AWARDS/PEOPLE
chemist who served in the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Bureau of Standards (now the National Institute of Standards & Technology).
PMSE NAMES FELLOWS FOR 2007 THE ACS DIVISION of Polymeric Materials: Science & Engineering (PMSE) has named its 2007 fellows. They are Mohamed El-Aasser, James V. Crivello, James O. Staffer, and Wen-Li Wu. They will be inducted as the eighth class of PMSE Fellows on March 26 at the ACS national meeting in Chicago. El-Aasser is provost and vice president for academic affairs at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa. He is internationally known for his research in polymer colloids and emulsion polymerization processes. His interests are in kinetics and mechanisms ofhetero-polymerization processes, including modeling and control, the thermodynamic and kinetic phenomena involved in developing morphological features in latex systems, and the colloidal and surface interactions in latexes and their film formation. Wu is a National Institute of Standards & Technology Fellow and senior scientist in NIST's Polymer Division. His research interests include the applications of X-ray and neutron scattering/reflectivity to probe polymer interfaces and thin films. He has over 190 publications on topics including scattering theory, molecular network structure, wear behavior of dental composites, molecular dynamics in confined geometry, and electronic application of polymers. Crivello is a professor in the department of chemistry and chemical biology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N.Y. His fields of research include organic nitrations, oxidations,
and arylations; polyimides and silicones; and new photo- and thermal initiators for cationic and free-radical polymerizations. He currently directs graduate students and postdoctoral associates in the synthesis of polymers and copolymers by cationic, freeradical, and transition-metal catalysis. Stoffer is Curators' Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at the University of Missouri, Rolla. His research activities are centered on polymers and coatings science. He and his coworkers prepared the first transparent composites for use as aircraft windows. Recently, they developed rareearth materials as replacements for highly toxic chromium as the corrosion inhibitor for aluminum. •
KIRCHHOFF IS NAMED DIRECTOR OF ACS EDUCATION DIVISION THE ACS BOARD of Directors named MaryM. Kirchhoff director of ACS's Education Division at its meeting in early December. Kirchhoff had been acting director since Sylvia Ware retired in 2005. Kirchhoff was previously assistant director for special projects in the Education Division for 15 months and assistant director of the ACS Green Chemistry Institute for three years. At GCI, her work emphasized educational materials. She also helped start the Green Chemistry Summer School for graduate students and contributed to organizing the Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference, held annually in Washington, D.C. Before coming to ACS, Kirchhoff spent nine years as an assistant and associate professor of chemistry at Trinity College in Washington, D.C, and worked at the Environmental Protection Agency for three years as an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) environmental fellow and visiting scientist. Kirchhoff holds three degrees in chemistry: a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of New Hampshire; an M.S. from Duquesne WWW.CEN-0NLINE.ORG
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University, Pittsburgh; and a B.A. from Russell Sage College, in Troy, N.Y. She says she went back for her doctorate because she wanted to teach at a small college; she completed the degree while raising a family with four children. In 2006, Kirchhoff was also named a fellow by AAAS and received a Fulbright Senior Specialist Grant for educational work in Uruguay. Kirchhoff says her goals as director include focusing on four areas. In addition to the ongoing work of the Education Division, she hopes to increase opportunities for faculty development in higher education institutions, address the needs of chemistry departments at two-year colleges, implement new programs for graduate students, and enhance international opportunities for undergraduates majoring in chemistry.—RACHEL PETKEWICH
ACADEMIA Jeffrey S. Gaffney has left Argonne National Laboratory to join the department of chemistry at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, as a professor and chair. T. Keith Hollis has joined the University of Mississippi as an assistant professor in the chemistry and biochemistry department. Takashi Tomioka has joined the University of Mississippi as an assistant professor in the chemistry and biochemistry department.
ASSOCIATIONS Richard Murphy will retire as president and chief executive officer of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif., on July 1. Edward W. Kordoski has been appointed vice president and general manager of the Pharmaceutical Education & Research Institute, a not-for-profit educational organization located in Arlington, Va. Daniel Zajf man is the 10th president of Weizmann Institute of Science, in Israel.
This section is compiled by RACHEL PETKEWICH. Announcements ofpromotions, new hires, and retirements may he sent to
[email protected].
