGGS AWARD TAKI NEGAS, vice president of technology at Refractron Technologies, is the recipient of the Richard & Patricia Spriggs Phase Equilibria Award, presented by the American Ceramic Society. The award is given annually to a scientist who has made valuable contributions to phase-stability relationships in ceramicbased systems literature. The honor comes with a certificate and a cash prize of $1,000. Negas is being recognized for a technical paper published in the Journal ofSolid State Chemistrytitled "Phase Relations, Crystal
Chemistry, and Dielectric Properties in Sec tions of La 2 0 3 -CaO-MgO-Ti0 2 System." Negas is known for his work in the research, development, and manufacturing of ceramic materials used in the wireless communica tions and other microwave-based industries.
KRYSTOSEK RECEIVES CHEMICAL TECHNICIAN AWARD ROBERT KRYSTOSEK, a senior research technologist at Dow Chemical and member of the ACS Midland Section has received the 2006 National Chemical Technician Award, sponsored by S.C. Johnson 8c Son. The $1,000 honorarium was presented during the ACS spring national meeting in Atlanta. Krystosek implemented facilities and engineering changes to add new polarchemistry capabilities to Dow's highthroughput research efforts, positively affecting the R&D programs of several Dow businesses. Over the past 25 years, Krys tosek has developed a wide range of techni cal expertise, from fibers and dielectric films to homogeneous catalysis and combi natorial chemistry. In 2003, Krystosek re ceived the Outstanding Chemical Techni cian Award from the Midland Section. Krystosek served as chair of the ACS Division of Chemical Technicians in 2004. During his term, he helped create two Chemluminary Awards for the division.
GORSKEWINS M.J. COLLINS AWARD BENJAMIN C. GORSKE, a fourth year graduate student at the University of Wis consin, Madison, has received the 2006 M. J. Collins Award, named after Michael J. Collins, founder, chief executive officer, and president of CEM Corp. The award recognizes outstanding re search by a student in the field of microwave chemistry and is open to undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, and postdoctoral stu dents attending academic institutions in the U.S. Gorske received the $2,500 cash prize at an award ceremony during the fall ACS na tional meeting in San Francisco. In addition, matching funds were presented to Gorske's
academic sponsor, Helen E. Blackwell. Gorske's research involves the micro wave-assisted synthesis of peptidomimetics and the rational design of peptoid struc ture. He designed the first microwaveassisted method for solid-phase peptoid synthesis through an amination reaction and then used this methodology to prepare various peptoids that can be used to inter cept key protein-protein interactions. To download an application for the 2007 M. J. Collins Award, visit cem.com/ support/award.asp.
STEVENS RECEIVES FIRST IUPAC-RICHTER PRIZE MALCOLM F. G. STEVENS of Nottingham University, in the U.K., is the first recipi ent of the newly established International Union of Pure & Applied Chemistry-Richter Prize in Medicinal Chemistry. Stevens received the award in recognition of his leadership and contributions to the discov ery of anticancer drugs. Stevens' work has resulted in the discov ery of six novel small-molecule agents that have progressed into clinical trials. Among them is Temodal (temozolomide), used to treat the deadly brain cancer glioblastoma multiforme. The drug has been marketed worldwide by Schering-Plough since 1999. Another product, Phortress, is in earlystage clinical trial for treatment of breast tumors; other products from his current research, exploiting other mechanisms for anticancer agents, are also expected to en ter development. Stevens received a plaque and check for $10,000 in August during the 19th Interna tional Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry in Istanbul, Turkey.
DAVY MEDAL TO MARTIN POPE MARTIN POPE, professor emeritus of chemistry at New York University, has been awarded the Davy Medal by the U.K.'s Royal Society for his pioneering work in the field of molecular semiconductors. The medal is awarded annually for an outstandingly important recent discovery in any branch of chemistry and includes a cash prize of £1,000 (about $1,250). Pope is one of the founding fathers of the field of electronic properties of organic crystals. He is interna tionally recognized for his pioneering work '.CEN-0NLINE.ORG
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in electroluminescence, the conversion of electric energy directly into visible light, and for inventing many of the experimental techniques used to study organic materials.
MACKERELL IS MARYLAND CHEMIST OF THE YEAR ALEXANDER D. MACKERELL JR. has
been named 2006 Maryland Chemist of the Year by the ACS Maryland Section. He will receive the award on Dec. 13 during a sec tion meeting in Towson, Md. MacKerell is a professor in the depart ment of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He is also director of the university's Com puter-Aided Drug Design Center. MacKerell is being honored for his numer ous scientific achieve ments, including pioneering research on the aldehyde dehydro genase enzyme system and the identification of isozymes, devel oping methodology related to time-resolved fluorescence, en ergetic and molecular dynamics studies of unsaturated lipids, and describing the struc ture-function relationship of polyamine transport. He is also being honored for being an interactive and inspiring teacher.
CHRISTE RECEIVES ALFRED STOCK MEMORIAL PRIZE KARL O. CHRISTE, a research professor at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, has been awarded the Alfred Stock Memorial Prize by the German Chemical Society in recognition of his outstanding ex perimental studies in inorganic chemistry. Christe's research focuses on maingroup compounds with halogens, polyazide chemistry, and nitroamine chemistry, as well as carbocations and fluorocarbon compounds. His group recently reported in Angewandte Chemie on an energetic ionic liquid and evidence of linear metalazido coordination. Their report on the first structural characterization of binary arsenic(II) and antimony(III) azideswas featured on the cover of Chemistry-Α Euro pean Journal in 2004. •
