AWARDS
Schelter on what gets him inspired:
“For me, creativity stems from the excitement of new and unexpected results and working with students to uncover their meaning. It’s thrilling to make connections between new and established observations through the isolation of new compounds and making observations about them. It’s also great fun to think about how such observations can move us toward broader goals.” What his colleagues say: “I give
my highest recommendation in support of Eric’s nomination for this award. He has become a leader in f-element chemistry and is rapidly becoming a leader within the broader subject of inorganic chemistry. I can think of no other young inorganic chemist who is more deserving of this recognition.”— James M. Boncella, Los Alamos National Laboratory
JOEL HENRY HILDEBRAND AWARD IN THE THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL CHEMISTRY OF LIQUIDS: KENNETH S. SCHWEIZER Sponsor: ExxonMobil Research &
Engineering Citation: For the pioneering development of microscopic predictive and unified theories of the structure, phase behavior, and slow dynamics of complex liquids, glasses, and gels. Current position:
G. Ronald & Margaret H. Morris Professor of Materials Science, professor of chemistry and chemical and biomolecular engineering, University of Illinois, UrbanaChampaign Education: B.S., physics, Drexel University; Ph.D., physics, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Schweizer on challenges in his work: “Working at the interface of physics,
chemistry, and materials science requires an appreciation of the scientific language, style, and motivations of each community. Acquiring this has been important for pursu-
ing the goal of creating predictive theoretical approaches for interdisciplinary problems that are relevant to experiment. It also guides my search for the optimal balance between rigor and practical usefulness, the chemical versus physical aspects, and simplicity versus complexity.” What his colleagues say: “Ken’s main strength has been to creatively build on techniques from the field of simple liquids and qualitatively generalize them, for the first time, to successfully describe the richer behavior exhibited by complex fluids and polymeric systems.”—David Reichman, Columbia University
ALFRED BADER AWARD IN BIOINORGANIC OR BIOORGANIC CHEMISTRY: EDWARD I. SOLOMON Sponsor: Alfred R. Bader Fund Citation: For developing spectro-
scopic methods and defining electronic structure contributions to function in electron transfer and dioxygen activation and reduction by copper and iron metalloenzymes. Current position:
GEORGE & CHRISTINE SOSNOVSKY AWARD FOR CANCER RESEARCH: JUSWINDER SINGH Sponsor: George & Christine Sosnovsky Endowment Fund Citation: For pioneering the development of targeted covalent drugs that are having a transformative impact on the treatment of cancer patients. Current position:
founder and chief scientific officer, Ankaa Therapeutics Education: B.S., biochemistry, Sussex University; Ph.D., computer-assisted drug design, University of London Singh on what gets him inspired: “I get goosebumps thinking that I may be able to develop drugs for patients in desperate need for new therapies. I follow the Pauling principle to ‘have lots of ideas and throw away the bad ones.’ My preference is for ideas that challenge existing dogma since their impact will be greater if you are right. And I love working with others on the execution of the idea since it’s the most difficult part and it’s where small companies excel.” What his colleagues say: “Dr. Singh’s scholarly, rational, and strategic approach to drug design has been validated, and breakthrough drugs are giving hope to patients struggling with deadly cancers. Through his vision, passion, and dedication, Dr. Singh has discovered a new class of therapeutics that has a major impact on extending the lives of cancer patients.”—Celia Schiffer, University of Massachusetts Medical School CEN.ACS.ORG
42
JANUARY 4, 2016
Monroe E. Spaght Professor of Chemistry, Stanford University; professor of photon science, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Education: B.S., chemistry, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Ph.D., chemistry, Princeton University Solomon on his current scientific goals: “I want to understand the general
principles of O2 activation by Cu and Fe metalloenzyme active sites and how these relate to parallel active sites in heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysis. Also how the ironoxo intermediates in heme enzymes relate to those in nonheme iron enzymes and how the different active sites used by nature in the reduction of O2 to water enable their oxidase versus proton pumping functions.” What his colleagues say: “Ed Solomon has enormously impacted the depth, breadth, and eminence of bioinorganic chemistry by bringing spectroscopic methods and electronic structural-bonding insights to both protein-metal and synthetic model chemistries of numerous other research groups.”—Kenneth Karlin, Johns Hopkins University
ACS AWARD FOR CREATIVE WORK IN FLUORINE CHEMISTRY: STEVEN H. STRAUSS Sponsor: Juhua Group Technology Center, China Citation: For the synthesis and application of highly fluorinated superweak anions and structural and spectroscopic characterization of perfluoroalkylated fullerenes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Current position: professor of chemis-
try, Colorado State University Education: B.A., chemistry, Franklin & Marshall College; M.S., Ph.D., inorganic chemistry, Northwestern University Strauss on his biggest research challenge: “Becoming
a ‘self-taught’ fluorine chemist is probably the biggest challenge I have had in my career. Handling fluorine and highly-fluorinated reactive compounds effectively and safely requires specialized equipment, knowledge, and skill, and most fluorine chemists receive years of formal training in the laboratories of senior fluorine chemists. I became a fluorine chemist years after getting my Ph.D. because I became interested in studying extremely reactive cations, which required the synthesis of highly fluorinated, weakly coordinating anions.” What his colleagues say: “Strauss is one of the few chemists who has worked in both organic and inorganic chemistry and has also spanned both fundamental studies and applied chemistry. He truly has contributed to the areas of synthesis, spectroscopy, and the technological development of fluorine chemistry.”—Karl O. Christe, University of Southern California
E. V. MURPHREE AWARD IN INDUSTRIAL & ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY: MICHAEL THACKERAY Sponsor: ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Co. Citation: For life-long contributions to the scientific research, discovery, and technological development of lithium battery electrode materials. Current position:
Distinguished Fellow and senior scientist, Chemical Sciences & Engineering Division, Argonne National Laboratory Education: B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D., chemistry, University of Cape Town, South Africa Thackeray on what gets his creative juices flowing: “I am motivated by doing
useful, creative science and driving technologies forward, particularly for the benefit of
humanity. As a young scientist, during the first international oil crisis in the mid-1970s, when the price of oil and gasoline quadrupled, I was made aware of the need for advanced battery technologies to power electric vehicles to lessen the world’s dependence on fossil fuels. Today, the societal and economic urgency to find advanced batteries is even greater to help enable the reduction of CO2 emissions and global warming.” What his colleagues say: “The adoption of Thackeray’s discoveries and innovations in battery materials have begun to impact society significantly. Not only are his lithium ion materials having a direct impact on the adoption of electric vehicles across the globe, but they are also impacting our ability to communicate with one another through use in personal portable electronics. They will ultimately help enable the adoption of wind and solar generation of electricity.”—Jeffrey P. Chamberlain, Argonne National Laboratory
AHMED ZEWAIL AWARD IN ULTRAFAST SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY: ANDREI TOKMAKOFF Sponsor: Ahmed Zewail Endowment Fund established by the Newport Corp. Citation: For his contributions to the development of coherent two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy and its application to equilibrium and non-equilibrium molecular dynamics. Current position: Henry G. Gale Distinguished Service Professor, University of Chicago Education: B.S., chemistry, California State University, Sacramento; Ph.D., chemistry, Stanford University
entific role models are those people that have stuck to their personal research goals through decades of ups and downs.” What his colleagues say: “Andrei’s work is truly pioneering. He is one of two or three people in the world who have set the stage for a new field of optical spectroscopy, and he is the major actor on that stage. His experimental and theoretical work has changed the way we think about a variety of important and timely problems.”—Michael Fayer, Stanford University
43
Sponsor: Thermo Fisher Scientific Citation: For being a teacher of the ab-
solute highest caliber who constantly challenges her students, teaches with passion and inventiveness, and accepts nothing less than excellence from them. Current position:
chemistry teacher, Detroit Country Day School, Beverly Hills, Mich.; founder and CEO, Alchemie Education: B.S., chemistry, B.S., education, University of Minnesota; M.A., chemistry, Wayne State University Winter on what gets her creative juices flowing: “For the past two years,
I have been transforming the knowledge gained over 20 years teaching high school chemistry into mobile puzzle games for organic chemistry. Creating the balance between boredom and difficulty is the challenge for any game designer. It’s been an amazing process building these games for organic chemistry, which students will play just for fun!” What her colleagues say: “Julia’s classroom teaches far more than chemistry. Her students learn to write persuasively, debate constructively, and think on their feet.”—Tim Bearden, Detroit Country Day School
SOLID STATE FELLOWSHIP TO ˘ MIRCEA DINCA Mircea Dinc˘ a, a principal investigator in
Tokmakoff on his role models: “My sci-
CEN.ACS.ORG
JAMES BRYANT CONANT AWARD IN HIGH SCHOOL CHEMISTRY TEACHING: JULIA WINTER
JANUARY 4, 2016
the department of chemistry at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is the winner of the 2015 ACS ExxonMobil Solid State Faculty Fellowship. The award, supported by the ExxonMobil Foundation and administered by the ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry, recognizes significant contributions to solid-state chemistry by an untenured faculty member at a U.S. institution. Dinc˘a is studying the electronic and chemical properties of metal organic frameworks. He will be honored during the 2016 spring ACS national meeting in San Diego. ◾
