NEWS
Newly Elected Division Officers Charles L. Wilkins, professor of chemistry and director of the ana lytical chemistry instrumentation facility of the University of Califor nia, Riverside, has been chosen as the 1991 chairman-elect of the ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry. Wilkins received a B.S. degree in chemistry from Chapman College (CA) and a Ph.D. in 1966 from the University of Oregon, Eugene. He joined the faculty at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1967 and moved to UCR in 1981, serving as chairman of the chemistry department from 1982 to 1989. Much of Wilkins' research has centered on the use of computer methodology (including pattern recognition and factor analysis for data reduction) and integrated instru ment systems for chemical analysis. For example, GC/FTIR/MS was first demonstrated in his laboratory 10 years ago. In the late 1970s, along with Michael Gross, Wilkins developed FTMS as an analytical tool. More recently his work has focused on the study of laser desorption FTMS for the analysis of biomolecules and polymers, LC/NMR, and GC/matrix isolation IR/MS. Wilkins is a charter member of the ACS Division of Com puters in Chemistry and served as its chairman in 1980. He participated in founding the Midwest Center for Mass Spectrometry at the University of Nebraska, and has served on its Advisory Board since 1978. He was also a member of the Advisory Board of ANALYTICAL C H E M I S
TRY from 1984 to 1986. Currently, Wilkins is the chairman of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry Working Party on NMR Computerized Databases and is secretary of the Joint Committee on Atomic and Molecular Physical Data. Jeanette Grasselli of Ohio University assumed the 1990 chairmanship in October. In addition, David Curran of the University of Massachusetts was elected treasurer, and Jeanne Pemberton was elected councilor. The following of ficers were reelected: Kenneth Busch of the Georgia Insti tute of Technology, secretary; Robert Osteryoung of the State University of New York at Buffalo, alternate council or; and Margaret Merritt of Wellesley College, alternate councilor. Continuing to serve as councilors are Robert Libby of Norwich Eaton Pharmaceuticals; Galen Ewing, formerly of Seton Hall University; and Edward Yeung of Iowa State University. L. J. Cline-Love of Seton Hall University and Ted Williams of the College of Wooster will continue to serve as alternate councilors.
ments deep underground in South Dakota and Japan found fewer solar neutrinos than expected. Now, initial re sults from the Soviet-American Gallium Experiment (SAGE) to measure "low-energy" solar neutrinos have come up short, too. Theoretical physicists are attributing the missing numbers to neutrinos oscillating among three known types, or flavors. SAGE detects neutrinos, the by-products of fusion, by the conversion of 71 Ga to radioactive 71Ge. Solar models predicted that the SAGE researchers would count 18 events over five months. Instead they observed none. According to theoretical physicist Peter Rosen, Universi ty of Texas at Arlington, the most reasonable explanation for the neutrino drought is that these particles oscillate among flavors. "For a neutrino to change flavors," explains Rosen, "it has to have some mass, no matter how small." To capture the elusive neutrinos, SAGE requires 30 tons of liquid Ga. Spurious events due to cosmic rays and other sources of radiation are eliminated by burying the Ga de tector in the heart of a mountain in the North Caucasus re gion of the Soviet Union. The 71Ge neutrino products are measured via a compli cated chemical extraction process, which basically involves oxidizing Ge with HC1 and H2O2 to form GeCU, which sep arates from the Ga. The GeCL is concentrated and convert ed to gaseous Ge for detection by a proportional counter. The addition of 400-500 jtg of nonradioactive Ge in the gi ant Ga detector serves as a standard for what is essentially single-atom detection. The extraction is run three times to get values within 1 σ. Confirmation of the oscillation theory will have to await the completion of a US-Canadian neutrino detector in Sudbury, Ontario, designed to detect all three flavors of neutrinos using 1000 tons of D2O.
Retcofsky Wins Pittsburgh Award Herbert Retcofsky, who recently retired as Deputy Asso ciate Director for Research and Development at the Pitts burgh Energy Technology Center, has received the 1990 Pittsburgh Award. This annual award recognizes individ uals who have made outstanding contributions to the Pitts burgh chemistry community. Retcofsky received his B.S. degree from the California University of Pennsylvania (1957) and an M.S. degree in chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh (1965). His re search has focused on spectroscopic studies of the chemical structure of coal, using principally IR, NMR, and ESR. As a leader in the analytical community, Retcofsky has served as the President of the Pittsburgh Conference and Exposition (1979), chair of the Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh (SSP, 1973/74), and on the Advisory Board of ANALYTICAL C H E M I S T R Y . Furthermore, he helped estab
Neutrinos in Flavors Pity the poor astrophysicists. For more than 20 years they have been wondering: Where are the neutrinos that theory predicts should be streaming from our sun? First, experi
lish the Pittsburgh Conference National Memorial College Grants (then the R. K. Scott Award), and three SSP pro grams that support science teaching at the elementary and high school levels. Retcofsky has also received the Storch Award from the Division of Fuel Chemistry, a special SSP award for his efforts in education, and a Certificate of Mer it from the Secretary of Energy.
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, VOL. 62, NO. 22, NOVEMBER 15, 1990 · 1147 A
