JCE Online Journal of Chemical Education
 | Subscriptions  | Software Orders  | Support  | Contributors  | Advertisers  | 

JCE Print

JCE Digital Library

JCE Software

Only@JCE Online

About JCE


  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2000  > April  >
Chemical Education Today
News & Announcements

Cover
April 2000
Vol. 77 No. 4
p. 438

Full Text

Introducing Jeffrey Kovac


Jeffrey Kovac, the new editor of Book & Media Reviews.
Photo by Shannon Fox

Jeffrey Kovac of the University of Tennessee is the new editor of Book & Media Reviews. He succeeds Edward J. Walsh of Allegheny College. Ed began editing Reviews in late 1996 but has chosen to step down now so that he has more free time in his retirement. Kovac has been an associate editor of the column since 1997. He assumes full responsibility for the column effective with the June 2000 issue. Also appearing in the June issue will be Summer Reading, a tradition that Kovac intends to continue.

Jeffrey Kovac teaches at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville where he is Professor of Chemistry and Director of Undergraduate Studies. He is also a Fellow of the Center for Applied and Professional Ethics in the Department of Philosophy, a fellow of the UTK Center for Undergraduate Excellence, and the Director of the Tennessee Governor's School for the Sciences, a four-week summer residential enrichment program for high school students.

Kovac received his education at Reed College and Yale University, followed by postdoctoral research at MIT. His research interests include statistical mechanics of polymers and liquids, non-equilibrium thermodynamics, computer simulation, the structure and formation of coal, history and philosophy of science, scientific ethics, and chemical education. He is the author of more than 65 publications including The Ethical Chemist, cases and commentaries for the teaching of scientific ethics, Scientific Ethics for High School Students, and Writing Across the Chemistry Curriculum: A Faculty Handbook. He is also an accomplished soccer referee and a licensed soccer referee instructor and assessor.

Kovac is married to Susan Davis Kovac, an attorney who is Area Legal Counsel for the Tennessee Department of Children's Services. They have two children, Peter, a junior at Oberlin College, and Rachel, a senior at Bearden High School in Knoxville. He is active in the community, serving on the board of directors of Knoxville Interfaith Network, a coalition of congregations dedicated to social justice.

If you are interested in becoming a book or media reviewer and can arrange the time to do it, please get in touch with Kovac at the Department of Chemistry, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996-1600; phone: 865/974-3444; fax: 865/974-3454; email: jkovac@utk.edu. Updated Guidelines for Book and Media Reviews are also available from Kovac or on JCE Online at http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/Contributors/Reviewers/books.html.

CLIC: Online Resources for High School Teachers

This month's JCE Online column on page 536 introduces a new online feature, the JCE High School Chemed Learning Information Center--CLIC.

CLIC has selected from the vast Journal resources those things that we think will be most valuable for high school teachers. These have been arranged online so that the typical busy high school teacher will be able to get to them in a hurry.

CLIC is located at http://JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu/HS/. Our plans do not end with what you find there now. But it is a beginning, awaiting your suggestions for making it more useful. Send them to jceonline@chem.wisc.edu and put "CLIC" in the subject field.

Correction to Book Buyers Guide

The Book Buyers Guide that accompanied the February 2000 issue of the Journal contained errors--in the listing for Organic Chemistry Lecture and in the listing for Quantum Chemistry. A correction appears on page 446.

Courses, Seminars, Meetings, Opportunities

CPT Guidelines

The ACS Committee on Professional Training has released new guidelines for undergraduate chemistry programs. The revised guidelines represent the culmination of four years of wide-ranging discussions and reflect the changing nature of chemistry by their addition of a new biochemistry requirement. Copies are available on the CPT Web site at http://www.acs.org/education/cpt or from the CPT office at the American Chemical Society, 1155 Sixteenth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036.

Chemistry Education:
Research and Practice in Europe

The first issue of the electronic publication, CERAPIE, Chemistry Education: Research and Practice In Europe, is available without charge on the WWW at http://www.uoi.gr /conf_sem/cerapie. This initial issue accompanies the 5th European Conference on Research in Chemical Education (5th ECRICE) that took place in September, 1999, at the University of Ioannina, Greece. Both peer-reviewed and invited papers are included, divided into the categories Editorial; Invited Contributions; Research Reports; Research Communications; The Practice of Chemistry Education: Papers; The Practice of Chemistry Education: Notes. The editor of CERAPIE is Georgios Tsaparlis, Department of Chemistry, University of Ioannina, GR-451 10 Ioannina, Greece; phone: +30 651 98431; fax: +30 651 44989; email: gtseper@cc.uoi.gr.

16th BCCE, Summer 2000

The 16th Biennial Conference on Chemical Education is fast approaching. It will be held July 30­August 3, 2000 at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Registration materials are being mailed to those on the Division of Chemical Education mailing list as well as others who have asked to be added to the list. Registration will also be available on the BCCE Web site (http://www.umich.edu/~bcce) by the end of March. We encourage registration on the Web. The rich program that has been proposed by many participants is also being posted as the schedule firms up. Please keep in touch by visiting our Web site, and plan to attend!

Eastern Analytical Symposium

The 2000 Eastern Analytical Symposium (EAS) will be held October 29-November 3, 2000, at the new Atlantic City Convention Center, Atlantic City, NJ. The deadline for receipt of preliminary abstracts is March 31, 2000. Papers in all areas of the analytical and allied sciences are welcome. Detailed information is posed on the EAS Website, www.eas.org, or contact the EAS Hotline at 302/738-6218, fax 302/738-5275, email easinfo@aol.com.

National Safety Council Web Site

The National Safety Council has recently integrated their internal databases along with researched on-line resources. The new Web site, Crossroads (http://www.crossroads.nsc.org) provides information on injury statistics, hazardous chemical profiles, safety data sheets, topical articles, expert Q&A, among other features. The Crossroads data are developed and maintained by the National Safety Council. For more information contact Steve O'Krepky, National Safety Council, 1025 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 1200, Washington, DC 20036; phone: 202/293-2270; email: okrepkys@nsc.org.

Travel Grants

The Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) offers small travel grants to enable interested individuals to make use of the research resources of the Beckman Center for the History of Chemistry, the Othmer Library of Chemical History, and its associated facilities in Philadelphia. Grants, which may be used for travel, subsistence, and copying costs, will not normally exceed $500. Applications should include a curriculum vitae, a one page statement on the research proposed and the applicability of area resources, and a budget. In addition, applicants should arrange for two letters of reference to be sent directly to CHF. The deadlines are: May 1, 2000, for grants to be used July-September, 2000; August 1, 2000, for grants to be used October-November, 2000; November 1, 2000, for grants to be used January-March, 2001. For further information contact Mary Ellen Bowden, Chemical Heritage Foundation, 315 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106; phone: 215/873-8228; fax: 215/925-1954; email: mebowden@chemheritage.org.

International Symposium on Geoenvironmental Reclamation

Shri Ramdeobaba Kamla Nehru Engineering College, Nagpur, India, is organizing an international symposium, Geoenvironmental Reclamation, to be held November 20-22, 2000, to be held in Nagpur. Further information is available at http://www.rknec.edu or by email to the convenor, rknintsy@webginn.com.

People

ACS Board

The American Chemical Society announces the re-election of Henry F. Whalen, Jr. to the office of chair of the Board of Directors for 2000. Whalen is vice president of PQ Corporation of Valley Forge, PA, an international producer of silicates and derivative products.

Research Corporation

Two persons recently joined Research Corporation's Program Advisory Committee, the body that recommends research projects for foundation support. Donald R. Deardorff is professor of chemistry at Occidental College, Los Angeles; David A. Tirrell is professor of chemistry and chemical engineering at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena.

You are invited to send contributions to the JCE Announcements column. They should be sent to Elizabeth A. Moore, Associate Editor, by email at betmoore@chem.wisc.edu or at the address on the masthead. Contributions should be concise, to the point, and appropriate for the Journal's audience. They may be edited for clarity, timeliness, appropriateness, or length.

Proposal Deadlines

National Science Foundation Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE)

For further information about NSF DUE programs consult the DUE Web site, http://www.ehr.nsf.gov/EHR/DUE/start.htm. To contact the DUE Information Center, phone: 703/306-1666; email: undergrad@nsf.gov.

The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc.

  • Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards Program:
    November 15, 2000
  • Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards Program:
    June 30, 2000
  • New Faculty Awards Program: May 15, 2000
  • Faculty Start-up Grants for Undergraduate Institutions: May 15, 2000
  • Scholar/Fellow Program for Undergraduate Institutions: June 30, 2000
  • Special Grant Program in the Chemical Sciences:
    Preliminary Proposals: June 15, 2000
    Complete Proposals: September 1, 2000
  • Postdoctoral Program in Environmental Chemistry: March 1, 2000
  • Senior Scientist Mentor: September 1, 2000

Further information may be obtained from The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc., 555 Madison Avenue, Suite 1305, New York, NY 10022; phone: 212/753-1760;
email: admin@dreyfus.org;
WWW:http://www.dreyfus.org/

Research Corporation

  • Cottrell College Science Awards: May 15 and November 15
  • Cottrell Scholars: First regular business day in September
  • Research Opportunity Awards: May 1 and October 1
  • Research Innovation Awards: May 1

Further information may be obtained from Research Corporation, 101 North Wilmot Road, Suite 250, Tucson, AZ 85711-3332; phone: 520/571-1111; fax: 520/571-1119; email: awards@rescorp.org; WWW:http://www.rescorp.org

More Information
*  Citation
J. Chem. Educ. 2000 77 438.
*  Keywords
*  History
Created:
Last Updated:
March 3, 2000
April 15, 2005
  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2000  > April  > Page 438


Subscriptions

JCE HS CLIC

Our Secondary School editors work hard to distill all the JCE materials to produce a fraction of particular interest to high school teachers. We call it CLIC.


Contributions Welcome
JCE welcomes your submission

Advertisers
In recent years we have worked hard to better match our advertisers with our readers. When shopping for chemistry education materials, visit our advertisers' WWW sites first.

Be An Ambassador
Take JCE along on your outreach missions. Copies of the Journal, guest access to JCE Online, our publications catalog, and more are available for your participants.