We are excited to bring to you the first issue of ChemConnections! We continue to grow as a department and it is my hope that you enjoy the updates and news we have to share.
This year’s commencement saw three of our graduate students earning
Ph.D. degrees (Drs. Yifan Ge, Meghan Teunis McLeod, and Alicen M. Teitgen), as well as one MS degree (Matt Snyder). We congratulated 70 students who graduated with BA or BS degrees. 7 of those students were named among the Top 100 Students of IUPUI and graduated with distinction. The Peer Led Team Learning (PLTL) program continues to be a cornerstone of undergraduate educational experience. Out of 47 students from the School of Science named in the IUPUI Top 100 Students, 22 of them were involved in the PLTL program through our department.
Our students continue to make history. One exciting highlight of this year was the trip to Cuba arranged under the guidance of Research Professor, Dr. Bill Scott, in which two of our students accompanied him to instruct an organic chemistry laboratory. This was a mutually rewarding experience for both our students, and the students and faculty in Cuba.
Last year the department saw several personnel changes. Among them were the retirement of Dr. Barry Muhoberac, retiring after 31 years of teaching and research. Dr. Muhoberac has stayed on in the department as Professor Emeritus. Also retiring was Mr. Cary Pritchard after 31 years of service as the department‟s instrument engineer. There were transfers out of the department by front desk assistant, Ms. Christina Kilgore; instrumentation scientist, Dr. Karl Dria; and Assistant Professor, Dr. Lisa Jones. Sadly, we mourn the loss of Research Professor, Dr. James McCarthy, a passionate chemist and reliable colleague.
Additions to the department include new faculty colleague, Dr. Sébastien Laulhé, an organic chemist who came to us from Duke University. We welcomed back Ms. Lynn Gerrard who returned after three years of hiatus. Ms. Patricia Beddow joined the department as the instrument engineer. And yours truly assumed the department chair position in July. I came from Duquesne University where I was a faculty member for 18 years. We are also happy to report that Dr. Rajesh Sardar was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure.
In 2016, our faculty and students published 36 peer-reviewed publications and gave 97 scientific presentations. Many of our colleagues enjoyed external support for their research. For example in this past year, the National Science Foundation funded Dr. Rajesh Sardar for his research on nanomaterials; Dr. Lei Li received funding from the American Cancer Society for his research on DNA photolesions and our Ph.D. graduate student, Mr. Brandon Bills, received a pre-doctoral fellowship from the National Institutes of Justice. These efforts serve to underscore our research frontiers!
In this issue you will find profiles of our newest faculty member, Dr. Sébastien Laulhé, and of one of our senior faculty colleagues, Dr. Martin O‟Donnell. You will also find an article about the history of the department as well as a list of award-winning students, staff and faculty. We are always interested in learning about you and invite you to keep us informed about your own career. You are most welcome to visit us when you can; please note that you are a part of the CCB family!
Best Regards,
Partha Basu