CHEMISTRY NEWS Fall 2022

NEW FACULTY

Several faculty members are joining us this semester. Jeffrey Dick is the Richard B. Wetherill Associate Professor of Chemistry (Analytical); Bryon Drown is Assistant Professor, Chemical Biology/Analytical and Organic Chemistry; Hannah Starr is Assistant Professor of Practice; and Mallory Kern is a chemistry lecturer. Read more about their background and research areas.

Schmidt Science Polymaths Award

Professor Shelley Claridge was awarded the Schmidt Science Polymaths Award for her future research in bringing the high-resolution tools of classical surface science to bear on the design of hierarchical function in complex soft matter including human tissue. Read more

Molecular-level Solar Science

Professor Jianguo Mei is part of a team that was recently selected by the Department of Energy as an Energy's Energy Frontier Research Center. The $11M Center for Soft PhotoElectroChemical Systems will advance energy conversion and storage technologies using soft organic polymer electronic materials. The lead institution is University of Arizona and includes several other universities and labs. Jianguo is the leader on Durability. Read more

NIH Award

Professor Chi Zhang has been awarded Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award from the National Institute of Health. This award provides a total of $1.7 million support over five years for the research on real-time precision control of biomolecules in live cells. Read more

BioCrossroads Award

Professor Lauren Ann Metskas has been awarded a BioCrossroads Promising Achievers in Innovation and Research award for research in protein ultrastructures involved in virus-host interaction and bacterial microcompartment function. Read more

Trask Funding

Professor P. V. Ramachandran has been awarded funding from the Trask Innovation Fund to continue his lab’s development of new drug candidates that promise to be effective in the treatment of Clostridium difficile infection. Read more

International Scientific Medal

Professor Sabre Kais was presented the international medal from the International Scientific and Honorary Committees of the Twenty-fifth International Workshop on Quantum Systems in Chemistry, Physics, and Biology for his important and creative contributions in molecular quantum theory and quantum computing.

Analytical Chemistry Awards

Professor Jeffrey Dick has earned the 2023 Pittcon Achievement Award for his significant and independent impact in analytical chemistry. He also was awarded the 2023 Royce W. Murray Young Investigator Award. This award is presented by The Society for Electroanalytical Chemistry and recognizes outstanding research in the field of electroanalytical chemistry for recipients who have received their PhD within the last ten years.

Chemical Education Festschrift

Professor Marcy Towns was featured in the ACS Journal of Chemical Education for her teaching and scholarship that has advanced the field of chemistry learning. Read more

Institute Leadership

Professor Garth Simpson will co-direct Purdue’s new Institute for Advanced Manufacturing of Pharmaceuticals. The institute will unite faculty in overhauling pharmaceutical manufacturing with a goal of reducing costs and expanding access to innovative drugs emerging from biotechnology research. Read more

Alumni News

Chemistry alumna Ellen Matson, Associate Professor of Chemistry at the University of Rochester, was featured at the ACS Fall 2022 Meeting & Expo giving the Kavli Foundation Emerging Leader in Chemistry Lecture. Dr. Matson earned a Ph.D. in Professor Bart’s Lab in 2013.

Chemistry alumna Vicki Wysocki, Professor and Ohio Eminent Scholar at Ohio State University, was presented the prestigious 2022 International Mass Spectrometry Foundation Thomson Medal Award. Dr. Wysocki earned a Ph.D. in Professor Cooks’ Lab in 1987.

2022 Sun Polymers Summer Scholars

A generous gift from Sun Polymers International, Inc. allowed five of our graduate students to focus exclusively on their lab research during the summer semester. The awardees included: John Gulliver (Ghosh Lab); Michael Jorgensen (Chmielewski Lab); Vibha Kanale (Uyeda Lab); Hani Lakkis (Parkinson Lab); and Kangying Connie Liu (Boudouris Lab).

Tyler Trent Award

Former CHM 11600 student Eric Magallanes was recently presented the Tyler Trent Courage and Resilience Award. He was nominated by Marybeth Miller, our General Chemistry instructional specialist. Read more about Eric’s inspirational story.

Chemistry Outreach

Fall has been a busy semester for Chemistry Outreach with more programs planned, including Hands on Purdue and AP Fridays. Outreach recently participated in Wonders on the Wabash, teaching students the science of our local waterways.

PPE Recycling Award

Purdue Chemistry continues to be a leader (both on-campus and in the Big Ten) in recycling Personal Protective Equipment. Kimberly-Clark Professional recently recognized our department with the RightCycle Award for diverting nearly six tons of waste during the past two years. Read more