A letter from the WSU Chemistry Chair, Matt Allen
Dear friends and alumni,
A lot has happened in the chemistry department over the past year, and this newsletter provides a few highlights. I encourage you to follow us on social media for more information on the current happenings of the department. Also, please join our Wayne State Chemistry Alumni and Friends group on Facebook and link up with us on LinkedIn.
The following highlights provide a small sampling of what happened in the department over the past year: Jennifer Stockdill was promoted to associate professor, and Wen Li was promoted to full professor. Jin Cha began serving as a program director at the National Science Foundation. Aaron Rury received a Young Investigator Award from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. Stephanie Brock received an Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award from WSU. Long Luo was selected to be a member of the Langmuir Early Career Advisory Board and of the Detroit Section of the Electrochemical Society. Mary Rodgers became a member of the WSU Academy of Scholars. Sarah Trimpin received the Biemann Medal from the American Society for Mass Spectrometry. Tom Linz received a Starter Grant Award from the Society for Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh. Mary Kay Pflum was named a Charles H. Gershenson Distinguished Faculty Fellow. Andrea Matti received a College of Liberal Arts and Sciences teaching award. Judy Westrick received a best paper award from the American Water Works Association. I was honored to be named a fellow of the American Chemical Society and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Diane Kudla retired, and Andrew Feig and David Crich moved to other opportunities. We are grateful for their contributions to WSU Chemistry.
Our students are also thriving. The WSU Chapter of NOBCChE received a Champions of Diversity and Inclusion Award, and the WSU Chem Club received a Commendable Chapter Award from the American Chemical Society. Additionally, Bailey McCarthy Riley (Linz Lab) received a first-place poster award at ANACHEM, and Kody Whisnant (Brock Lab) received an outstanding student poster award at the 2019 Michigan Catalysis Society Spring Symposium. We expect to see many similar successes in the future as we welcomed a near-record size class of graduate students this past fall.
My sincere gratitude goes to our returning alumni Ravi Amunugama (Ph.D. 2002), James Bellow (B.S. 2011, Ph.D. 2016), Ashley Campanali (Ph.D. 2011), Jean-Paul Desaulniers (Ph.D. 2005), Hrant Hratchian (Ph.D. 2005), Arya Jayatilaka (Ph.D. 1994), Brian Johns (Ph.D. 1997), John Kadow (Ph.D. 1985), Thomas Knisley (Ph.D. 2012), Jeff Kohrt (postdoc 1996-98), Rose Ryntz (B.S. 1979), Elke Schoffers (Ph.D. 1996), Chris Senanayake (Ph.D. 1987), Raj Sharma (Ph.D. 2011), Brad Tait (Ph.D. 1986), Edward Thomas (Ph.D. 1977), Dajena Tomco (B.S. 2008, Ph.D. 2014), Haobin Wang (Ph.D. 1996), Judy Westrick (B.S. 1985), Maryam Yousif (Ph.D. 2017) and
Fu-Shin Yu (Ph.D. 1988), for taking time to return to campus to network with students and share their post-WSU experiences.
The remainder of this newsletter contains stories about new senior lecturers Nancy Wu, Sean Hickey and Dajena Tomco; our new staff members Mishad Ahmed and Nawana Lawson; our new NMR and EPR Lab and X-ray Lab directors Dennis Anderson and Cassandra Ward; the Johnson-Pfizer Symposium (thank you to everyone who attended); our new mentorship program; new titrators in undergraduate labs; our upcoming departmental safety contest; updates from our student organizations; and updates from alumni.
For alumni, please stay in touch. Send updates with your outstanding achievements and new jobs so that we can include them in future newsletters. We've made it easy to share your stories with us - we love to hear from you and want to keep in touch. Finally, next time you are in the Detroit area, please let us know and stop by to see the building and meet with friends, colleagues and mentors.
Sincerely,
Matthew J. Allen Professor and Chair