AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY LOCAL SECTION N e w s l e t t e r

Volume IX, number 2 July 20, 2000

The American Chemical Society is the premier membership organization for chemists, chemical engineers, and allied professionals worldwide, number one chemical information provider, and leader in advancing the scientific literacy of students and the public's appreciation of chemistry.

July 30 - August 3 16^th Biennial Conference on Chemical Education University of Michigan, Ann Arbor August 20 – 24, 2000 220^th ACS National Meeting Washington, D.C. October 21 Saturday 11:00 am-3:00 "Chemistry Day at Lansing Mall" November 5 - 11, 2000 NATIONAL CHEMISTRY WEEK Theme: Kitchen Chemistry

Ms. Annis Hapkiewicz 1999-2000 Outstanding High School Chemistry Teacher of the Year Ms. Annis Hapkiewicz, a teacher at Okemos High School, has been named the 1999-2000 Outstanding High School Chemistry Teacher of the Year by the MSU Local Section. This award recognizes the work and dedication of outstanding chemistry teachers within our section boundaries. The criteria for this award include excellence in teaching that inspires students to pursue careers in chemistry and related fields, demonstrated professional growth, and outreach to the educational community and the public at large. Employed by the Okemos Public School District since 1970, Ms. Hapkiewicz currently teaches first-year and AP Chemistry and serves as the district's K-12 Science Coordinator. In addition, she has advised her school's National Honor Society, coached both Okemos High School Quiz Bowl and Science Olympiad teams, and assisted with the district's annual Science Day and Family Science nights. Ms. Hapkiewicz’s contributions to the Michigan science community have been significant. She has been a member of the Michigan Science Teachers Association (MSTA) Board since 1986 and served in various capacities including President. She has worked with the Michigan Department of Education on the MEAP exams since 1986. She served as a member of the Science Advisory Board for Impressions 5 Science Museum from 1992-96. She has been an adjunct instructor with the Michigan State University College of Natural Science since 1990. She is currently on the Advanced Placement Chemistry Test Development Team for Educational Testing Services, and has been a member of the College Board since 1992. (continued on page 2)

1999-2000 OUTSTANDING HIGH SCHOOL CHEMISTRY TEACHER OF THE YEAR AWARD (continued from p.1)

Ms. Hapkiewicz has published over 30 articles in the MSTA Journal, Science Teacher, and the Journal of Chemical Education. She had made over 30 presentations at various professional meetings, state-wide and nationally. She was a member of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation Chemistry Summer travel team from 1991-1995, instructing other chemistry teachers at various sites throughout the country. She is also co-founder of the monthly local high school science teachers meeting sponsored by our local section. This meeting, first held in 1986, provides support for area chemistry teachers.

Ms. Hapkiewicz has been recipient of the 1998-99 MSTA Distinguished Service Award, the Okemos Kiwanis Outstanding Teacher Award in 1997 and 1999, listed as "Most significant teacher for a Westinghouse semifinalist" several times, and was a finalist for the MSTA Teacher of the Year. In 1991, she received the Michigan State University College of Natural Science Outstanding Teacher Award.

As recipient of the 1999-2000 Outstanding High School Chemistry Teacher of the Year, Ms. Hapkiewicz will be the Michigan State University Local Section nominee for the 2001 Great Lakes Region II Award in High School Chemistry Teaching, sponsored by the American Chemical Society.

1999-2000 Outstanding STUDENT aWARDS

The Michigan State University Section of the American Chemical Society has established an award for the outstanding graduating student in chemical sciences at each of the colleges within the section's borders. The faculty at each college selected the award recipient from their school. The 1999-2000 outstanding graduating students in chemistry are:

Kristi Dimitriou – Albion College

Joshua Feller – Jackson Community College

Michael Stout – Michigan State University

Dave Wilhite – Spring Arbor College

Michael Stout received his award (also known as the Kedzie Award) at an awards ceremony before the Max Roger's Lecture at MSU on Tuesday, April 18th. Prof. John McCracken presented Dave Wilhite with his award at Honor's Chapel at Spring Arbor College and Prof. Paul Mantica gave Josh Feller his award during class at Jackson Community College. Kristi Dimitriou received her award from the department chair at a departmental picnic.

The recipients of the 1999-2000 ACS awards for outstanding performance in undergraduate chemistry at Michigan State University are:

Freshman Chemistry – Christopher Burton

Honors Freshman Chemistry – Annette Marie McCoy

Organic Chemistry – Stephanie Teich-McGoldrick

Physical/Analytical Chemistry – Joe Peltier

Advanced Chemistry – Michael Stout

These awards were presented at a reception in the Department of Chemistry at MSU on Thursday, April 27^th.

BIENNIEL CONFERENCE ON CHEMICAL EDUCATION

The University of Michigan is hosting the 16^th Bienniel Conference on Chemical Education sponsored by the Division of Chemical Education of the ACS. The conference will be held in Ann Arbor July 30 – August 3, 2000. Please visit the BCCE conference website http://www.umich.edu/~bcce for further information.

Greetings!

Recently, the MSU Local Section of the ACS established a Younger Chemist Committee (YCC). As the chair of this newly organized committee, I would like to ask for your help in charting a course for and in growing this committee. First established as part of the National ACS in 1974, YCC strives to identify the needs and concerns of younger chemists and to develop programs responsive to their needs. The YCC is driven by three strategic goals:

1. To make the ACS relevant to younger chemists,

2. To increase the involvement of younger chemists in the ACS at all levels, and

3. To develop mechanisms to integrate younger chemists into the profession.

To manage these goals more effectively, each Local Section is encourage to establish its own YCC, so that there is a local group that younger chemists can turn to for assistance in professional growth.

Currently, we are in the process of organizing a steering committee for YCC. This will be a challenging undertaking, as the people who will benefit from the YCC in our Local Section make up such diverse groups as “industrial” chemists, teaching professionals, graduate students, and undergraduate students. The YCC steering committee should, therefore, be made up of people who represent this diversity.

Here is where you come in. We need your help to make our Local Section YCC a committee that reflects the membership, anticipates the memberships needs, and meets (and exceeds!) these needs. If you would like to serve on the steering committee for YCC, or have suggestions as to programs that you would like to see the YCC introduce, please telephone, write, or e-mail me!

Jim Ciszewski

YCC Chair

Chemistry Department, MSU

ciszewsk@cem.msu.edu

355-9715 x-172

MSU ACS LOCAL SECTION OFFICERS 1999-2000

Chairperson: Dr. Paul F. Mantica 517-355-9672 ext. 456, fax: 517-353-5967 e-mail: mantica@nscl.msu.edu	Past Chairperson: Dr. John L. McCracken 517-355-9715 ext. 229, fax: 517-353-1793 e-mail: mccracke@pilot.msu.edu
Secretary: Dr. Kathryn Severin 517-355-9715 ext. 372, fax: 517-353-1793 e-mail: severin@cem.msu.edu	Treasurer: Dr. Robert Maleczka 517-355-9715 ext. 124, fax: 517-353-1793 e-mail: maleczka@cem.msu.edu
Councilor: Dr. Evelyn P. Jackson 517-355-9715 ext. 204, fax: 517-353-1793 e-mail: ejackson@cem.msu.edu	Alternate Councilor: Dr. Susan J. Masten 517-353-8539, fax: 517-432-1827 e-mail: masten@cee.msu.edu

LOCAL SECTION TRAVEL GRANTS

The MSU Local Section has limited funds available to provide travel support to chemical research/educational conferences. Travel grants up to $250.00 may be awarded to individuals who are members of the MSU Local Section or the local K-12 science education community and have a paper accepted at a conference sanctioned by the American Chemical Society. An application form for travel support is available at http://www.cem.msu.edu/~msuacs/tgrants.html. Applications will be reviewed by MSU Local Section board members in May and December each year. Please contact Paul Mantica, 517-333-6456 or e-mail mantica@msu.edu for more information.

WOMEN CHEMIST COMMITTEE TRAVEL AWARDS

The Women Chemist Committee of the ACS is calling for applications for Travel Awards for post-doctoral, graduate, and undergraduate women to make their first research presentation at a national meeting. These awards are sponsored by Eli Lilly & Company. More information and an application form can be found at http://membership.acs.org/W/WCC or contact Cheryl Brown at 800-227-5558 ext. 6022. Deadlines for receipt of applications for 2001 meetings:

September 15, 2000 – Meetings between January 1 & June 30, 2001

February 15, 2001 – Meetings between June 30, 2001 & December 31, 2001.

ACS WOMEN IN CHEMISTRY

ACSWIC finished off the spring term with a couple of great meetings! Professor Gale M. Strasburg from the Department of Food Science and Nutrition discussed “Organic Chemistry in the Kitchen” at a lunch time meeting on April 12^th. Among the topics explored: why fruits and vegetables turn brown when bruised and how antioxidants work to prevent rancidity. Then, on May 16^th, Dr. Barbara Radecki, a manager at BASF Corporation (and MSU graduate) shared her experiences in “Surviving the Chemical Industry – One Woman’s Perspective.” Dr. Radecki talked about industrial jobs from a recruiter’s, a manager’s, and a mother’s point of view. As an outreach activity, steering committee members: Shawn Mehrens, Shannon Haymond, and Kathy Severin had a great time sharing hands-on activities and demonstrations involving acid-base chemistry at a science fair at St. Thomas Aquinas School in East Lansing on April 27^th. In April members chatted with Prof. Vicki DeRose of Texas A&M University and Prof. Kathlyn Parker of Brown University as part of our “Meet the Speaker” activity. All information about meetings as well as other news about the group can be found at our website: http://www.cem.msu.edu/~acswic.

MSU LSAC Ballot to elect new local section officers for 2000 – 2001.

Please return before August 15, 2000. All candidates are running unopposed. Write-in a candidates are welcome for all offices.

Chair-Elect: ___ Aaron Odom (MSU, Chemistry)

___ __________________________

Councilor: ___ Kathryn Severin (MSU, Chemistry)

___ __________________________

Secretary: ___ Holly Bevsek (MSU, Lyman Briggs School)

___ __________________________

Treasurer: ___ Rob Maleczka (MSU, Chemistry)

___ __________________________

CANDIDATE PROFILES

Chair-Elect: Aaron Odom (MSU, Chemistry), Assistant Professor

B.S. 1993 Texas Tech University; Ph.D. 1997 Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Postdoctoral Research Fellow, 1998-1999, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research involves synthetic and mechanistic aspects of inorganic and organometallic chemistry.

Councilor: Kathryn Severin (MSU, Chemistry), Academic Specialist, Analytical/Physical Laboratory Coordinator

B.S. 1976 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; M.S. 1990 East Tennessee State University; Ph.D. 1996 Michigan State University; Postdoctoral Research Associate 1997 Michigan State University. Secretary, MSU ACS Local Section, 1999; Steering Committee member, ACS-Women in Chemistry since 1997; National Chemistry Week Coordinator: 1998 - 2000.

Secretary: Holly Bevsek (MSU, Lyman Briggs School), Dutton Lecturer

B.S. 1989 Marquette University; Ph.D. 1996 University of Pittsburgh; Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow 1996 – 1997 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Faculty advisor of “Chem Club”, the student affiliates chapter of the ACS at MSU; Faculty liaison for Lyman Briggs Alumni Association. Holly is developing innovative teaching strategies for general chemistry lectures and laboratories and investigating the role of aerosols in tropospheric chemistry.

Treasurer: Rob Maleczka (MSU, Chemistry), Assistant Professor

B.S. 1984 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Ph.D. 1992 The Ohio State University; American Chemical Society Postdoctoral Fellow, 1992-1995, University of Pennsylvania. His research program is directed towards the synthesis of biologically important natural compounds and invention of new reactions and strategies in organic synthesis.

PLEASE TAPE OR STAPLE CLOSED WITH ADDRESS SHOWING AND SEND TO:

Dr. Kathryn G. Severin, Secretary

MSU ACS Local Section

Department of Chemistry

Michigan State University

East Lansing, MI 48824-1322

MSU ACS LOCAL SECTION COMMITTEE CHAIRS 2000-2001

The MSU ACS Local Section Committee Chairs for the academic year 2000-2001 have been appointed. If you would like to participate in any of these activities or have information that would be of interest to committee members, please contact the committee chair or one of the executive board members.

Committee	Chair	e-mail address
Awards	Sheldon Knoespel	knoespel@cem.msu.edu
Industrial Relations	Doug Nordhaus
Bylaws	Evelyn Jackson	ejackson@cem.msu.edu
National Chemistry Week	Kathryn Severin	severin@cem.msu.edu
Public Relations & Newsletter Editor	Dalila Kovacs	kovacs@cem.msu.edu
Women Chemists	Shawn Mehrens Shannon Haymond	lacasses@msu.edu haymonds@su.edu
Younger Chemists	Jim Ciszewski	ciszewsk@cem.msu.edu

PROFILES OF NEW COMMITTEE CHAIRS

Dalila Kovacs (MSU, Chemistry/Chemical Engineering) Research Associate

Ph.D. 1998 Michigan State University; Advanced (1988) and Tenure (1983) Degrees in Education Babes-Bolyai University; B.S. 1980 Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Dalila is currently working on joint Chemical Engineering/Chemistry projects, investigating mechanistic aspects of heterogenous catalytic processes. She also teaches introductory organic chemistry.

Shawn Mehrens (MSU, Chemistry) Graduate Student

B.A. 1998 Albion College. Shawn has been a graduate student in the MSU Chemistry department since Fall 1998. She is in Prof. Gary Blanchard’s group, studying inter- and intra-layer energy transfer in covalent multilayer systems. Shawn has been on the ACSWIC steering committee member for 1½ years.

Shannon Haymond (MSU, Chemistry) Graduate Student

B.S. 1998 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Shannon came to MSU in Fall 1998 and is an analytical graduate student in Prof. Jerry Babcock’s group. Her research involves developing a technique that couples electrochemistry and FTIR, in order to study redox-active metal centers in proteins. She has been on the ACSWIC steering committee for the past year.

Jim Ciszewski (MSU, Chemistry) Graduate Student

B.S. 1989 Illinois State University; M.S. 1991 Illinois State University. Jim is a graduate student in Prof. Aaron Odom's research group, conducting research on high valence group six imido compounds. He’s been at MSU since Fall 1999. He is also a member of the MSU Cycling Team.

LOCAL NATIONAL CHEMISTRY WEEK CELEBRATION

The ACS MSU Local Section will once again usher in National Chemistry Week with our 14th annual “Chemistry Day in the Lansing Mall” from 11 am – 3 pm on Saturday, October 21, 2000. We invite area schools and colleges, MSU science departments, and industrial organizations to begin thinking now about their participation in this fun-filled and educational event. Kathy Severin (severin@cem.msu.edu) will serve as the Local Section Coordinator for National Chemistry Week 2000. The theme for NCW 2000 will be Kitchen Chemistry.

Inside:

Outstanding Chemistry Teacher Award

Outstanding Chemistry Student Awards

Biennial Conference on Chemical Education

Younger Chemists Committee Announcement

Local Section Election Ballot and Candidate Profiles

Committee Chairs for 2000 – 2001 Academic Year

Local Section Travel Grants

WCC Travel Awards

ACS Women in Chemistry

Local National Chemistry Week Celebration

Visit our new and improved Local Section website at: http://www.cem.msu.edu/~msuacs

Dr. Kathryn Severin, Secretary

MSU ACS Local Section

Department of Chemistry

Michigan State University

East Lansing, MI 48824-1322