Awards Announced

Welch Award in Chemistry

The Welch Foundation has announced that Allen J. Bard, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin since 1958, is the recipient of the 2004 Welch Award in Chemistry. Bard is being honored for his lifetime achievements in basic electrochemistry research. His work has led to such applications as self-cleaning glass, photocell production of computer memory, and the use of light to decompose pollutants. He is also responsible for such inventions as the scanning electrochemical microscope.

The award was presented at a luncheon in his honor in Austin, Texas, in May 2004. The $300,000 prize recognizes outstanding lifetime contributions to chemistry for the betterment of humankind and is bestowed annually by the Welch Foundation, one of the nation’s oldest and largest sources of private funding for basic chemical research.

U.S. Finalists, International Chemistry Olympiad

The American Chemical Society has announced the names of the 20 U.S. high school students who are finalists competing for a position on the U.S. team that will participate in the Olympiad in Kiel, Germany, July 18–27, 2004. The 20 students, chosen from a pool of nearly 10,000 high school students nationwide, will spend two weeks in preparation at a study camp at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado where they will receive college-level training with an emphasis on organic chemistry with a series of lectures, problem-solving exercises, lab work, and testing. At the conclusion, a four-member team will be named to participate in the contest. The 20 finalists are listed below by state; an asterisk (*) indicates participation in the 2003 study camp.

California

Allen Cheng,* Arcadia High School, Arcadia
Shawn Yu, Arcadia High School, Arcadia
Diana Lu, Troy High School, Fullerton
Jeremy Hiatt,* Harvard-Westlake High School, Los Angeles
Nicholas Sofroniew, Harvard-Westlake High School, Los Angeles

Colorado

Yiming Wang, Boulder High School, Lafayette

Florida

Scott Rabin,* Miami Palmetto High School, Miami

Hawaii

Carol Pham, Iolani School, Honolulu

Illinois

Michael Bilor, Deerfield High School, Highland Park
Caleb Ng,* Libertyville High School, Libertyville

Maryland

Emily Tsui,* Montgomery Blair High School, Potomac

Michigan

Joshua Mosberg, Ann Arbor Pioneer, Ann Arbor
Eric Fritz, Troy High School, Troy

New Jersey

Xiaojing Huang, Montgomery High School, Belle Mead
Andrew Freddo, Manalapan High School, Colts Neck
Fan Zhang, Bergen County Academies, Montvale

Ohio

Jason Juang,* Cincinnati Country Day School, Cincinnati

Pennsylvania

Jongjin Kim, North Allegheny High School, Pittsburgh

Tennessee

Eric Brown,* McCallie School, Chattanooga

Texas

John Leon Kiappes, Jr., Memorial High School, Houston

Teachers with students interested in obtaining more information about the Chemistry Olympiad Program should contact the ACS Olympiad Office at 202/872-6328.

Biotechnology Heritage Award

The Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) and the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) will present the 6th Annual Biotechnology Heritage Award to Leroy Hood, a leading scientist in molecular biotechnology and genomics and one of the first advocates of the Human Genome Project. The presentation will be made at the BIO 2004 conference in San Francisco. Hood is president and co-founder of the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, a non-profit research institute established to pioneer systems approaches to biology and medicine.

The Biotechnology Heritage Award is presented yearly during the BIO Annual Convention at a special ceremony to honor individuals who have contributed significantly to the growth of biotechnology through discovery, innovation, commercialization, and/or public understanding.

Courses, Seminars, Meetings, Opportunities

NSTA Meeting Schedule

The National Science Teachers Association’s conventions for the 2004–2005 academic year have been announced. More information is available online.

2004 Area Conventions

November 4–6, 2004: Midwestern Area: Indianapolis, IN
November 18–20, 2004: Northwestern Area: Seattle, WA
December 2–4, 2004: Eastern Area: Richmond, VA

2005 National Convention

March 31–April 3, 2005: 53rd annual convention: Dallas, TX

ACS Regional Meetings, Fall 2004

Upcoming regional meetings of the American Chemical Society appear below. More information is available at the Meetings section the ACS Web site.

September 29–October 2, 2004: 60th Southwest Regional Meeting: Fort Worth, TX
October 17–20, 2004: 36th Great Lakes Regional Meeting: Peoria, IL
October 20–22, 2004: 39th Midwest Regional Meeting: Manhattan, KS
October 27–30, 2004: 39th Western Regional Meeting: Sacramento, CA
October 31–November 4, 2004: 33rd Northeast Regional Meeting: Rochester, NY
November 10–13, 2004: 56th Southeast Regional Meeting: Research Triangle Park, NC

ChemEd Days at SWRM 2004

Saturday, October 2, is ChemEd Day at the Southwest Regional Meeting; more information about this ACS Regional Meeting is available online. A special program for teachers, students, and bench scientists has been planned. The organizers hope you will attend, bring a guest (or maybe two) and bring two or three of your students.

A major special event that the Dallas-Fort Worth ACS local section has planned for ChemEd Day is a performance by that chemical demonstrator extraordinaire, Lee Marek. Lee is a member of the renowned Weird Science group and frequent guest on the David Letterman Late Night show. Other participants in the program include Jim Marshall (who has been re-discovering the sources of the elements) and Bill Deese (a witty, master juggler) who will present “The Dead Chemists Society” on Friday night, October 1.

There will be a special ACS Presidential Symposium for high school students on careers in chemical technology and a luncheon presentation on Saturday by ACS President-elect Bill Carroll. Carroll has publicly stated that improving pre-college education is one of his priorities. In addition to these star-studded presentations, there will be technical sessions on research in chemistry education preceding ChemEd Day, workshops for secondary and elementary teachers presented by several Associated Chemistry Teachers of Texas (ACT₂) members, and many other fun-filled activities. Please join us in Fort Worth at the downtown Plaza Hotel, September 28–October 2. Y’all come!

Free NSF-Sponsored Workshops

The NSF-sponsored Center for Workshops in the Chemical Sciences (CWCS) offers workshops designed for faculty and staff with instructional responsibilities at the undergraduate level at universities, colleges, and community colleges. Workshops are designed to provide a background and modern perspective on topics in the chemical sciences and include hands-on activities to introduce these topics into the college curriculum. Registration, housing, and a per diem for food are provided at no cost to participants. There are still a number of openings for new participants in the following workshops:

• Molecular Genetics and Protein Structure and Function
  University of Hawaii, Hilo: July 11–16, 2004
• Solid Phase Synthesis and an Introduction to Combinatorial Chemistry
  Wright State University, Dayton, OH: August 1–6, 2004
• Practical Aspects of Process Analytical Chemistry
  January 2005

Further information about CWCS, descriptions of individual workshops, and an application form are available online (accessed May 2004).

Women in Chemistry Traveling Exhibition

The Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) has completed a new traveling exhibition that presents the history and contributions of women in chemistry. The exhibit, titled “Her Lab in Your Life: Women in Chemistry”, takes a fresh look at everyday life, indicating how chemical science and engineering help shape it. Created especially for high school and college students but designed to engage general audiences, this traveling exhibition showcases women chemists who have helped create our modern world and their historic contributions to science and technology. The exhibit takes design cues from youth culture and familiar surroundings; it engages the visitor by framing the stories of chemists in a series of 12 thematic stations that celebrate the diversity of fields that chemists pursue and the women chemists who have left their mark on them. The 12 themes are: Life (biochemistry); Medicines; Sanitation (safeguarding health); Environment; Food (and nutrition); Style (new materials and improved fabrics); Chips (semiconductors); Stuff (everyday products); Discovery; Challenges (professional and social); Knowledge; Work.

The Women in Chemistry exhibit will be on public display at Iowa State University Library in Ames, Iowa from May 26 through July 16, 2004 and at the 18th Biennial Conference on Chemical Education at Iowa State University from July 18–22, 2004.

To schedule the Her Lab in Your Life travelling exhibit, contact Josh McIlvain at 215/925-2178, ext. 236.

Publications

Recent Books on Popular Chemistry

A bibliographic essay, “Recent Books on Popular Chemistry: A ‘New’ 200-Year-Old Book Category”, recently appeared in CHOICE Magazine, sponsored by the American Library Association and designed for use by academic acquisition librarians. The essay was written by Reuben Rudman of Adelphi University to expose librarians to the many works on chemistry suitable for nonscientists–general readers, and to dispel the impression from libraries and major bookstores that there are few popular books on chemistry. Rudman describes a range of works, from the books on the periodic table to poetry and cookbooks that in some way involve chemistry. The essay concludes with an annotated list of Web sites. The works cited list includes more than 100 resources.

Proposal Deadlines National Science Foundation Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE) The following NSF deadlines have been established or are anticipated. Course, Curriculum, & Lab. Improvement (CCLI) Formal Proposals ND Track (National Dissemination) June 16, 2004 EMD Track (Educ. Materials Dev.) June 17, 2004 A&I Track (Adapt. & Implement.) Dec. 2, 2004 ASA Track (Assess. of Student Achiev.) Dec. 8, 2004 Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Formal Proposals October 8, 2004 Teacher Professional Continuum (TPC) Category C, Conferences and Symposia: No preliminary proposal required; proposals should be submitted at least one year in advance of the planned event. Official deadline dates for proposals will be specified in the new program solicitation for each program, to be published at least three months before the relevant deadline date. Other Funding Opportunities for STEM Education are available. Program solicitations are available electronically through NSF's Online Document System and through the NSF DUE site; phone: 703/292-8670; email. The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc. Camille Dreyfus Teacher–Scholar Awards Program: November 11, 2004 Faculty Start-Up Grants for Undergraduate Institutions: May 12, 2005 Henry Dreyfus Teacher–Scholar Awards Program: June 24, 2004 New Faculty Awards Program: May 12, 2005 Postdoctoral Program in Environmental Chemistry: February 24, 2005 Senior Scientist Mentor: August 26, 2004 Special Grant Program in the Chemical Sciences: Preliminary Proposals: June 3, 2004 Completed Proposals: August 26, 2004 Further information and confirmation of the above deadlines may be obtained from The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc., 555 Madison Avenue, Suite 1305, New York, NY 10022-3301; phone: 212/753-1760; email; WWW. Research Corporation Cottrell College Science Awards: May 15 and November 15 Cottrell Scholars: September 1 Research Innovation Awards: suspended 2004-2005 Research Opportunity Awards: May 1 and October 1 Further information may be obtained from Research Corporation, 101 North Wilmot Road, Suite 250, Tucson, AZ 85711; phone: 520/571-1111; fax: 520/571-1119; email; WWW.