Dept. News

Professor Andreas Illies retired from the active faculty as of December 31, 2009 after 25 years of dedicated research, teaching and service.

Ms. Brenda Carrington retired as of the end of 2009 after many years of effective teaching in the Department's undergraduate biochemistry laboratory courses.

Mr. Duane Leinhos, an experienced industrial chemist, has joined the Department as Biochemistry Laboratory Manager for the 2010 spring semester.

Dr. Ria Yngard, formerly of Florida Institute of Technology, has become an Instructor for the 2010 spring semester and will teach general chemistry courses.

On September 1, 2009, Professor S. D. Worley will retire from the Auburn faculty after 35 years of distinguished teaching, research and service. His colleagues, collaborators and friends will gather on campus on August 28 to celebrate his accomplishments and to wish him well in what promises to be a very active retirement. For more information about attending this event, please contact the Department's office.  

The Department's new Laboratory Manager for Analytical, Physical and Inorganic undergraduate courses is Dr. Dan Philen, an Auburn alumnus. Dr. Philen retired from the former Bell Laboratories, one of the most distinguished private-sector research organizations in recent history, as a Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff and has subsequently taught at Emory University.

 The Mass Spectrometry Laboratory has a new Director, Dr. Yonnie Wu, formerly of Clemson University. Dr. Wu has extensive experience in the application of mass spectrometry to problems at the interface of chemical and biological sciences.

The Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Laboratory also has a new Director, Dr. Michael Meadows, who recently retired from Eastman Chemical. Dr. Meadows has many years of experience in the use of NMR techniques in polymer, organic and inorganic chemistry.

A new Instructor, Dr. Robin Sibert, has joined the Department and will teach introductory courses in general chemistry. Dr. Sibert recently obtained her doctorate at Georgia Tech.

Assistant Professor Orlando Acevedo was recently elected President of the Auburn Section of the American Chemical Society.

Two Nobel Laureates in Chemistry will present seminars in the 2009-2010 academic year. Prof. Roald Hoffmann of Cornell University will lecture on March 11, 2010 on 'A trio of stories around the third element'. Dr. Harold Kroto of Florida State University will be here on April 29. His lecture is entitled 'Science, Society and Sustainability'.

Assistant Professor Christian Goldsmith has received a New Investigator grant from the American Chemical Society's Petroleum Research Fund for his proposal entitled "Halogenation of Petroleum-Based Hydrocarbon Substrates by First-Row Transition Metal Ion Complexes."

An article by Assistant Professor Orlando Acevedo and his graduate student S. V. Sambasivarao will be featured on the cover of a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation, a publication of the American Chemical Society.

Two recent papers co-authored by Assistant Professor Christopher Easley have been highlighted in prestigious journals. One paper, published in Nature Physics, has been featured as Editors' Choice in the 20 March, 2009 issue of the Journal Science as well as by Lab on a Chip, published by the Royal Society of Chemistry. A second paper, published in the latter journal, has been highlighted by Nature Methods.

 Water disinfection beads from HaloSource, a company based in Bothell, Washington, have been cleared for manufacture and sale by the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States. (See Press Release)  This technology is licensed from Auburn University and is based on research performed by Professor S. D. Worley. This decision is likely to stimulate government approval in developing countries, where the availability of potable water is often a widespread problem of public health.

 Professor Rik Blumenthal's recent article, "Ultraviolet laser ablation of polycarbonate and glass in air," published in Journal of Applied Physics 105, 034910 (2009), has been selected for the March 2009 issue of Virtual Journal of Ultrafast Science. The Virtual Journal, which is published by the American Physical Society and the American Institute of Physics in cooperation with numerous other societies and publishers, is an edited compilation of links to articles from participating publishers, covering a focused area of frontier research.

The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Department of Chemical Engineering have entered into a three-year Technology Education Partnership (TEP) with the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE). For over thirty years, NOBCChE has been an instrument of diversity and of scientific and professional achievement in the chemical sciences. Its educational, scientific and outreach activities involve all generations and sustain a community of opportunity that recognizes and develops talent. Auburn University and NOBCChE will collaborate on recruiting and retaining young scientists and engineers for undergraduate and graduate degree programs, increasing awareness of the chemical sciences, especially among the young, and facilitating the scientific and professional development of students and faculty. A new, student chapter of NOBCChE at Auburn University has been started. Students who are interested in joining this chapter should correspond with one of the following chapter officers: President Jonathan Hall, Vice President Ryan Tucker, Secretary PaviElle Lockhart. The local chapter is advised by J. V. Ortiz, the Chairman of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Students of all ethnic backgrounds are encouraged to join. Faculty and other professionals who are interested in joining NOBCChE should contact Dr. Ortiz. The TEP agreement has been sponsored by the Department of Chemical Engineering, COSAM and the Office of the Provost. The student chapter of NOBCChE thanks the Chairman of Chemical Engineering, Christopher Roberts, the Dean of COSAM, Stewart Schneller, and the Associate Provost for Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, Overtoun Jenda, for their support.

Matthew McDonald is this year's winner of the Comer Award, which is given to the top senior in the physical sciences, and also is this year's Senior Dean's Medalist. Kathryn Heflin is the Junior Award winner. Congratulations to Matt and Katie!

Assistant Professor Christopher Easley is a coauthor of an article entitled "Frequency-specific flow control in microfluidic circuits with passive elastomeric features" which will be published in February, 2009 in the prestigious journal Nature Physics. This research was performed at the University of Virginia, where Dr. Easley obtained his doctorate prior to his arrival at Auburn in August, 2008.

Joe McDonald, a member of the staff in the Scientific Supply Store, has been honored by President Gogue with a Spirit of Excellence Award for outstanding performance of his duties.

The Dean's Research Award for Research by a Ph.D. student has been won by Xianghong Wu. Mr. Wu, who will be awarded his doctorate at the fall semester commencement, works in the laboratory of Assistant Professor Anne Gorden.