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Volume 2016, No. 1. This masthead was recreated by University Marketing and Communications for our 50th An- niversary celebration. It was used (at least!) in parts of the 1980’s and 1990’s. Do you know the original creator or the story of its creation? If so, please share that information with us! Fifty years. Golden Anniversary. The Department of Chemistry celebrates its 50th Anniversary in 2016, with the official beginning occurring in the fall of the 1966-67 school year. This year has been on the calendar for at least five years as a year to celebrate, yet, like many milestones, it still sneaks up on you! We have an exciting year of celebrations planned. We have our first two events later this month — a banquet and a golf outing — with more events in October. As I have engaged with our alumni, friends, former and current faculty, and staff during preparations these past few months, it has been heartwarming to hear stories of how much has changed… and how much has stayed the same! The commitment to our students and to excellence in the classroom and the laboratory echoes through the tales I have heard. Looking back at old chem- letters, the similarities in our values are striking, but not surprising. It is fun and informative to read about instrument purchases, grants, and new buildings, while also seeing stories of student trips to present their work at American Chemical Society national meetings and gatherings of alumni and friends. Many of the tales I have heard are from pre-1966, when we were part of Physical Sciences, but the themes remain the same. We remain committed to our students and the pursuit of new knowledge! I hope you’ll join us in some way in 2016 to celebrate this golden year of our existence. We can use this opportunity to look back and take stock of the last 50 years and use that as motivation to strive for excellence for the next 50 years. Let us share tales of our past and create new adventures together in the future! Cheers, Craig C. McLauchlan Professor and Interim Chair Department celebrates 50th Anniversary!

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Page 1: This masthead was recreated by University Marketing and ... · This masthead was recreated by University Marketing and Communications for our 50th An-niversary celebration. It was

Volume 2016, No. 1.

This masthead was recreated by University

Marketing and Communications for our 50th An-

niversary celebration. It was used (at

least!) in parts of the 1980’s and 1990’s.

Do you know the original creator or the story

of its creation? If so, please share that

information with us!

Fifty years. Golden Anniversary. The Department of Chemistry celebrates its 50th

Anniversary in 2016, with the official beginning occurring in the fall of the 1966-67

school year. This year has been on the calendar for at least five years as a year to

celebrate, yet, like many milestones, it still sneaks up on you! We have an exciting

year of celebrations planned. We have our first two events later this month — a banquet

and a golf outing — with more events in October. As I have engaged with our alumni,

friends, former and current faculty, and staff during preparations these past few

months, it has been heartwarming to hear stories of how much has changed… and how much

has stayed the same! The commitment to our students and to excellence in the classroom

and the laboratory echoes through the tales I have heard. Looking back at old chem-

letters, the similarities in our values are striking, but not surprising. It is fun and

informative to read about instrument purchases, grants, and new buildings, while also

seeing stories of student trips to present their work at American Chemical Society

national meetings and gatherings of alumni and friends. Many of the tales I have heard

are from pre-1966, when we were part of Physical Sciences, but the themes remain the

same. We remain committed to our students and the pursuit of new knowledge! I hope

you’ll join us in some way in 2016 to celebrate this golden year of our existence. We

can use this opportunity to look back

and take stock of the last 50 years and

use that as motivation to strive for

excellence for the next 50 years. Let

us share tales of our past and create

new adventures together in the future!

Cheers, Craig C. McLauchlan

Professor and Interim Chair

Department celebrates

50th Anniversary!

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John Baur John Baur was just named the Associate Vice President of Research and Graduate Studies at ISU where he has responsibilities for the Graduate School and several research offices including Research and Sponsored Programs, Research Ethics and Compliance, and the Center for Mathematics, Science, and Technology.

Jeremy Driskell Jeremy Driskell and his lab continue to develop point-of-need bioanalytical assays using nanoparticles; research

supported by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. Graduate and undergraduate students have done an

excellent job presenting the work at several conferences including the National ACS meeting in San Francisco.

Faculty Updates

Shawn Hitchcock Dr. Hitchcock is rebuilding his research group after many of his students graduated. He is working in lab alongside his new research students and is looking forward to summer teaching, research, and basketball.

Marjorie Jones Jones’ research group is doing more work with bioremediation of crop waste products (such as coffee wastes and agave wastes) using yeast fermentation to degrade the wastes and produce ethanol and other value added metabolites.

Jun-Hyun Kim Jun-Hyun Kim and his group continue active nano-based research. Thanks to much support from the chemistry faculty/staff and students, his promotion process to Associate Professor looks promising so far. He will be on sabbatical during the 2016-17 academic year.

Andy Mitchell The Mitchell research group is doing well. We have published a few papers and students are moving on to jobs and further schooling. The Mitchell family is also doing well: Mandi, Simon (7), Sylvia (4), and Miriam (2) say hello!

Christopher Mulligan Recent work from the Mulligan group was chosen for the cover of the journal Analytical Methods. Dr. Mulligan re-

cently returned from a sabbatical leave in the Fall of 2015 and began working on a new National Institute of Justice

project.

Steve Peters Dr. Peters continues to enjoy cycling during the summer months on roads “that are next to the myriad corn and soybean fields of central Illinois.”

Lisa Szczepura

Recent funding from the NSF has enabled the Szczepura group to further investigate organometallic chemistry of hexanuclear cluster complexes, which has been a lot of fun. These funds also support the Enrichment Workshop Program which was offered this spring. Dr. Szczepura also received a Diversity Advocacy Award in 2015.

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Dr. Sarah Boesdorfer joins the ISU faculty as an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry.

Prior to coming to ISU, she was an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Bio-

chemistry at the University of Northern Iowa. Dr. Boesdorfer holds an Ed.D. from Illinois State Uni-

versity, an M.S. from University of Wisconsin, and a B.S. from University of Illinois. Her research

interests include the impact of learning experiences on science/chemistry teachers’ practice.

The release of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and its adoption has provided nu-

merous learning opportunities for chemistry teachers. Along with numerous peer-reviewed publi-

cations, she has been involved in several professional development projects in which teachers are

learning about NGSS and implementing portions of NGSS in their classroom including a project in which chemistry teachers were

beginning to incorporate some of the engineering portions of NGSS into their classrooms. Boesdorfer has been looking at how

this impacts teachers’ instruction of chemistry overall.

Boesdorfer is excited to return to Illinois State University and feels very privileged to be able to contribute again to the teaching

and scholarship at ISU.

New Faculty Profile: Dr. Sarah Boesdorfer

Reprinted from CAS News, Jan 25, 2016

Recently, faculty and students have continued to be success-

ful in receiving awards on ISU’s campus. Awards include the

College of Arts and Sciences Service Award for Jun-Hyun Kim.

At the University level, M.S. student Mark Servos received an

Outstanding University Teaching Award (Chemistry’s third in a

row!) and Jeremy Driskell received the Research Initiative

Award. Mark and Jeremy were honored at February’s Found-

ers Day celebration. At left, Dr. Driskell accepts his plaque

from the 19th President of Illinois State University, Dr. Larry

Dietz.

Awards

Jeremy D. Driskell “Flow-through Capture Filters for Investigating and Enhancing Antibody-Antigen Binding Kinetics,” Defense Threat Reduction Agency , $179,340, January 2015 to January 2017.

Timothy D. Lash, “RUI: Carbaporphyrins, Carbachlorins and Related Conjugated Macrocycles,” National Science Foundation, $320,000, August 2015 to July 2018.

Christopher C. Mulligan, “Analytical Validation and Impact Assessment of On-Site Evidence Screening via Ambient Sampling, Portable Mass Spectrometry,” National Institutes of Justice, $299,753, January 1, 2016 to January 31, 2017.

Lisa F. Szczepura, “RUI – Supraoctahedral Rhenium and Molybdenum Clusters: N-Heterocyclic Carbenes and Exploration into the Coordination of Fischer vs. Schrock Carbenes,” National Science Foundation, $307,000, July 2014 through June 2017.

Recent Grants in the Department

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2015 Senior Banquet &

Awards Ceremony ACS Outstanding Student Chapter Award: Chem Club

ACS Green Chemistry Student Chapter Award: Chem Club

Barry Goldwater Scholarship, Honorable Mention: Bill Darrow

Graduate Student Teaching Award: Amy Christensen

ACS Illinois Heartland Collegiate Scholars: Leah Stateman,

Christian Zwick

John “Gary” Erisman Memorial Scholarship: Nora Fredstrom

ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry Research Award:

Craig Wallace

ACS Undergraduate Award in Organic Chemistry: Leah

Stateman

CRC General Chemistry Achievement Award: Sara Bell

Hypercube Scholar Award: Jason Knox

Outstanding Analytical Chemistry Student: Angelica Traub

Outstanding Biochemistry Student: Josh Jarodsky

Outstanding Chemical Education Student: KC Kroes

Outstanding Inorganic Chemistry Student: Raz Jugovic

Outstanding Physical Chemistry Student: Stacie Cler

POLYED Award in Organic Chemistry: Bill Darrow,

Nora Fredstrom

James B. “Ben” Sedgwick Scholarship: Matt Drummer

Sol Shulman Scholarship: Sandra Arnot, Sara Bell, Stacie Cler,

Bill Darrow, Leah Daugherty, Chase Deberry, Ben Hendrix,

Samantha Huffman, Emily Rosenquist

Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant: Mark Servos

Clockwise from top left: Students gather with Prof. Andy Mitchell at the 2015 Awards Banquet; the Class of 2015 for B.S. in Chemis-

try, B.S. in Chemistry Teacher Education, and M.S. in Chemistry, respectively.

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This is our 3rd visit to South Korea with 3 total students (2 undergraduates and 1 M.S. student). Although we are mainly staying at Keimyung University, Daegu, for active collaborative research, this year, I gave a presentation at Chungnam National Universi-ty and plan to present at Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), and Keimyung University, Gacheon University while Lindsey presented at Keimyung University and plans to present at Gacheon University. Throughout this col-laborative research exchange program we have resulted in 6 publications thus far. — Dr. Jun-Hyun Kim

Roaming Redbirds: Chemistry Style

Illinois State University has committed to increasing the number of students who study abroad. We also host international stu-

dents. Those international experiences are not limited to students, though. Several of our faculty also collaborate and present

their work around the world! Here are a few snapshots from international experiences in the past year.

In May 2015, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Germany as a part of Honors Study Abroad. After studying German in high school and college, I couldn’t wait to visit all of the sites I had been reading about for years. I loved the interdisciplinary nature of this trip. From the Berlin Wall to Olympic Stadiums, from J.S. Bach’s organ to Mad King Ludwig’s Castle in the Alps, this trip gave me a broad overview of German history, culture, innovation, and creativity. Walking through different cities, hearing other languages, and contemplating new ideas with other students was eye-opening. It made me more empathetic, more engaged in the world outside of my classroom and lab, and it enriched my experience as a student. — William Darrow, B.S. ‘17

One of the greatest experiences of my undergraduate career was the opportunity to study abroad in the small city of Tuscania, Italy. I chose a smaller town due to the fact that I am an Italian minor and wanted to learn about the culture of another country; it turned out to be a wonderful decision. I believe that it will help me as I move forward in life in multiple ways such as the realization that people in other countries and cultures are so similar to us. I didn’t get to travel much, but I still speak with many of the friends who I met there and I am grate-ful for the chance that I got to be able to experience the culture first hand with others my age from halfway across the world. — Samantha Huffman, B.S. ‘16

We were fully immersed in the German culture, history, and language for nearly two weeks. We were able to visit many historically significant areas of Germany. In addition, we were able to view Germany from a variety of perspectives, which in turn enhanced our view of our own community at Illinois State University. We also toured the Adlershof, the city of science, in which Bruker, several other scientific equipment companies, and a few universities have research facilities. I wanted to study abroad in or-der to expand my knowledge of the world. Being aware of other cultures is advantageous in society, considering the incredible amount of collaboration that occurs among research groups from different countries. In addition, I have had a personal interest in German culture since high school. It is fasci-nating to experience life in countries other than the one in which I was raised because it provides a different lens through which to view life when I return home from trips abroad. Learning about differ-ent cultures broadened my view of the world. — Nora Fredstrom, B.S. ‘17

Having collaborated with the scientists at the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre for about a decade, this summer I journeyed to Europe for about the tenth time in as many years. The CCDC was celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Cambridge Crystallographic Database and they invited me to be their keynote speaker for ‘chemical education using crystallographic data’. It was a super exciting honor to address an exclusive audience of the world’s crystallography experts in the How-ard Theatre at Downing College. After the anniversary gala, my family and I stayed on in Cambridge for a few weeks, living in a small apartment literally a stone’s throw (not even) from a traditional English Pub. We make it a point to take in a bit of the European culture every time we visit. — Dr. Greg Ferrence

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Updates from Alumni

Victoria Nguyen (B.S. ‘10, M.S., ‘12, Jones) gave birth to her daughter, Lily Mai on July 8, 2014.

Dave Atkinson (B.S. ;85, Duty) is now a Process Scientist in the Coagulation Department at CSL Behring. He is in charge of pooling and coagulation of human donor plasma, Cryoprecipitate centrifugation, and Blood Clotting Factor VIII purification.

Dr. Brad Bammel (B.S. ‘76) has been named Interim Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Boise State University. Brad has been at B.S.U. since 1988.

Rachel Harrington (B.S. ’84, Webb) reported that after nearly 20 years in the chemical and consumer products industries followed by 10 years in academic laboratory safety, she accepted a position in the automotive industry (Sept. 2013). “It's a lot of fun being back in manufacturing (I had forgotten how many ways the f-bomb could be used) and my basic science education is still a tremendous advantage for me.”

Dwayne Michaels (B.S. ’91, DeLuca) reports that he is a raw material salesperson for paint & coatings, graphic arts, adhesives & sealants and plastics for Brandt TECHnologies with territory that comprises Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

Brad Greiner (B.S. ’05, M.S. ‘08 McLauchlan) is an Associate Scientist II at Abbvie. He and his wife Rachel had a son in July 2014.

Josh McGee (M.S. ‘12, Peters) is a Quality Control/Quality Assurance Chemist at HNC Products in Clinton, IL.

Dr. Ira Buckner (B.S. ’99, Webb/Standard) was recently promoted to Associate Professor. He works in the Mylan School of Pharmacy at Duquesne University.

Dr. Michael Hoehner (B.S. ’90, Lash) wrote to tell us that after 13 years with Dixie Chemical Company in various roles, he is entering his third year with Nova Molecular Technologies as the Director of Business Development and R&D.

Brett Boote (M.S. ’13, Kim) is headed to Iowa State University to pursue a Ph.D.

Dr. Philip Yangyuoru (M.S. ‘07, Shaw) is now a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Russell at University of Texas-Austin.

Dr. Jakoah R. Brgoch (B.S. ‘06, M.S. ‘08, Cedeno) has begun as an Assistant Professor at the University of Houston. He recently finished a post-doctoral fellowship in Santa Barbara.

Dr. Michael P. Weberski, Jr. (B.S. ‘05, M.S. ‘07, McLauchlan) is now at Nalco in Naperville.

Eric Thiele (B.S. ’10, Hamaker?) is a Laboratory Technician at Rock Valley Oil and Chemical.

Audrey Kimbrell (B.S. ’08) is still a science teacher at West Aurora High School. She recently earned an M.S. in Curriculum from American University.

After working at Bal Engineering in California since graduation, Xavier Riart-Ferrer (B.S. ’11, McLauchlan) headed to

Boston College to pursue his Ph.D. in Chemistry.

Paul Siena (B.S. ’09, M.S. ’12, Nagorski) is now an Analytical Development Scientist at Wockhardt USA.

Dr. David Drake (B.S. ’13) is teaching chemistry and physics at Flora High School.

Dr. Bradley Rose (B.S. ‘09, Stevenson) is now a post-doctoral fellow at KAUST.

Nancy Thomas (B.S. ‘99, M.S. ‘02, Jones) helped move over 1,000 free range cattle on horseback last summer.

Jessica Durham (B.S. ‘10, M.S., ‘12, Szczepura) won a student award from the International Precious Metals Institute.

Chris Luzio (B.S. ’07) is teaching chemistry at Glenwood High School in Chatham, IL.

Jacquie Hooker Hopkins (M.S. ’10, Jones) has accepted a position with Boeing (Huntsville, AL) in the Research and

Technology division.

It has been too long since we published any alumni updates in our newsletter! We have been collecting these updates and would love to hear more. Drop us a line at [email protected] or visit our website to update your info!

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Dr. Kelly Teske (B.S. ’10, Shaw) has completed her Ph.D. at Wisconsin-Milwaukee and is now a post-doctoral fellow at

Connecticut.

Jeff Christopherson (B.S. ‘89, M.S. ‘93, Jones) won the MERLOT app award. He still teaches at Normal Community

High School.

Dr. Bob Quandt threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the April 22 , 2015 ISU baseball game vs. Webster University. Dr. Quandt was there as the invited guest of senior biochemistry major and Redbird baseball player Paul DeJong (B.S. ‘15), who caught the first pitch. Dr. Quandt also was interviewed on the radio broadcast for one half inning of the game. Paul is now playing in the St. Louis Cardinals farm system (AA Springfield at press time); he played in Peoria in 2015 and recently went through spring training in Florida.

Dr. Swathi Gannavaram (M.S. ‘08, Cedeño) has accepted a position as a Postdoctoral Researcher at Penn State University.

Dr. Christopher Cooper (B.S. ‘05, Jones) has a new job: Life Science Account Manager, Mid-Atlantic Region for Malvern Instruments. Responsible for life science account customer relations and sales in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Joan (Tirado) Berry (M.S., ‘11, Szczepura) was recently promoted at Flinn Scientific. She is now managing a group of 20 in her new role as Chemical Repack Specialist.

Brigette Smith (B.S., ‘10, McLauchlan) is in her fifth year of teaching 7/8 Science in Phoenix. She is the Lead Science Teacher for her district and coach of the three time defending district champ cheerleading squad. She will begin a masters program in Educational Leadership at Arizona State this fall.

Andrea Bruck (B.S. ‘14, Szczepura) received an NSF Graduate Fellowship. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. at Stony Brook University.

Amy (Sudhoff) Stauff (B.S. ‘09, Hunter) recently had a son, Sawyer.

Michael Nocella (B.S. ‘11, Szczepura) has been teaching chemistry at Niles West since 2011 and will be tenured this fall. He completed a Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction this spring through National Louis University. He currently resides in Arlington Heights with his wife Tina.

Dave (B.S. ‘04, Standard/Nagorski) and Julie Przybyla (B.S. ‘04, Jones) welcomed their second daughter, Joelle, who

was born July 2, 2015; older sister Corrine is very happy to be a big sister.

Mike Petro (B.S. '89, M.S. '91, DeLuca) passed away in October 2015 from liver cancer.

Jon Franklin (B.S. ‘15, Szczepura) passed away in June 2015.

Anne Coghill (B.S. ‘79) was our Alumni Day guest

during Homecoming in October 2015. Anne currently

works for American Chemical Society (ACS) Publica-

tions. As part of the Homecoming festivities, Anne

joined us for a luncheon, met with students, faculty,

and staff, and presented a seminar on her career

experiences and the publishing process. Anne was

also able to join us for the Redbird football game on

Saturday.

Stay in Touch!

Alumni of the Department of Chemistry are an im-

portant component to the continued success of our

program. By going forth and "Spreading the Red" and

making us proud, our alumni represent the Depart-

ment well around the city, state, country, and world.

We are always excited to hear what our alumni are

up to now and to keep them involved in the happen-

ings in and around the Department. Drop a line to

[email protected] or alumni liaison Dr.

Greg Ferrence ([email protected]).

Alumni Day Guest

Like us. Follow us. Join us.

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Come Help Celebrate Chemistry’s 50th Anniversary

Planned Anniversary Events April 29: 50th Anniversary Banquet April 30: Golf Outing @ Weibring October 8: Homecoming Tailgate

October 22: Chemistry Celebration

For more information please visit Chemistry.IllinoisState.edu/ISUChem50