Hoby Wedler has been selected as a Champion of Change for STEM for people with disabilities, as part of President Obama’s “Winning the Future” initiative (whitehouse.gov/champions). On May 7, Hoby will be honored in the White House as a leader who is making a positive impact in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) for people with disabilities in the areas of employment and education. Hoby was quick to acknowledge the UC Davis chemistry department, Dean Tantillo, and the Tantillo group for all of their everlasting wonderful support. Congratulations to Hoby for his Champion efforts! – Jackie

Professor Navrotsky and her colleagues Peter C. Burns at University of Notre Dame and Rodney C. Ewing at University of Michigan published a review article in Science in which they discuss the “current understanding of nuclear fuel interactions with the environment, including studies over the relatively narrow range of geochemical, hydrological, and radiation environments relevant to geological repository
performance, and discuss priorities for research needed to develop future predictive models.” Congratulations to Professor Navrotsky and her colleagues for this great achievement.

There are many graduate students who have been honored recently by national and international organizations, including 1) Tim Newman of Professor Augustine’s group received NSF Graduate Research Fellowship; 2) Thomas Myers of Professor Berben’s group received American Chemical Society Division of Inorganic Chemistry Student Travel Award; 3) Charles Grove of Professor Shaw’s Lab received Floyd and Mary Schwall Dissertation Year Fellowship in Medical Research; and 4) Rene Johnson of Professor Casey’s group received the ‘Best Presentation Award’ at the International Uranium Biogeochemistry Conference in Switzerland (really? yeah!). In addition, Greg Allen, Rachel Chamousis, Osvaldo Gutierrez, and Darlene Tan all received UCD & Humanities Graduate Research Award. Congratulations to our outstanding graduate students!

Congratulations to Professor William Casey who has been chosen to receive the Herbert A. Young Society Dean’s Fellowship in the Division of Mathematical and Physical Sciences. This award is funded with private contributions to the College of Letters and Science Annual Fund and the Herbert A. Young Foundation and is intended to be used for teaching research and service activities.

Professor Louise Berben has just been named a 2012 Sloan Fellow. The Sloan Research Fellowships seek to stimulate fundamental research by early-career scientists and scholars of outstanding promise. These two-year fellowships are awarded yearly to 118 researchers in recognition of distinguished performance and a unique potential to make substantial contributions to their field. Congratulations to Professor Berben, her research team and the staff who support their efforts. -Jackie

Congratulations to Professor Osterloh who has received the Scialog Collaborative Innovation Award for 2012. This grant from Research Corporation will allow his research team to fabricate and test Fractal Shaped Solar Cells with improved performance. This is a collaboration between the Osterloh group, and the groups of Richard Tailor (Physics, U Oregon), Boaz Ilan (School of Natural Sciences, UC Merced) and Sean Shaheen (Physics and Astronomy, U Denver).

An NMR study by the Ames Group on estrogen receptors in breast cancer has been selected as “Paper of the Week” by the Journal of Biological Chemistry in an upcoming March issue. For more details, also see: http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=10138.

Congratulations to Professor Dean Tantillo, who has been awarded the Natural Product Reports Lectureship for 2012! This is a wonderful acknowledgment of Professor Tantillo’s research accomplishments.

Congratulations to Professor Peter Beal and Professor Alan Balch, who were elected as a AAAS Fellows. Prof. Beal was elected for “distinguished contributions to chemical biology through the application of synthetic organic chemistry to the understanding of RNA-protein interactions”. Prof. Balch was elected for “imaginative contributions to synthetic inorganic chemistry, fullerene chemistry, and metalloporphyrin reactivity.” This is a well deserved honor for Profs. Balch and Beal, and their research teams.

A recent article in Chemical & Engineering News Magazine features the UC Davis Department of Chemistry as one of the Top 5 Departments for Female Faculty among big spenders on Chemistry R&D. UC Davis Chemistry ranks on the Top 5 List for both the number of female faculty (with 10 women faculty), and also on the Top 5 List for having the highest percentage of female faculty (with 25% women faculty). Overall, C&E News figures report that women held only 17% of the tenured and tenure-track positions in 2010–11, up from 16% in the previous two years.