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News and Awards

Recent News

April 2006: Prof. Amos Smith has been elected as a 2006 Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

This year's new Fellows include former Presidents George H.W. Bush and William Jefferson Clinton; Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts; Nobel Prize-winning biochemist and Rockefeller University President Sir Paul Nurse; the chairman and vice chairman of the 9/11 commission, Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton; actor and director Martin Scorsese; choreographer Meredith Monk; conductor Michael Tilson Thomas; and New York Stock Exchange chairman Marshall Carter along with leading scientists and scholars from across the nation.

More information on the AAAS can be found here: http://www.amacad.org.

March 2006: The Seventy-Third Edgar Fahs Smith Memorial Lecture at the University of Pennsylvania
"Selective Metal-Mediated C-H Bond Activation and Organic Pericyclic Reactions in Water-Soluble Host-Guest Media"
Professor Robert Bergman
University of California, Berkeley

Thursday, March 23, 2006
6:00 PM
University of Pennsylvania
Department of Chemistry
Carolyn Hoff Lynch Lecture Hall
34th and Spruce Streets
Reception preceding at 5:00 PM in the Nobel Hall of Fame.

For more information on Prof. Bergman, please see: http://www.cchem.berkeley.edu/rgbgrp/index.html
Lecture jointly sponsored by the Philadelphia Section of the American Chemical Society and the University of Pennsylvania

September 2005: Meggers group research on metal complexes featured in Chemical & Engineering News

September 2005: Hochstrasser group research on 2D IR spectroscopy featured in Chemical & Engineering News

September 2005: Two new faculty join the Department of Chemistry: Profs. So-Jung Park and Tobias Baumgart

May 2005: US-Japan Symposium on Folding, Design and Dynamics
May 2-5, 2005
University of Pennsylvania Museum, 3260 South Street, Philadelphia, PA
Schedule

April 2005: The 2005 Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science Symposium.
Honoring
Henri B. Kagan
Université Paris-Sud
Thursday, April 21, 8:30 A.M. - 12:00 PM
http://www.fi.edu/tfi/exhibits/bower/05/bower_symp.html

April 2005: The 2005 Wyeth Research Lecture at the University of Pennsylvania.
Prof. Chi-Huey Wong
The Scripps Research Institute
"Protein Glycosylation: New Challenges and Opportunities"
Monday, April 18, 2005 4:00 PM Department of Chemistry University of Pennsylvania
http://www.scripps.edu/chem/wong/

January 2005: Amos Smith, recipient of the 2005 "Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon" from the Government of Japan.

August 2004: Writing in the August 12, 2004, issue of the journal Nature, Penn chemist Virgil Percec and his colleagues note that natural pores are used by the cell to transport certain molecules across the cell membrane, as well as to generate chemical energy, guide the shape of newly-made proteins, and even puncture holes in the cell walls of hostile bacteria. To create the new artificial pores, the authors add, they developed a series of small, protein-like molecules that assemble themselves into molecular channels spontaneously. Potential applications range from the extraction of fresh water from seawater, to an entirely new class of antibiotics. [more...]

July 2004: Michael Klein the Hepburn Professor of Chemistry, has been selected as the recipient of the 2004 Berni J. Alder CECAM Prize, the most prestigious European prize for computer simulation in statistical physics and physical chemistry. CECAM noted, "Mike Klein’s leadership has been crucial in the development of a variety of computational tools such as constant-temperature Molecular Dynamics, Quantum simulations (specifically path-integral simulations), extended-Lagrangian methods and multiple-timestep Molecular Dynamics. Professor Klein’s contributions are widely recognized, well beyond the community of computer simulators. He has made important contributions to the numerical study of molecular solids and liquids, hydrogen-bonded liquids, chain molecules, self-assembled monolayers and, more recently, ion channels and biological membranes. Finally, Professor Klein has played a key role in building and maintaining a strong link between the North American and European scientific communities."

July 2004: Michael Therien , the Alan G. MacDiarmid Professor of Chemistry, has been selected to receive the 2004 American Chemical Society Philadelphia Section Award. The Section Award recognizes an individual, "who, by conspicuous scientific achievement through research, has made important contributions to man's knowledge and thereby aided the public appreciation of the profession."

April 2004: Amos Smith receives the first Provost's Award for Distinguished Teaching and Mentoring of Ph.D. students. This award was designed specifically to honor faculty who show special distinction as mentors to Ph.D.  -  Award details and photos

March 2004: Ralph F. Hirschmann has been honored as the 34th Recipient of the Mendel Medal. Villanova University awards the Mendel Medal to outstanding scientists to honor the achievements and memory of Augustinian friar Gregory Mendel (considered to be the father of genetics). Past recipients have included Nobel Laureates, outstanding medical researchers, pioneers in physical astrophysics and chemistry, and noted scientist-theologians.

September 2003: Virgil Percec. will receive the American Chemical Society Award in Polymer Chemistry at the Awards Ceremony, Tuesday, March 30, 2004, in conjunction with the 227th ACS National Meeting in Anaheim, CA.

July 2003: The Japan Research Foundation for Optically Active Compounds announces the recepient of The Yamada Prize 2003, Amos B. Smith, III. The Yamada Prize, consisting of a medal, 500,000 Japanese yen and travel expenses to Japan, is awarded every year to a scientist whose research has had a major impact in the field of the synthesis of optically active compounds. The Prize was founded in 1995 to commemorate the great contribution to the science in this field by the late Professor Shun-ichi Yamada. The Yamada Prize will be awarded to Professor Amos B. Smith, III on December 8, 2003, at the 13th Symposium on Optically Active Compounds held in Tokyo, Japan.

July 2003: Ivan J. Dmochowski was presented with the Camille and Henry Dreyfus New Faculty Award.

May 2003: Michael Klein and Alan MacDiarmid have been elected as Fellows of the Royal Society. Prof. Klein is cited as a "a pioneer, an innovator and a leader in the use of computational methods to elucidate the structure and dynamics of condensed matter." Prof. MacDiarmid is recognized for "work on a new form of polyacetylene, with Hideki Shirakawa, and with physics studies in collaboration with A J Heeger, [that] revealed that chemical doping of this material created an organic material with conductivity in the metallic regime." See the announcement for more details.

May 2003: Michael Klein has elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

April 2003: American Institute of Chemists and Chemical Heritage Foundation Name Ralph F. Hirschmann as the 2003 AIC Gold Medalist.

April 2003: Ralph Hirschmann to be awarded the Mendel Medal of Science from Villanova University.

January 2003: Robin Hochstrasser is the recipeint of the 2003 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry for "...pioneering the development of ultrafast and multi-dimensional spectroscopies, and their applications to gain fundamental molecular-level understanding of the dynamics in complex systems..." On April 25, 2003, a special symposium will be held at Penn celebrating the award.

July 2002: Amos Smith named to a Centenary Lectureship from the Royal Society of Chemistry.

February 2002: Madeleine M. Joullié receives ACS Cope Scholar Award.

Faculty Awards

Hai-Lung Dai was the recipient of the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 2000. He recently received a gubernatorial appointment to the Pennsylvania State Board of Drugs, Devices, and Cosmetics.

Ivan J. Dmochowski was presented with the Camille and Henry Dreyfus New Faculty Award in July 2003.

Dr. Ralph F.Hirschmann the Makineni Professor of Bioorganic Chemistry in SAS, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences. He was one of 60 members and 15 foreign associates chosen for "distinguished and continuing achievements in original research." Dr. Hirschmann is known for synthesis of molecules with specific biological and medicinal functions, producing breakthroughs such as a new class of anti-inflammatory steroids and a new approach to the treatment of insulin-requiring diabetics. An Oberlin alumnus who took his Ph.D. from Wisconsin, he came to Penn as a research professor in 1987 from the senior vice presidency/chemistry of Merck & Co. Inc., where he had spent the first 34 years of his career. He was named to the Rao Makineni chair in 1994. He has received the American Chemical Society’s Arthur C. Cope Award and many other honors, including honorary degrees from the Medical University of South Carolina and the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He was the Devon W. Meek Lecturer at the Ohio State University and the Robert M. and Martha W. Ross Lecturer at Dartmouth College in 2000. He also received the University of Louisville Award Lecture in 2000. In 2001, he was elected Senior Fellow at the Institute of Medicine (The National Academies). He was honored by the Willard Gibbs Medal in 2002. The same year the Hirschmann-Makineni Professorship in Chemistry was established at the University of Pennsylvania.

Madeleine Joullie in 2001 was named one of "76 Smartest People in Philadelphia" in the Philadelphia Magazine. She received the ACS A.C. Cope Senior Scholar Award and was presented with the NIH Center for Scientific Review Medicinal Chemsitry Study Section in 2002.

Marisa Kozlowski is being honored as an American Cancer Society Beginning Research Scholar. She recently received the Kahn Award for Distinguished Teaching by an Assistant Professor and is recognized as an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow. In 2001, she was the George Lesher Lecturer in Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry (RPI) and also received the NSF Career award.

Marsha Lester was honored by a John Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in 2002. She was also honored as a Distinguished Traveling Lecturer by the American Physical Society, Division of Laser Science. She will be a visiting Miller Research Professor at the University of California, Berkeley in 2003.

Alan G. MacDiarmid was awarded the 2000 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, along with Alan Heeger and Hideki Shirakawa. In 2001, he was recognized by West Chester University and West Virginia Commonwealth University - Richmond as an Honorary Doctor of Science. He also received the 2001 Society of Plastics Engineers International Award. In the same year, he was awarded the Rutherford Medal by The Royal Society of New Zealand and honored as the International Scientist of the Year by the International Biographic Centre in Cambridge, England. In 2002, Dr. MacDiarmid received the Order of New Zealand (ONZ) and was recognized by an Investiture by the Royal Society of New Zealand. He received the 2002 Nichols Medal Award from the American Chemical Society , New York Section. He has also been granted memberships into the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Science.

Eric Meggers was presented with the Camille and Henry Dreyfus New Faculty Award in July 2002.

Gary Molander is the recipient of the Japnese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Fellowship.

Andrew Rappe has recently been promoted to Associate Professor.

Jeff Saven has received the prestigious Beckman Young Investigator award. The BYI Program is intended to provide research support to the most promising young faculty members in the early stages of academic careers in the chemical and life sciences.

Amos B. Smith, III will receive the Yamada Prize on December 8, 2003 at the 13th Symposium on Optically Active Compounds held in Tokyo, Japan.

Edward Thornton received the Dean’s Award for Innovation in Teaching from the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania

Michael Therien recently received the JPP Young Investigator Award in 2002 and has been honored by a Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar award.

Patrick Walsh was honored recently by a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award.

Brad Wayland - American Chemical Society has given Dr. Wayland the 2000 Philadelphia Section Award.

Owen Webster received the 2001 International Award of the Society of Polymer Chemistry, Japan in recognition of cooperative research with Japanese polymer scientists. Dr. Webster traveled to Osaka, Japan in May of 2001 to give a talk on Group Transfer Polymerization at the annual meeting of the Society.

Jeffrey Winkler received the American Chemical Society Cope Scholar in the year 2000. In July of 200 he was invited to speak at the Gordon Conference on Heterocycles. In the year 2000, he was the Merck-Frosst Lecturer at the University of Sherbrooke and the Bristol-Myers Squibb Lecturer at Michigan State University, He was the Plenary Lecturer at the French-American Chemical Society, the Pfizer Lecturer at the University of Waterloo. the Novartis Lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin, the Alan Johnson Lecturer at the University of Sussex, UK, and the Astra Zeneca Lecturer at the University of Manchester in the year 2002. He has been invited to speak at the Gordon Research Conference on Natural Products in July of 2003.