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like we’re on the cusp of an explosion of information in this area. So I’m delighted to have been part of the early stages.” Richmond left the Midwest in 1975 with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Kansas State University and headed to the West Coast, where she got a Ph.D. in 1980 from the University of California, Berkeley. She then became an assistant professor of chemistry at Bryn Mawr College, in Pennsylvania, before moving to the University of Oregon in 1985. The Oregon professor’s work has earned her a number of awards, including the 2008 Bomem-Michelson Award, sponsored by industrial automation firm ABB. She is a fellow of societies such as the Association for Women in Science and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. When asked which achievement makes her proudest, Richmond evokes her mother. “You can’t point at anything but your students,” she says. “The fact that they are all out and have jobs and are going on with life—wow, they really are the accomplishments.” Richmond will present the award address before the Division of Physical Chemistry.—LAUREN WOLF
GABOR SOMORJAI LAUDED FOR RESEARCH ACCOMPLISHMENTS A banking group in Spain has awarded nearly $550,000 to University of California, Berkeley, chemistry professor Gabor A. Somorjai “for his pioneering experimental and conceptual contributions to the understanding of surface chemistry and catalysis at a microscopic and molecular level.” The prize is the 2010 Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Basic Sciences, given out by the science-promoting arm of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria. Somorjai, who is also a faculty senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, says, “I’m truly honored to be recognized this way,” adding that much of the credit for his research accomplishments goes to his LBNL and Berkeley colleagues, whose creativity “has fostered an atmosphere of scientific excellence.” For more than 40 years, Somorjai has been uncovering subtle and long-hidden physical and chemical details of solid surfaces and of thin layers of molecules that form an interface with such surfaces. By
developing novel surface-science instruments and methods for using them, he and his research group have helped drive understanding of surface-mediated chemical reactivity to the atomic level. This broad collection of research techniques has been used to elucidate chemical reaction pathways that underlie surface catalysis. The methods have also led to more efficient and more selective catalysts for fuel production and pollution abatement, to the advancement of microelectronics and data-storage technologies, and to basic
understanding of chemical processes occurring on biological surfaces. “This honor is quite prestigious, and it is very befitting that it be given to Somorjai, an outstanding and deserving awardee,” says Harvard University chemistry professor Hongkun Park, a member of the prize-awarding jury. Park adds that Somorjai’s contributions to surface chemistry are crucial to many pressing technical issues of global importance including energy production and conversion, clean water, and green chemistry.—MJ
MEETINGS
Northwest Regional Meeting Call For Papers The ACS Portland Section invites submission of abstracts for both oral and poster presentations for the 2011 Northwest Regional Meeting. NORM 2011 will take place on June 26–29 at the Red Lion Hotel on the River, Jantzen Beach, in Portland, Ore. Symposia will include sessions on environmental chemistry, atmospheric chemistry, green chemistry, biotech/ biomedical chemistry, nanostructured materials, renewable energy, nuclear chemistry, art preservation science, chemical education, high school chemistry, and process-oriented guided inquiry learning (POGIL). General technical sessions will cover analytical chemistry, biochemistry, inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, and physical chemistry. Workshop topics will include household hazardous waste, ChemSource, POGIL, MicroLab, and organic chemistry with Vernier Software & Technology, as well as ACS career management and development sessions. In addition to the technical program, a number of special events are planned. The opening mixer, celebrating both the 50th anniversary of the Portland Section and the International Year of Chemistry, will be held at the Oregon Museum of Science & Industry. Other events include a diversity luncheon and panel discussion, a chemist-composers string quartet performance, Carole Berg’s performance as Madame Marie Curie, and
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a graduate school recruiters breakfast for undergraduates. Attendees will also be able to tour the Reed College Reactor, Lacamas Laboratories, and Powell’s City of Books. The NORM 2011 awards banquet will feature the recipients of the ACS Division of Chemical Education Glenn & Jane Crosby Northwest Region Award for Excellence in High School Teaching, the E. Ann Nalley Northwest Region Award for Volunteer Service to ACS, and the Stanley C. Israel Northwest Region Award for Advancing Diversity in the Chemical Sciences. Nominations for these awards are now being solicited though the NORM 2011 website. A vendor exposition will feature university chemical science programs as well as the latest products and services available to the scientific community. Companies and universities wishing to participate should contact the exhibits chair, Bernie Carlsen, at bcarlsen@reed. edu. Abstracts can be submitted through the meeting website, norm2011.org, until 9 PM PDT on Monday, April 18. Program questions should be addressed to Dean Atkinson, program cochair, at
[email protected]. Evolving program information, including a complete list of workshops and special events, registration information, hotel reservations, exhibitor information, and committee contacts, is also on the meeting website.
