2001 ACS National Award Winners - C&EN Global Enterprise (ACS

Jan 8, 2001 - F ollowing is the second set of vignettes of recipients of the 2001 awards administered by the American Chemical Society. The first set ...
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2001 ACS National Award Winners

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ollowing is the second set of viBrunelle's innovation was to copolygnettes of recipients of the 2001 merize the reactants to intermediate awards administered by the Ameri- macrocyclic compounds containing two can Chemical Society. The first set was to 20 bisphenol A/carbonate units with published in the Jan. 1 issue, page 31. molecular weights from about 508 to C&EN will publish vignettes of the remain-5,080. The white powder melts just being awardees in successive January and low 400 °F to a thin liquid with a viscosFebruary issues. An article on Fred Basolo,ity of 10 poise. By comparison, honey 2001 Priestley Medalist, is scheduled to ap-has a viscosity of 200 poise at room tempear in the April 2 issue. perature, and the viscosity of molten Most winners will receive their awards conventional polycarbonate resin is during the ACS national meeting in San 10,000 poise. Diego, April 1-5. However, the Arthur C. The mix of intermediate cyclic oliCope Award and the Arthur C. Cope Scholgomers is polymerized to the final resin ar Award recipients will receive their with an anionic initiator, which opens a awards at the ACS national meeting in ring to yield an anionic carbonate or Chicago, Aug. 26-30. phenolate end. That reactive end attacks and opens a second ring, and so on until the oligomer is exhausted. The low viscosity of oligomer melt ACS Award in Applied Polymer means that it wets glass fiber and granuScience lated mineral reinforcements more thorStaff scientist and Coolidge fellow DAN- oughly than conventional polycarbonate IEL J. BRUNELLE of General Electric melt. Reaction injection molding is also Corporate Research & Development, possible; here, a thin liquid oligomer Schenectady, N.Y., led the team of 21 re- mixed with a temperature-programmed searchers who developed his invention of initiator is injected into a heated mold, ring-opening polymerization of cyclic oli- where it sets up into the shape of the gomers. The commercialization of the part. Repair of damaged parts is possimethod, announced in 1989, to its fullest ble by "painting" the damaged area with technological potential would have revo- initiated oligomer melt. lutionized fabrication of thermoplastic Brunelle channeled the reacting bispolycarbonate and polyarylate resins by phenol A and phosgene to produce 85% reactive processes usually reserved for of cyclic oligomer and only 15% of linear thermosets, and at temperatures and polymer by a pseudo-high-dilution techpressures far lower than usual for these nique. In this method, the reactants are high-performance resins. fed into an agitated two-phase reaction In the 10 years following the an- mixture of methylene chloride and nouncement, however, it became in- aqueous sodium hydroxide. creasingly clear that the development of Under these condithe infrastructure of processing and ma- tions of partitioning of chinery would be so costly that the tech- various species between nology could never repay the effort and the phases, there is a overhead costs of a large corporation. In high probability that a 1999, General Electric sold licenses to its molecule with two to 20 patents on the technology to a small start- repeating units, a phenoup company, Cyclics Corp. of Sche- late hydroxyl head, and a nectady, N.Y. chloroformate ester tail In the usual production of polycar- will be "alone" for relabonate resin, bisphenol A copolymeriz- tively long periods. Thus, es with phosgene to form linear chains the likelihood is greater of molecular weight 22,000 to 35,000. that the molecule will The resin is often injection-molded at snake around and react melt temperatures of 520 to 560 °F and with itself than that it will mold pressures of 10,000 to 20,000 psi. find more phosgene or Brunelle 36

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bisphenol A to react with. The separable linear polymer coproduct of molecular weight 60,000 has value in its own right. Brunelle was born in Woonsocket, R.I., in 1949. He completed a B.S. degree in chemistry at Emory University, Atlanta, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in organic chemistry at Johns Hopkins University. After two postdoctoral years at Harvard University, he joined General Electric in Schenectady. The award address is to be presented before the Division of Polymer Chemistry. Stephen Stinson

ACS Award in Colloid or Surface Chemistry Sponsored by Procter & Gamble Co. "I always wanted to be a golf pro," says CHARLES T. CAMPBELL, looking back on his teen years. Having grown up in a household with professional golfers for his father and brother, the University of Washington, Seattle, chemistry professor's youthful aspiration isn't surprising. But excellent grades in science and math and the recognition that success as a golf pro requires lots of luck—not just skill— helped steer Campbell away from sports and into a life of science. As a scientific researcher, Campbell has focused on elucidating reaction mechanisms in heterogeneous catalysis. By applying surface analysis techniques and other methods, he has answered key questions about CO oxidation, ethylene epoxidation, and dehydrogenation of hydrocarbons on platinum. Campbell and his Seattle group are credited with clarifying structure-function relationships central to copper-zinc oxide catalysts used in methanol synthesis and the water gas-shift reaction.

Campbell

Campbell's investigations have uncovered the roles of catalytic promoters and poisons, and he has contributed to a fundamental understanding of bimetallic surfaces. As one colleague put it, "Campbell's strength is his ability to meld surface analysis and catalytic sciences into a single discipline." Surface scientists point out that some of Campbell's most noteworthycontribucontribuCampbell's most noteworthy tions come in the area of single-crystal microcalorimetry. Just a few years ago, Campbell and coworkers built a unique instrument that can be used to measure the heat of adsorption of metals on wellcharacterized specimens as a detailed function of surface coverage (C&EN, Jan. 19,1998, page 39). The technique also allows researchers to extract adhesion energies of metal films on solid surfaces. This type of information is crucial to understanding materials issues in catalysis, microelectronics, and other areas. Microcalorimetry offers clear advantages over other techniques. For years, researchers had attempted to get a handle on adsorption energies using thermal-desorption spectroscopy or other methods, but those procedures suffered shortcomings in that they only worked on completely reversible systems. Many molecules dissociate or react before desorbing, and therefore their bond energies cannot be probed by those methods. More recently, Campbell has begun studying surface functionalization. He and his students have investigated organosilanes bonded to titanium dioxide and biological layers on gold. The group has developed new methods for quantitative surface-plasmon-resonance sensing and has applied them to investigate protein binding to surface-immobilized ligands. Commenting on the range of research topics tackled by Campbell, one colleague emphasizes that Campbell's scientific work is marked by "an enormous diversity—but diversity with excellence," adding that Campbell is always "thorough and intellectually rigorous." Yet the consequences of Campbell's scientific rigor aren't confined to his research program. As one colleague pointed out, "Not only is Charlie an influential leader in his field, he's an inspiring associate and a role model for young scientists." Campbell studied at the undergraduate and graduate levels at the University of Texas, Austin. In 1975, he received a B.S. degree in chemical engineering, and in 1979 he received a Ph.D. in phys-

ical chemistry for research conducted under the direction of chemistry professor J. M.White. After completing his graduate education, Campbell continued studying catalytic surfaces as a postdoctoral research associate with Gerhard Ertl, a noted surface scientist who at the time was a professor at the University of Munich in West Germany. Later, Campbell became a research staff member at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where he worked for several years. Campbell joined the University of Washington chemistry faculty as an associate professor in 1989. He was promoted to professor in 1992 and became an adjunct professor of physics in 1994. Campbell was named codirector of Washington's Center for Nanotechnology in 1997 and since 1991 has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Catalysis. The award address is to be presented before the Division of Colloid & Surface Chemistry. Mitch Jacoby

ACS Award For Creative Work In Fluorine Chemistry Sponsored by Lancaster Synthesis Inc. In 1963, biochemistry professor ICELAND C. CLARK JR., then at the Medical College of Alabama, Birmingham, submerged a white albino rat in oxygen-saturated silicone oil. Although the rat died a few days later from toxicity of that particular silicone oil, it managed to "breathe" for 20 minutes while submerged. "I don't know who was more surprised," Clark once recalled in an interview, "myself or the rat!" His interest in liquid breathing continued when he recognized the excellent gas solubility properties of perfluorocarbon (PFC) liquids, which are also physicochemically inert. In 1965, Clark repeated his rodent-dunking experiment, but this time in perfluorobutyltetrahydrofuran. He showed that a mouse could breathe for several hours without any apparent harmful effects [Science, 152,1755 (1966)1. A photograph of the mouse submerged in a beaker is one of the most memorable images in science. Clark's now-famous experiments were part of his research on the measurement of oxygen in biological samples. His work in this area had previously led to his invention in 1949 of the heart-lung machine, which catalyzed open-heart sur-

gery. Other work led to his invention in 1954 of the membrane polarographic oxygen electrode, which established the standard for measuring blood gases. With these inventions and many others, Clark often has been called the "Edison of Medicine." Following the mouse experiment, it occurred to Clark thatfillingthe lungs with a PFC liquid rather than submersion would allow oxygen to be efficiently transported into the bloodstream. One initial thought was that the PFCs could allow rapid decompression for deep-sea divers as they surfaced and even prevent the diving sickness known as the bends. This idea became an integral part of the 1989 movie "The Abyss." Clark became a driving force in the research and development of PFCs for biomedical applications, studying the properties and toxicological effects of more than 100 fluorocarbons. Some of these applications include liquid ventilation of the lungs of premature infants and in adults with respiratory distress, synthetic blood substitutes, retinal reattachment eye surgery, wound healing and burn treatment, and contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging and for ultrasound imaging. He has received 24 U.S. patents, 19 foreign patents, and two world patents and is the author of nearly 115 publications on the theoretical and practical applications of PFCs. He also is the author of more than 300 other scientific publications. In 1991, Clark helped to start and became vice president of research of Synthetic Blood International, a company based in Kettering, Ohio, that is developing PFC formulations as blood substitutes. The company also is working on PFC formulations for liquid ventilation, and it is using Clark's electrode technology to develop implantable glucose sensors for people with diabetes. He currently serves as a research consultant to the company. Clark received a B.S. degree in chemistry with honors in 1941fromAntioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio, and a Ph.D. degree in biochemistry and physiology with honors in 1944fromthe University of Rochester. He began his career as an assistant professor of biochemistry at Antioch College, holding a concurrent research position in the biochemistry department at Fels Research Institute, also in Yellow Springs, and later a second concurrent position in pediatrics and surgery at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. JANUARY 8, 2001 C&EN

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awards He left Ohio in 1958 to take a position as a professor of biochemistry and surgery at the Medical College of Alabama. Clark remained there until 1968, when he went back to Ohio as professor of research pediatrics and head of the Division of Neurophysiology at Children's Hospital Research Foundation in Cincinnati. He later assumed professorships at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and once again at Antioch, positions he still holds. Clark has garnered numerous honors throughout his career, including receiving the American Heart Association's Kaplan Visionary Award, being enshrined into the Engineering & Science Hall of Fame, and being elected to the National Academy of Engineering. cesiaes nis researcn ana tecnnoiogy contributions to the field of fluorine chemistry, Clark has received credit from many fluorine chemists in academia and industry as having a glowing enthusiasm that has inspired them personally to choose fluorine chemistry as a field of study. One of Clark's former students says that his concrete discoveries not only have revolutionized the world, but above and beyond that, the type of person he is and how he lives his life makes him "an exceptional example of what a researcher can be and what we should all strive harder to be." lhe award address is to be presented on Jan. 18 during the 15th Winter Fluorine Conference in St. Petersburg Beach, Fla., Jan. 14-19. Steve Ritter

ACS Award in Organometallic Chemistry Sponsored by Dow Chemical Co. Foundation In his more than 45-year academic career, distinguished professor F. AL· BERT COTTON of Texas A&M University has earned renown for his many contributions in the areas of inorganic chemistry, the study of molecular structure by spectroscopic and X-ray diffraction, protein structure, and enzyme mechanisms. In 1998, ACS recognized his distinguished overall service to chemistry with its highest honor, the Priestley Medal. "It would be easy, therefore, to overlook his enormous contributions to the field of organometallic chemistry," an associate says. "In fact, Cotton has over 38

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300 publications in this area. Moreover, he con­ tinues to do highly signif­ icant work in thisfieldas evidenced by the fact that approximately 20% of his 1999 publications can be characterized as organometallic." Among Cotton's con­ tributions to the science of organometallic chem­ istry is the discovery of the fundamental concept of thefluxionalityof met- Clark al carbonyl and hydrocarbyl derivatives. He then advanced this discovery though the use of vari­ able temperature NMR spectroscopy, which provided insights into the mecha­ nism by which these important classes of organometallic compounds undergo intramolecular rearrangements. The understanding of fluxional processes prompted the need for a systematic ap­ proach to the nomenclature of the bond­ ing of olefins and unsaturated rings to p-, d-, and f-block metals. Cotton then devised the now-universal hapto nomen­ clature to satisfy that need. Cotton also discovered, characterized, and explained "agostic" interactions in organotransition metal chemistry in 1974. Other contributions to organometallic chemistry included demonstrations that uranium and samarium were able to form a neutral arene complex of an actinide and a lanthanide. He also demonstrated the ability of ethylene to coordinate be­ tween two metal atoms and to form μ-bonds to both. More recently, Cotton has employed density functional theory to examine the electronic structures of organometallic molecules that have been formulated to have element-element or metal-metal bonds. Born in Philadelphia in 1930, Cotton received an A.B. degree from Temple University, Philadelphia, in 1951 and a Ph.D. degree from Harvard University in 1955. He started out as an instructor in chemistry at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1955 and held a series of positions that concluded with his appoint­ ment as Dreyfus Professor from 1969 to 1971. Since 1972, he has been at Texas A&M University, serving first as Robert A Welch Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemistry until 1984. From 1984 to the present, he has been the W. T. Doherty-Welch Foundation Distinguished Professor. In 1982, he took up and continues the duties of director of

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the Laboratory for Molecular Structure & Bonding at Texas A&M. Cotton has received 24 honorary de­ grees. Institutions awarding him those honors span the globe and include not only his alma mater Temple but also Co­ lumbia University; Cambridge Universi­ ty; Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universitat, Frankfurt; Lomonosov University, Moscow; Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Acade­ my of Sciences; and Université Pierre & Marie Curie. He has received 36 major awards. Those include thefirstACS Award in Inorganic Chemistry in 1962, the ACS Award for Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Inorganic Chemistry in 1974, and all seven Gold Medals awarded by ACS local sections. In addition, he has received the National Medal of Science for 1982; the King Faisal International Prize in Science, 1990; the Robert A. Welch Prize, 1994; the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Chemists, 1998; the Wolf Prize, 2000; and the 2000 Lavoisier Medal of the Société Française de Chimie. Cotton has written or coauthored 16 books, many of which have foreign language editions. Among those books, "Advanced Inorganic Chemistry," coauthored with the late Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson and others, has sold more than 600,000 copies over the past 38 years and has been translated into 15 foreign languages. Cotton's "Basic Inorganic Chemistry," coauthored with Wilkinson and Paul L. Gaus at the College of Wooster, Ohio, now in its third edition, has been translated into 13 foreign languages and has sold more than 120,000 copies in English. Cotton has also written or coauthored more than 1,400 scientific papers. Despite his busy research and publications schedule, Cotton has escorted 106 students through their studies to

their Ph.D. degrees. Of these, 42 have been appointed to academic positions. He has had over 155 postdoctoral research associates from 30 countries, many of whom have since assumed academic appointments. Cotton "is one of the fathers of the field of modern organometallic chemistry," a colleague notes. "He has made some of the greatest contributions to organometallic chemistry of the 20th century, and he continues to be one of the most creative and productive chemists of all time." The award address is to be presented before the Division of Inorganic Chemistry. Marc Reisch

tween Lucent Technologies' Bell Laboratories arm and the microelectronics unit of Arch Chemicals is a stand-out example of this kind of collaboration. Working as a team, OMKARAM NALAMASU and FRANCIS M. HOULIHAN from Bell Labs and AKTURO N. MEDINA, ASHOK T. REDDY, and JAMES M. DAVIDSON of Arch were able to take a Bell Labs research concept through scale-up at Arch manufacturing facilities and into Lucent semiconductors in only two years. The projecting of tiny circuit lines onto silicon wafers through the use of microlithography is central to advanced electronics design. This lithography is made possible by photoresists—polymeric materials that change when exposed to light that is shone through a ACS Award for Team Innovation circuit-etched mask. Circuit linewidth reductions over the years have been achieved by using lowSponsored by ACS Corporation Associates er wavelength light with photoresists The electronics industry's relentless that work at the new wavelength. Re quest to produce devices with ever sists based on novolac and polyhydroxysmaller circuit lines wouldn't be possi- styrene resins do the job at 365- and 248ble without cooperation between semi- nm light, respectively, but aren't transconductor manufacturers and their parent at the 193-nm light needed to chemical suppliers. make the latest generation semiconducA joint development program be- tors with 0.18- and 0.13-iim circuit lines. Through an understanding of the relationships between chemical structure and photoresist performance, Nalamasu and Houlihan were able to invent and patent (U.S. patents 5,843,624; 5,879,857; and 5,998,099) a family of cycloolefin-maleic anhydride copolymers with cholate ester-based dissolution inhibitors that did the job at 193 nm. However, the invention Reddy Davidson was just the beginning.

Medina

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Working with Medina, the Lucent researchers arrived at several unique polymer formulations that represented the best compromise of chemical properties. The team of five scientists from both companies then carried out the materials development work needed to guarantee a reproducible commercial materials supply. Medina and Houlihan conducted the fundamental studies to establish synthetic variables and their impact onfinalmaterial properties. Lastly, Davidson and Reddy scaled up those procedures, allowing commercial production. The Arch photoresist is now in the marketplace and has become the benchmark material for at least one manufacturer of lithography equipment. Nalamasu, who managed the LucentArch program, joined Bell Labs in Murray Hill, N.J., in 1986 as a postdoctoral technical staff member. In 1988, he joined the lab's very large-scale integrated circuits research department and in 1995 became technical manager for optical lithography and imaging materials. His work in unraveling the relationships between resist performance and polymer properties has been instrumental in developing 248- and 193-nm photoresists. Nalamasu received his Ph.D. degree in chemistry from the University of British Columbia. He earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in chemistry from universities in India. Houlihan joined Bell Labs in 1986 as a staffer in the polymer chemistry and engineering research department. Since 1992, he has been a technical staff member in the polymer and organic materials research department, where he explores the chemistry, properties, and design of photoactive materials, particularly for 193- and 157-nm lithography. Houlihan completed his B.S. degree in chemistry at the University of Ottawa in 1978 and received his Ph.D. degree from the same school in 1984. Medina joined Arch in 1991 at its East Providence, RL, facility after receiving a B.A. degree in chemistry from Johns Hopkins University. He has since participated in the process research and scaleup of various photoresist platforms. For the 193-nm resist program with Lucent, he moved to New Jersey for two years to help coordinate activities between the two companies. Reddy joined Arch in 1997 as an associate development chemist at its Brandenburg, Ky., photopolymer manufacturing facility. Currently, he is responsible for process development and scaleJANUARY8,2001C&EN

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awards up of intermediates used in 193- and ganic chemistry field by being involved 248-nm photoresist formulations. Reddy with educational developments in inorreceived his Ph.D. degree in organic ganic chemistry on local, national, and inpolymer chemistry from the Indian In- ternational levels. "I know of no one who stitute of Technology in Madras, India, has been more active in service functions and his M.S. degree in organic chemis- while conducting an ongoing research try from Osmania University in India. program," notes a colleague. Davidson has been with Arch and its He has been involved with several Napredecessor company, Olin, since 1976. tional Science Foundation workshops, For the past 11 years, he has been in- the 1970 Snow-Mass Conference, and volved in process development and various NSF-Fulbright programs in Coscale-up of intermediates used in most lombia. He has also been active in Gorof the photoresists produced by Arch. don Research Conferences; he ran an inDavidson received a B.S. degree in organic chemistry conference and, while chemical engineering from Ohio State chairman of the conference's board of University in 1965 and an M.S. degree trustees, planned and ran the first science in chemical engineering that same year. education conference, which was held in The award address is to be presented Europe. before the Division of Polymeric Materi"My greatest enjoyment in academic als: Science & Engineering. science is dealing with the students," Michael McCoy Fackler explains, "and the fact that I have been able to also do administrative work is an added bonus." Fackler has also held various posiACS Award for Distinguished tions in ACS, including those in the loService in the Advancement of cal section and Division of Inorganic Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry, as well as regional meeting chairmanships. He worked to establish Sponsored by Strem Chemicals an inorganic chemistry group within the JOHN P. FACKLER, Distinguished Cleveland Section early in his career Professor of Chemistry at Texas A&M and remains active in ACS, where he is University, is well known for his ability currently involved with the Office of to effectively combine research scholar- Career Services, serving as a career ship and service in the field of inorganic counselor. chemistry. Fackler received a B.A. degree in 'What makes John stand out among 1956 from Valparaiso University, Indihis peers is his unique ability to excel in ana, where he majored in physics, many different professional endeavors. chemistry, and mathematics. He continWith remarkable energy, he has man- ued his education at Massachusetts Inaged to stay in the frontiers of research, stitute of Technology, earning a Ph.D. train undergraduate and graduate stu- degree in chemistry under the direction dents, and serve as a talented leader in of F. Albert Cotton in 1960. That same the academic and professional commu- year, he became an assistant professor nity," a colleague says. "All his accom- at the University of California, Berkeley. plishments are characterized by selfless In 1962, Fackler relocated to Case Indedication, a great sense of humor, and stitute of Technology and helped forge relaxed kindness." the merger that created Case Western Fackler has made lasting contribu- Reserve University, Cleveland. He tions throughout his career to the study moved to Texas A&M in 1983, where he of (3-diketonate complexes, Jahn-Teller served as dean of the College of Science properties of metal complexes, metal- for nearly 10 years while also holding sulfur complexes, and the molecular his current professorship. chemistry of gold. He was also an early In reference to Fackler's contribution advocate of the use of group theory in to the field of inorganic chemistry, a colinorganic chemistry and wrote one of league states, "There are few individuthe first paperback textbooks for under- als who have served their subject and graduates dealing with its use. their university, while maintaining a In the past few years, his research fo- high level of research, as exceptionally cus has been on gold chemistry, but his as has Fackler." interests have grown to include copper The award address is to be presentand silver clusters and catalysis in super- ed before the Division of Inorganic critical C0 2 . Concurrent with his re- Chemistry. search, Fackler has also served the inorSusan Morrissey 40

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Joel Heniy Hildebrand Award in the Theoretical & Experimental Chemistry of liquids Sponsored by ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Co. and ExxonMobil Chemical Co. WILLIAM M. GELBART says that, while he only became "seriously" interested in science toward the end of his undergraduate years, "throughout my childhood, I was impressed by the great pleasure that my father took in teaching and researching pure mathematics. I was particularly intrigued by the fact that mathematical ideas play such a crucial role in explaining physical phenomena." Perhaps it was that fascination that led him to make what a colleague describes as "pioneering contributions to every branch of liquid-state theory." A professor of chemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles, and for many years head of the physical chemistry division there, Gelbart began his career working on gas-phase quantum relaxation processes, but in the mid-1970s he switched his studies to the liquid state. In his initial research on simple fluids, he formulated the first systematic theory distinguishing between collision-induced and multiple light scattering. Work performed by Gelbart in the late 70s extended generalized van der Waals theory and demonstrated conclusively that the orientation dependence of the effective attraction felt by molecules in a nematic liquid is dominated by their short-range anisotropy rather than by their angle-dependent dispersional forces. Starting in the early 1980s, Gelbart began a close collaboration with Avinoam Ben-Shaul, professor of physical chemistry at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, that has evolved from molecular theories of simple liquids to mesoscopic theories of increasingly complex fluids. In their work on micelles in aqueous solution, for example, instead of trying to predict the actual shape or size of aggregates formed by particular amphiphiles, they set out to explain the generic aspects of high-concentration phase behaviors in terms of the structures observed in the dilute regime and to include the coupling of micellar shape and size to long-range ordering. Through this work, they showed that the average size of micelles in isotropic solution increases faster with concentration than predicted by existing theories, which had

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failed to consider intermicellar interactions; that averaged micelle size increases still further in the nematic state; and that increase in overall surfactant concentration always leads to the same sequence of micellar shapes, from sphere to cylinder to bilayer, for example. In the mid-1990s, Gelbart began working with James R Heath, also a professor of chemistry at UCLA, on array formation by nanocrystals in solution and on liquid and solid substrates. Here again, he pursued mesoscopic approaches in which essentially no molecular details appear. In fact, one colleague describes Gelbart as "one of the few theorists who is at home with molecular and mesoscopic approaches. His genius is to formulate relatively simple models which contain the gist of the phenomena and which enable him to obtain significant concrete results of fundamental and practical importance." Currently, he is focusing on how DNA can be packaged in viral capsids whose small dimensions involve strong confinement of the DNA He is also interested in pursuing the encapsulation of DNA in liposomes (for gene delivery purposes) and the complexation of DNA with cationic proteins—the histones—in forming the fundamental fiber of chromosomes. With all the research Gelbart has done, a colleague says, "his papers have always been distinguished by an extraordinary clarity of exposition that has made his powerful methods and deep physical insights accessible to the reader." Gelbart received a B.S. degree in chemistry and physics from Harvard University in 1967 and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in chemical physics from the University of Chicago in 1968 and 1970, respectively. Among other awards, his work has been recognized by the Len-

nard-Jones Medal of the British Royal Society in 1991, the UCLA Distinguished Teaching Award in 1996, and a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1998. He has enjoyed several sabbaticals in Paris and hopes to return there again for a year in 2004, after hefinisheshis term as chair of UCLA's department of chemistry and biochemistry, which begins in January 2001. The award address is to be presented before the Division of Physical Chemistry. Diana Slade

George C. Pimentel Award in Chemical Education Sponsored by Union Carbide When HARRY B. GRAY learned that he had won the George C. Pimentel Award in Chemical Education, he felt "great about it!" An internationally renowned inorganic chemist with impeccable credentials and a host of awards for research accomplishments, Gray says: "I have enjoyed teaching so much over the years, and Fve always believed that teaching and research shouldn't be separated. Recognition of my teaching is really very special, and Fm excited by it." Gray is Arnold O. Beckman Professor of Chemistry and director of the Beckman Institute at California Institute of Technology. A colleague says of him that his "influence on chemical education has been deep and profound through the students and teachers he has inspired and his many textbooks at both the freshman and advanced levels." Born in Kentucky in 1935, Gray was an only child who came from a farming family on both his parents' sides. His father was a high school principal and girls' basketball coach. Teachers had a great influence on Gray, he recalls. He was also influenced by his mother's brothers, "who were always tinkering with something or other." One uncle eventually went to Vanderbilt University and received a degree in engineering. Through his interactions with his uncles, Gray became interested in doing experiments. Like many young boys, he had a lab in his basement. "I was buying chemicals, and my mother was scared

to death all the time because I didn't have a chemistry teacher—I was selftaught," Gray says. Gray received his bachelor's degree from Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, in 1957 and then worked for his Ph.D. degree with Fred Basolo and Ralph G. Pearson at Northwestern University, Evanston, 111. After earning his Ph.D. degree in 1960, he was an NSF postdoctoral fellow at the University of Copenhagen, where he collaborated with Carl J. Ballhausen on studies of the electronic structures of metal complexes. He joined Columbia University in 1961 as an assistant professor and left in 1966 as a full professor. "It was at Columbia in myfirstcourse that I introduced modern ideas of chemical bonding and structure to freshmen, which really changed the way freshman chemistry is taught," Gray says. "I had just come from Copenhagen, so it seemed like the natural thing to do. I introduced molecular orbital theory to teach the electronic structures of complexes of transition-metal ions. The students seemed to be wild about it." He even received several standing ovations. "I've never had students as enthusiastic as the ones in myfirstclass at Columbia. With those students, I discovered that I could teach difficult material to freshmen and get them excited," he notes. Columbia University chemistry professor Ronald Breslow, who has known Gray for more than four decades, says: "Harry was enormously popular with the students. He infused his courses with exciting new material and viewpoints. This has also been true of the textbooks he has authored. He has the knack of making students rise to all they were capable of, all the while convincing them they were having fun. But he also wrote some very important graduate textbooks. And he has also been very active in trying to bridge the educational gap between chemistry and biology." Among the early important textbooks Gray wrote or coauthored are "Electrons and Chemical Bonding" (1964), "Molecular Orbital Theory" (with C. J. Ballhausen, 1964), "Iigand Substitution Processes" (with C. H. Langford, 1966), and "Basic Principles of Chemistry" (with G. P. Haight, 1968). In all, he's written 16 textbooks and the 1995 book "Braving the Elements." This book, written with John D. Simon and William C. Trogler, was meant for high-school-level students and the public. Each of its chapters is written simJANUARY8,2001C&EN

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awrds ply with concepts and ideas explained carefully with imaginative graphics. The book has been very important for youngsters who are learning what chemistry is and the excitement it offers. Gray joined Caltech in 1966. There, he continued to build his research reputation, making seminal contributions to every area of inorganic chemistry: kinetics and mechanisms of reactions; inorganic spectroscopy and photochemistry; and bioinorganic chemistry, particularly the mechanism of electron transfer in proteins and most recently the problem of protein folding. He's published well over 600 papers and won numerous awards and honors, including the ACS Award in Pure Chemistry (1970); election to the National Academy of Sciences (1971); the ACS Award in Inorganic Chemistry (1978); the Pauling Medal (1986); the National Medal of Science (1986); and the Priestley Medal, ACS's highest honor (1991). He also has received the LinderstromLang Prize (1991), the Gibbs Medal (1994), the Chandler Medal (1999), the Harvey Prize (2000), and 12 honorary doctorates, including one from Columbia. In 1998, he was selected as one of C&EN's Top 75 Contributors to the Chemical Enterprise. In July 2000, he became a Foreign Member of the Royal Society. But Gray has always kept his interest in teaching. While at Caltech, he became interested in revising the chemistry curriculum along the lines of structure, dynamics, synthesis, and analysis. 'Tve given up on trying to revise the curriculum," he admits, "because I believe that most chemistry courses are technically superb today. The important thing is to excite kids about chemistry—that's why I'm more interested in getting undergraduate students into research, because that's how they get excited." He's working on a new course with his colleagues Jay Winkler and Jonas C. Peters that relates to the research literature of inorganic chemistry. Indeed, research remains central to everything Gray does. A former student says: "Harry is a very supportive adviser and has a unique ability to listen to his students' ideas or concerns. An award in education seems right-on because he was immensely concerned with his grad students' getting a good education, not just producing research results. Whether that meant taking more courses than were recommended, giving talks at conferences, or working with other professors, Harry was 42

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always there to back up the idea. His office door was always open." Gray is married to Shirley Gray, a professor of mathematics at California State University, Los Angeles. They have three children and three grandchildren. An avid tennis player, Gray is also an enthusiast for cars and music. He thinks music and chemistry go beautiGrubbs fully together, noting, "I Gray like to make music with chemistry." organic chemistry." MIT chemistry proCaltech chemistry professor emeritus fessor Timothy M. Swager, who got his John D. Roberts says: "All of chemistry Ph.D. degree under Grubbs, recalls that is deeply indebted to Harry Gray for the it was such a "fantastic" environment, vigor, life, and humor he has brought to he wasn't anxious to leave it. It's a small wonder, then, that Grubbs it through his exciting undergraduate and graduate teaching and his far-flung has become famous for the number of travels to give lectures to his peers and organic chemists he has trained who the public. He emphasizes, at all times, are now on university faculties. But before those fledgling chemists not only is chemistry a truly great and interesting subject, but a fun subject as went out on their own, they helped Grubbs make myriad contributions to well." The award address is to be present- organic, organometallic, and polymer ed before the Division of Inorganic chemistry. For more than 30 years, Grubbs's research has focused on the Chemistry. Madeleine Jacobs design, synthesis, and mechanisms of metal complexes that catalyze useful organic transformations. One of his major interests has been the olefin metathesis Herbert C. Brown Award for reaction. It can be used to convert cyclic Creative Research in Synthetic olefins to polymers (via ring-opening metathesis polymerization, or ROMP) Methods or to make rings from acyclic dienes Sponsored by Aldrich Chemical Co. and(viaring-closingmetathesis, or RCM). the Purdue Borane Research Fund Grubbs has shown that ROMP is a ROBERT H. GRUBBS, Victor & Eliz- versatile route to new polymeric strucabeth Atkins Professor of Chemistry at tures with useful mechanical, electronCalifornia Institute of Technology, is ic, or optical properties. And he has de"one of the most creative and sharpest veloped RCM as a very powerful reacorganic chemists" around, says one of tion that is widely used as a synthetic his colleagues, chemistry professor Ste- method in organic chemistry. Grubbs's discovery of ruthenium carphen L. Buchwald of Massachusetts Inbene complexes for metathesis reacstitute of Technology. Buchwald has fond memories of the tions has had the greatest impact, actwo years he spent as a postdoc in cording to Buchwald. "I think it is safe Grubbs's lab in the early 1980s. Grubbs, to argue that this family of reagents has he tells C&EN, "is one of the most won- changed synthetic chemistry as much derful guys in the world, and my time in as any other single reagent in the past his group was nirvana for me." That's be- 10 years," Buchwald asserts. Not surprisingly, Grubbs's ruthenium cause Grubbs attracts smart, self-motivated people, provides them with a stimulat- carbene complex was named Fluka's ing environment, suggests a research di- "Reagent of the Year" in 1998. It is availrection, and then gives them a lot of able commercially and, according to freedom to pursue promising avenues. Swager, has made olefin metathesis "one Buchwald characterizes the environ- of the key tools in every organic chemment of Grubbs's lab as "casual chaos," ist's toolbox." Earlier catalysts based on tungsten but it's a great place "to get turned on to

and molybdenum—resulting from the pioneering work of Richard R Schrock at MIT—served as the workhorses for metathesis in spite of the fact that they are extremely sensitive to oxygen, water, and many organic functional groups. They remain the catalysts of choice for some applications. The ruthenium carbene catalysts of Grubbs, by contrast, are extremely tolerant of most organic functional groups, and their lack of sensitivity to air and water allow them to be used under standard synthetic conditions—even in water as the reaction medium. The catalysts initiate controlled "living" polymerization under convenient processing conditions such as emulsion polymerization. Grubbs's development of sophisticated approaches for making polymers using organometallic chemistry rejuvenated polymer research in academic labs during a period when it was in decline, Swager notes. "Ifs transformed the field worldwide."

people Academe Alfred University Alfred, N.Y. ALAN GOLDSTEIN, who holds the Norman & Evelyn Fierer Chair in Molecular Cell Biology, has been named director of the interdisciplinary program in biomedical materials engineering science. An AU faculty member since 1995, Goldstein has spent more than 20 years studying the interactions of living cells with materials, using experimental systems ranging from extraction of phosphate ore by bacteria (biomining) to interaction offiberglasswith human tissue. Among his current projects is an NIH-funded program to determine how changing the shape of an enzyme alters its ability to catalyze a chemical reaction. He earned a B.S. degree in agronomy from New Mexico State University and a Ph.D. degree in plant genetics from the University of Arizona.

Associations Council for Biotechnology Information (CBI) Washington, D.C. LINDA THRANE, as executive director, will work to expand CBI's biotechnology

As someone whose work has been described as "classy" and "innovative," Grubbs started life in small-town America: He was born near Possum Trot, Ky., in 1942. He went on to receive his B.S. and M.S. degrees in chemistry from the University of Florida, Gainesville, and his Ph.D. degree from Columbia University. Following a postdoctoral stint at Stanford University, he spent nine years on the faculty at Michigan State University, East Lansing. In 1978, Grubbs moved to Caltech and has been there ever since. He has been honored with numerous fellowships and awards, including three previous awards from the American Chemical Society: the ACS Award in Organometallic Chemistry, an Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, and the ACS Award in Polymer Chemistry. The award address is to be presented before the Division of Organic Chemistry. Ron Dagani

will be responsible for growth in pharmaceutical and electronic chemicals and for the chemical services business' sales and operations. A ChemFirst employee since 1984, Arnold has a bachelor's in engineering from the University of Mississippi and an M.B.A.fromthe University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg. JIM HAVUN has been named vice president of sales and marketing. Most recently regional business manager for Eastman Chemicals' Asia-Pacific fine chemicals sales office in Singapore, Havlin holds a bachelor's in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois and an M.B.A. from the University of Utah. Goodyear Chemical Akron, Ohio

KAREN BURKE, manager at Goodyear's Beaumont, Texas, specialty polymer plant, has been named director of marketing and sales. She joined the company in 1984 after receiving a B.S. degree in chemical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. In 1988, information program. She has more than Burke was named 25 years' experience in strategic commustaff engineer at nications. Most recently, as vice president Beaumont and later of public affairs at Cargill, she led crisis production superviand issues management and directed corsor. She became porate communications. She has also manager of general worked as an editorial writer at the Minne- merchandise and materials control at Goodapolis Star Tribune, associate director of year's Houston site in 1995. Burke was the Minneapolis Petroleum Council, and project coordinator for planning construction reporter with the United Press Internation- of the Beaumont facility until 1998. al^ St. Paul bureau. LES CARNAHAN, manager at the HousSynthetic Organic Chemical ton synthetic rubber plant, has been named Manufacturers Association (SOCMA) director of product supply. He joined the Washington, D.C. company in 1973 after graduating from Pennsylvania State University, University TUCKER HELMES has been appointed Park, with a B.S. degree in chemical engidirector of scientific affairs. He began his neering. Carnahan held several research career at SRI International, where he was and development positions before becomdirector of biological and environmental ing plant manager of Goodyear Chemical chemistry. Before joining SOCMA in 1988, operations in Bayport, Texas, in 1986; Le he worked for the National Cancer Institute Havre, France, in 1988; and Niagara Falls in as a program director for preclinical drug 1993. He also served as global business evaluations in the cancer chemoprevention manager for tire chemicals. branch. Helmes earned a bachelor's in chemistry from Duke University and a doc- JONATHAN RICH has been hired as ditorate in organic chemistryfromEmory Uni- rector of chemical research and developversity, as well as completing a postdoctoral ment. He joined General Electric corporate fellowship at the University of Wisconsin's R&D at Schenectady, N.Y., in 1982 as a reMcArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research. search chemist After holding several management positions, he was named manager Business of operational excellence at GE Silicones in Waterford, N.Y., in 1996. In 1998, following a corporate merger, Rich was appointed ChemFirst technical director of the newly formed GE Jackson, Miss. Bayer Silicones in Erkrath, Germany. Rich BILL ARNOLD has been promoted to di- has a Ph.D. in chemistry from the Universirector of commercial development. He ty of Wisconsin. JANUARY 8,2001 C&EN

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