Virginia Commonwealth University
May 27-29, 2009
CALL FOR PAPERS
The 87th Annual
meeting of the Academy will be held at Virginia Commonwealth University in
Richmond on May 27-29. Titles for papers should be sent to the Secretary of
the Chemistry Section by Friday, February 13, 2009. Papers will be scheduled
for presentation on May 28. There will be a Poster Session that will run
from May 27 through May 28. To submit a paper, send the title and author(s)
to Dr. Thomas C. DeVore, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, MSC4501,
James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA 22807; (540) 568-6672; devoretc @
jmu.edu. Note that the presenting author must be registered for the VAS
meeting and at least one author must be a member of the Academy. Paper
abstracts will be due at the Annual Meeting. Full information about paper
submission and about Academy membership can be found on the Academy=s
website: www.vacadsci.org.
A
Reason for ACS Membership
Dr. Tom Lane, ACS President for 2009, and I spent an early December weekend
at a "Summit on Chemical Technicians in ACS." At one point, Tom
mentioned his amazement at the reception he encountered during his recent
first meeting with Congressional staff. As a representative from ACS, he was
accepted as a valuable resource and a source of balanced perspectives on
scientific policy issues.
ACS has an outstanding reputation among Congressional personnel. That
reputation has been earned over many years, as Congress discovered
repeatedly that ACS representatives always were well-armed with a broad
understanding of issues, balanced information, and an ability to help solve
problems without resorting to pork-barrel projects. The ACS operational
structure that leads to such results is complex and slow. It seeks input
from as many members as possible and from other sources. All committees
appropriate to the topics provide debate and analysis from the many
different viewpoints of their members that originated in industrial
laboratories, academic classrooms, research management meetings, and other
places where chemists practice their profession.
Each ACS member contributes to the above reputation of the Society. Making
viewpoints known through service on ACS committees at any level B or through
discussions with committee members B is very important to forming ACS
positions on science policy. Many chemists consider ACS membership a
"professional obligation." However, ACS membership may be critical in
improving the national environment within which the profession is practiced.
Encourage your colleagues and students to become (active) members.
Ken Chapman
2009 Virginia Section Chair
Two student affiliates
chapters in the Virginia Section have been recognized for their achievements
during the 2007-2008 academic year. The chapter at the University of Mary
Washington was cited as "commendable" and the James Madison University
chapter received "honorable mention." The student leaders at the University
of Mary Washington were Jennifer Yox and Revecca Funkhauser. Dr. Leanna
Giancarlo was the faculty advisor for the chapter. At James Madison
University, the student leaders were Allyson Jones, Matthew Ross, and Rosa
Rivera-Hainaj. Dr. Kathryn Layman was the faculty advisor at JMU. The
selectons were made by the ACS Society Committee on Education (SOCED). The
full list of chapters that will he honored at the spring 2009 ACS national
meeting in Salt Lake City can be found in the November/December 2008 issue
of inChemistry or online at
www.acs.org/saprogram.
For full information
on Section activities, including meetings, don=t forget to check out the
Virginia Section website, located at:
http://membership.acs.org/V/VA/.
Thanks to Ann Sullivan for maintaining the site. Anne can be contacted at
asullivan @ reynolds.edu.
"Having a Ball with
National Chemistry Week" was the title of an extensive article published in
the December 15, 2008 issue of Chemical & Engineering News. The article
highlighted some of the innovative ways that local sections celebrated
National Chemistry Week. The Virginia Section was cited in this descriptive
paragraph:
"The Virginia
Section partnered with area chemistry clubs to host a Chemistry Olympics
event for some 600 children at the Science Museum of Virginia, in
Richmond. Participants learned about solar-powered cars and polymeric
materials used in swimsuits."
Dr. Kristine Smetana
organized the National Chemistry Week activities for the Virginia Section.
Check the December, 2008
Bulletin for a description of some of the 2008 NCW activities along with
some photographs. The names of NCW volunteers were printed in the
January, 2009 Bulletin. Both issues
are included in the dozens of back issues of the Virginia Section Bulletin
that are archived on the Section=s website:
http://membership.acs.org/V/VA.
The NCW article from Chemical & Engineering News can be obtained on line at
www.CEN-ONLINE.org.
Two long-time members
of the Virginia Section have died. Dr. Everette Lee May of Richmond passed
away on August 9, 2008. Dr. May was 94. He had been a Professor in the
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at Virginia Commonwealth
University.
Mr. Ludwig "Lou" Weissbecker of Richmond died on December 3, 2008, at the
age of 78. He worked for over 30 years as a research scientist
at Philip Morris.
The ACS Committee on
Professional Training (CPT) has issued its annual report on chemistry
degrees awarded at colleges and universities having departments approved by
the American Chemical Society. The data for 2006-07 place two schools from
the Virginia Section among the top producers of bachelor's graduates. The
University of Virginia ranked seventh in the U.S. in total bachelor's
graduates with a total of 108 (the University of Washington led the nation
in this category with 253 graduates). The University of Virginia was ranked
second in certified bachelor's graduates with a total of 97 (The University
of Texas at Austin had 157 certified graduates). The College of William and
Mary ranked 13th in certified bachelor's graduates with 37.
The number of
bachelor's degrees conferred at colleges and universities having approved
programs rose to 12,888, an all-time record number and an increase of 6.3%
over the number for 2005-06. Here are the number of bachelor's graduates
from schools in the Virginia Section:
|
COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY
|
TOTAL BACHELOR'S GRADUATES
|
CERTIFIED BACHELOR'S GRADUATES |
|
College of
William & Mary |
45 |
37 |
|
Hampden-Sydney
College |
4 |
2 |
|
James Madison University |
37 |
11 |
|
Randolph-Macon College |
8 |
3 |
|
University of Richmond |
15 |
12 |
|
University of Virginia |
108 |
97 |
|
Virginia Commonwealth University |
49 |
3 |
In Chemistry, The
College of William & Mary had three M.S. graduates. The University of
Virginia had 14 M.S. and 26 Ph.D. graduates. Virginia Commonwealth
University had one M.S. and nine Ph.D. graduates. In Chemical Engineering,
the University of Virginia had 34 B.S., ten M.S., and four Ph.D. graduates
while Virginia Commonwealth University had ten B.S. and two M.S. graduates.
The Virginia Section
will host the 2009 Chemistry Olympiad for all high school chemistry teachers
and students who are interested in participating. The Local Section
competition will begin on March 2 and end on March 28, 2009. High school
teachers can make arrangements within their schools to provide secure
testing sites and administer the Olympiad exams.
The deadline to register students is February 24. For more
information and the application forms, either hard copy or on line, go to
the Virginia Section Chemistry Olympiad site at
http://membership.acs.org/V/VA/olympiad/default.htm.
The students who do well in the local competition will be nominated to
compete in the National competition, to be held at J. Sargeant Reynolds
Community College, Downtown Campus, in Richmond, Virginia on April 25. These
students will compete for 20 positions in the study camp to be held at the
US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado on June 7-21, 2009 The
five member International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) team will be chosen from
these 20 students to compete in the IChO. This year the 41st International
Chemistry Olympiad competition will be held in Cambridge, England on July
18-27, 2009.
Local Section competition is organized into categories by size of the
school. Each student who participates will receive a certificate. Highest
scoring student from each school will receive Chemistry Olympiad pins and
gift certificates. Team awards will be presented to schools for group
achievement.
For complete information and registration materials, visit the Virginia
Section website or contact the Olympiad Coordinator: Dr. Ann M. Sullivan,
Mathematics and Science, Downtown Campus, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community
College, P. O. Box 85622, Richmond, VA 23285-5622; (804) 862-4260, (804)
943-2941, or (804) 523-5777; FAX: (804) 732-6077; e-mail: asullivan @
reynolds.edu.
The Chemistry Department at the University of Richmond is
located in the Gottwald Center for the Sciences along with the Departments of
Biology and Physics. Offering both the B.S. and B.A. degrees in Chemistry and
Biochemistry/Molecular Biology, the department provides excellent preparation
for work or professional studies in chemistry, biochemistry, the health
sciences, and chemical engineering, as well as for teaching or for legal
careers. The department meets certification requirements by the American
Chemical Society for the B.S. in Chemistry and in Chemistry/Biochemistry.
Our students receive a strong background in chemistry in an atmosphere of
activity and support from an able and enthusiastic faculty. Class sizes are
never greater than 40 and upper level classes and teaching laboratory sections
generally have less than 20. Students enjoy the use of a wide variety of modern
instrumentation both in their teaching laboratories and in research experiences.
Many of our students present the results of their research work to the
scientific community both by presentation at meetings on and off campus and in
publications. They have the opportunity to grow and learn in an exciting and
supportive setting, and when their undergraduate days are over, they find that
they are well prepared to pursue their dreams.
The chemistry major at the University of Richmond provides a strong basic
background in the major sub disciplines of chemistry (analytical, inorganic,
organic, physical and biochemistry). Richmond graduates are ready to enter the
best chemistry graduate programs in the country, to enter the work force as
chemists in industry and government, to proceed into careers as secondary school
teachers, or to develop careers in sales and marketing for technical industry.
The major also provides an excellent background for studies in medicine, the
allied health professions and law. The number of students graduating with a
major in chemistry has been between 12 and 20 for the past few years. The
majority of our students participate in research sometime during their program.
About half of recent graduating chemistry majors entered graduate programs in
chemistry or related fields.
A
$35 million renovation and expansion of Gottwald Center for the Sciences is
complete. New space (approximately 28,000 sq. ft.) has been added to the south
and west sides of the building to provide faculty offices and research labs, and
the original space (162,000 sq. ft.) has undergone extensive renovation to
include the addition of cutting-edge technology and scientific equipment. Our
facility includes a new atrium, new and renovated research laboratories and an
entrance more closely aligned with the Collegiate Gothic architecture of other
campus buildings. Flexibility to add future teaching and research technologies
was designed into the project. Upgrading Gottwald is part of the University’s
$50 million plan to improve science facilities and programs over this decade and
to place Richmond among the first-choice colleges of America’s top high school
science students. Over this decade, the University will add up to 18 new faculty
positions and place greater emphasis on interdisciplinary studies and innovative
science classes for non-majors.
This question
was asked in the January Bulletin:
The Virginia Section has been presenting awards to distinguished high school
chemistry teachers for sixty years. Who was the recipient of the first
teaching award, presented in 1948? Bonus question: When did the Section
begin recognizing middle school science teachers? The Virginia Section
established an Awards Committee in 1947. The Committee included Rodney C.
Berry, J. H. Brant, James W. Cole, Robert H. Kean, and John H. Yoe. The
awards were initiated by an offer of an annual monetary gift from Mrs. Henry
K. McConnell of Richmond, in memory of her late husband, Henry K. McConnell
who had been Vice-President of the Tobacco By-Products and Chemical
Corporation and who served as Chairman of the Virginia Section in 1925. The
first awards were presented in June,1948. Dr. Wortley F. Rudd,
Dean Emeritus of the School of Pharmacy at the Medical College of Virginia,
received the first Distinguished Service Award. The first award for high
school chemistry teaching was presented to Mr. Lawrence W. Jarman,
Head of the Science Department at Thomas Jefferson High School in Richmond.
The Section began its practice of recognizing middle school science teachers
in 1990 when Ms. Jeannie Bishop of Liberty Middle School in
Hanover County received the first award in that category.
A new question: The
University of Richmond has hosted the W. Allan Powell Lectureship in
Chemistry every year since 1988. Dr. Timothy Swager is the 22nd
distinguished scientist to be invited to speak as part of the Lectureship
program. How many of those persons have been awarded Nobel prizes?
Bonus points if you can name the Nobel winners.
| January 29 -
|
Diane Bunce, Catholic University of America
|
| April 2 - |
MARY KAPP LECTURE
|
| April 3 -
|
CHEMICAL BIOLOGY SYMPOSIUM
|
| April 9 -
|
Dr. Richard Crooks, University of Texas
|
| April 16 -
|
Dr. Steve Weber, University of Pittsburgh
|
The seminars are held at 3:30 p.m. in the Kapp Lecture Hall,
Room 1024, in the Mary E. Kapp wing of Oliver Hall, 1001 West Main Street in
Richmond. The public is invited. For more information, call (804) 828-1298.
| January 16 -
|
Professor Joan Steitz ,
Yale University,
"Tiny RNPs: Versatile Regulators of Gene
Expression in Vertebrate Cells"
|
| February 6 - |
Professor Horia Metiu,
University of California Santa Barbara, "Catalysis
by Atomic Sized Centers"
|
| February 20 - |
Professor Linda Hsieh Wilson,
California Institute of Technology
(JEFFERSON LECTURE IN CHEMISTRY)
|
| February 27 -
|
Professor Scott Miller,
Yale University,
"Biomimetic Asymmetric Catalysis:
'Simple' Catalysts
and Complex Reactions"
|
| March 6 -
|
Professor Klaus Hahn,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
"Watching and Poking at Signaling Proteins in
Living Cells Multiplex Biosensor Imaging and Genetically Encoded
Protein Caging"
|
| March 13 -
|
Professor Peter Caravan,
Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts
General Hospital,
"Peptide Gadolinium Conjugates for Noninvasive
MRI Detection ofCardiovascular Disease"
|
| March 20 -
|
Professor Michael F. Summers,
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Maryland Baltimore
County,
"New Insights into the Mechanism of HIV 1 Genome Packaging and
Virus Assembly"
|
| March 27 -
|
Professor Keith Moffat,
University of Chicago,
"How Do Molecules Respond to Light?
Static and Time Resolved Crystallography of Photoreceptors"
|
| April 3 -
|
HECHT SYMPOSIUM,
"Protein Synthesis with Tandemly Activated
Transfer RNAs"
|
| April 10 - |
Professor Christopher J. Chang,
University of California, Berkeley,
"Chemical Approaches
to Understanding Copper and Peroxide Biology in the Brain"
|
| April 17 -
|
Professor Tamar Seideman,
Northwestern University
|
| April 24 -
|
Professor Sarah Woodson,
Johns Hopkins University,
How RNA Folds, from Ribozymes to Ribosomes" |
Seminars are scheduled for 4:00 p.m. in Room 304 of the
Chemistry Building. The complete colloquium schedule can be found at
http://www.virginia.edu/chem/newsandevents/seminars/.
Help out the Virginia Section by serving on one of our
committees: Awards, Chemical Education, Chemical Technicians, Chemistry
Olympiad, Entertainment, Government Relations, Hospitality, Industrial
Relations, Media/Public Relations, Membership, Minority Affairs, National
Chemistry Week/Chemists Celebrate Earth Week, Publications, Safety,
SERMACS-2011, Student Affiliates, and Younger Chemists (YCC). To get more
information, volunteer your services, or make suggestions, contact Mr. Ken
Chapman, Section Chair at (804) 448-4852 or by e-mail to kmc97 @ aol.com.
Suggestions for new committees or committee activities are welcome. Have an
idea for a future meeting, a speaker, a topic, or a location? Contact Yezdi
Pithawalla who is planning the programs for 2009: (804) 274-4587;
yezdi.b.pithawalla @ altria.com.
The
recent photograph shows the person who spoke to the Virginia Section at Mary
Washington College in Fredericksburg on November 17, 1995. Her topic was
"The Chemist as Detective in Examining Art and
Artifacts." She is a Sister in the O.S.U. (Order
of Saint Ursula) and Professor of Chemistry at the College of New Rochelle.
She is also Editor-at-Large of Chemical Heritage magazine, former Director
of Educational Services at the Chemical Heritage Foundation, and is
Publications Coordinator of the Journal of Chemical Education. She received
her Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from Fordham University and has lectured
widely in the areas of color chemistry and archaeological chemistry. She has
been very active in the ACS at the local, regional, and national levels. She
was the recipient of the 2008 Henry Hill Award, presented by the ACS
Division of Professional Relations.
In 2009, she will receive the Award for Volunteer Service to ACS.
The "mystery
person" in the January issue was Frank
Kizer. Frank is one of only two persons to receive the Outstanding High
School Chemistry Teacher Award and the Distinguished Service Award from the
Virginia Section. He and his wife Helen live in Lancaster County.
Space limitations in 2008 prevented us from printing the
names of new members. We welcome these members who joined the Virginia
Section last year:
| JAMES E ASHLEY |
DAVID SLOAN |
AYERS ZHIYI BAO |
| CYNTHIA BARBER |
PAMELA SCHULTZ BIRAK |
RADOSLAV BOZOV |
| THOMAS H BRUMFIELD |
TARA BRUNYANSKY |
SEDA CAKIR |
| WILLIAM CASE |
HELEN CHUI |
DAVID J COOPER |
| WILLIAM L CRUM |
RENEE M DALRYMPLE |
ASHLEY DEMANDER |
| KELLING DONALD |
KRISTEN R DONNELLY |
ANN M ENGLISH |
| MEGAN A FIKSE |
BARBARA OPPEN FRANCIS |
CASSANDRA FRASER |
| JIANZHONG FU |
RICHARD G W GINGERICH |
MONICA L GLASS |
| SHELLEY R GRAHAM |
CHRISTOPHER GREEN |
SAPNA GUPTA |
| HELENE L HACZYNSKI |
ANWAR HAMAMA |
CHRIS W HOLMAN |
| SARAH M HUFFER |
MEGAN L HUFFMAN |
STEPHEN L HUSSEY |
| JAMES T JARVIS |
GARY L JUSKOWIAK |
ELIZABETH H KEYMONT |
| MICHAEL LAIRD KING |
ASAKO KUBOTA |
GEORGE M LAIDLAW |
| TRACEY P LEE |
WEILING LI |
RUSSELL CRAIG LOTT |
| IAN MACPHERSON |
JENNIFER M MCKAY |
JOSEPH MCMINN |
| GEORGE MILNE |
DONNA MONTAGUE |
MINH A NGUYEN |
| YAW OBENG |
BOAMPONG VAHUR OJA |
STEVEN W PAUGH |
| RANDOLPH B PERFETTI |
NOVELLE C PRIDE |
ALBERTO PROTZEL |
| DANIEL JONATHAN QUIRAM |
DAVID L REICHERT |
ROXANNE E RODES |
| TRESY ROSS |
TED V SHANER |
CHRISTOPHER SHUFORD |
| BRIAN R SLAWSKI |
FRANCINE ST DENIS |
STERLING M STOKES |
