2007 News Archive
Fraser Stoddart Awarded Albert Einstein World Award of Science
6 December 2007 - J. Fraser Stoddart who will join the Northwestern University faculty as Board of Trustees Professor of Chemistry in January, has been selected by the World Cultural Council to receive the 2007 Albert Einstein World Award of Science.
The award recognizes individuals who have accomplished scientific and technological achievements that have brought progress to science and benefit to mankind.
Stoddart, currently Fred Kavli Chair in Nanosystems Sciences at the University of California at Los Angeles, is a pioneer in the fields of nanoscience and organic chemistry. By introducing an additional type of bond (the mechanical bond) into chemical synthesis, Stoddart became one of the few chemists to have opened up a new field of chemistry during the past 25 years.
The World Cultural Council is recognizing Stoddart for his “outstanding and pioneering work in molecular recognition and self-assembly and the introduction of quick and efficient template-directed synthetic routes to mechanically interlocked molecular compounds, which have changed the way chemists think about molecular switches and machines.”
The award also recognizes Stoddart's educational impact, noting him as a person “responsible for putting chemists at the forefront of the burgeoning field of nanoscience and nanotechnology, impacting and inspiring several generations of scientists and taking discoveries from key fundamental observations to important technological advances.”
Chad Mirkin, Tom Meade and Sam Stupp Featured in Chicago Business Week
30 November 2007 - Read about how they mix the R and the D in Research and Development for their road to innovative success! Click here to get the full scoop.[Link no longer available]
Professor Ratner Named First Dumas Professorship at Northwestern
8 November 2007 - Mark Ratner, the Morrison Professor of Chemistry, has been appointed the first Lawrence B. Dumas Distinguished University Professor at Northwestern University. The University established the professorship in August after Dumas asked to step down as Provost, a post he had held since 1996. Ratner, who earned his undergraduate degree at Harvard University and his doctorate in chemistry at Northwestern, returned to the University as professor of chemistry in 1975. He had previously completed postdoctoral work at Aarhus University in Denmark and began his career in the chemistry department at New York University. He has served as chair of the chemistry department (1988-91) and associate dean of the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences (1980-84). Ratner is interested in structure at the nanoscale, function at the nanoscale, and the theory of fundamental chemical processes. He tries to bring together structure and function in molecular nanostructures, based on theoretical notions, on exemplary calculations, and on collaborations with experimentalists and other theorists, in the United States and around the world. Some principal areas of interest are molecular electronics, theories of self-assembly, nonlinear response in molecules, and exact and approximate theories of quantum dynamics. His newest interest is in using nanoscience to attack the energy problems facing the United States and the world. Ratner is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Sciences and the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences. He has received the Langmuir Award from the American Chemical Society and the Feynman Award from the Foresight Institute. In 2005, he was awarded an honorary doctor of science degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He also has also been a member of the Faculty Teaching Honor Roll at Northwestern 11 times, received the University Distinguished Award and taught roughly 5,000 students in General Chemistry in the last dozen years. He is the coauthor of two non-technical books on nanotechnology, and his research has been published in more than 600 journal articles. He is a member of editorial boards of Advances in Quantum Chemistry, Chemical Reviews, Accounts of Chemical Research, Small, Chemical Physics, Microstructures and Interfaces, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Moroccan Journal of Condensed Matter, Physical Chemistry and Chemical Physics, Theoretical Chemistry Accounts and Chemical Physics Letters.
Professor Chad Mirkin is the 2007 Winner of the iCON Innovator Award
15 October 2007 - Professor Chad Mirkin was honored on October 4, 2007 at the Illinois Biotech Industry Organization for the Institute’s iCON Awards ceremonies. Launched in 2007, the iBIO Institute’s iCON Awards were developed to recognize the role of education, research and training in fostering growth and building the next generation of Midwest biotechnology and life sciences innovators and leaders. As the region’s most prestigious honor, these awards will be given annually to celebrate the achievements of the most inspired academic, civic, and business leaders who nurture education, training, and scholarship in the life sciences in Illinois. Dr. Chad A. Mirkin is the Director of the International Institute for Nanotechnology, the George B. Rathmann Professor of Chemistry, Professor of Medicine, and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering.
Professor George Schatz is the 2007 Winner of the Bourke Lectureship and Medal
Awarded "for his pioneering contributions to the theory of chemical reaction dynamics and the understanding of the properties of nanoparticles".
Professor Tobin Marks receives Award for Distinguished Service
1 October 2007 - Professor Tobin Marks has been selected by the American Chemical Society the Award for Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Inorganic Chemistry. This award recognizes individuals who have advanced inorganic chemistry by significant service in addition to performance of outstanding research. Activities recognized by the award include such fields as teaching, writing, research and administration. The Northwestern Chemistry has won this award more than any other in the country. Previous winners included Fred Basolo, Duward Shriver, and Jim Ibers. Congratulations Tobin!
Eli Lilly & Company Grant to Provide Support for Eli Lilly/Northwestern Organic Seminar Series
20 September 2007 - Professors Scheidt and Thomson have received support from Eli Lilly & Company for the 2007-2008 Eli Lilly/Northwestern University Organic Chemistry Seminar Series. This year's speakers will be Professors Richmond Sarpong from UC Berkeley, Allison Frontier from Rochester University and Christina White from the University of Illinois, Urbana. Lilly strives to create and deliver innovative medicines that enable people to live longer, healthier, and more active lives. As part of this goal, Lilly is committed to supporting programs like this seminar series that promote excellence in future patient care.
Troy Reynolds Receives A.C.S. Division of Organic Chemistry Graduate Fellowship
29 August 2007 - Troy Reynolds, a fourth year graduate student in Professor Karl Scheidt’s laboratory has been awarded a Division of Organic Chemisty fellowship for 2007-2008. The specific sponsor for Troy’s award is Bristol-Myers Squibb. This highly competitive national fellowship is awarded to 16 of the country’s best organic graduate students in their fourth year. Troy’s graduate work focuses on the development of new unconventional reactions which are potentially useful in pharmaceuticals and materials. Troy received his undergraduate degree from the University of Dayton in 2003 and he is the second student in the Scheidt group to receive a prestigious DOC graduate fellowship (Anita Mattson, 2005-2006 DOC fellow).
Fraser Stoddart to Join Northwestern Chemistry Faculty in Fall 2007
16 August 2007 - J. Fraser Stoddart, a pioneer in the fields of nanoscience and organic chemistry, will join the Northwestern University faculty as Board of Trustees Professor of Chemistry, the University announced today (Aug. 16).
Stoddart, Fred Kavli Chair in Nanosystems Sciences at the University of California at Los Angeles and director of the California NanoSystems Institute, is the inventor of a field of chemistry that enables the construction of molecular switches and machines on the nanoscale level.
“We are extremely pleased to have world-class researcher Fraser Stoddart join our already stellar group of faculty working in nanoscience,” said Northwestern President Henry S. Bienen. “This positions the University unequivocally as the best place in the world for research in this field.”
A native of Edinburgh, Scotland, Stoddart was appointed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as a Knight Bachelor in her 2007 New Year's Honours List for his services to chemistry and molecular nanotechnology. (Nanoscience research is performed on a size-scale ranging from 1 nanometer - that is, one-billionth of a meter - to a few hundred nanometers.)
“Northwestern is rapidly becoming a magnet for the most creative minds in the burgeoning field of nanotechnology to come together to tackle big problems in a highly collaborative environment,” said Stoddart. “I am first and foremost a team player and so being given the chance to become part of Northwestern's distinctive culture is a dream come true for me.”
Stoddart, ranked by the Institute for Scientific Information as the second-most cited chemist in the world, will bring a research group of about 25 with him to Northwestern. The first researchers will arrive in September with the full team in place by January. Stoddart's group initially will have offices and laboratories in the Technological Institute but eventually will move into Richard and Barbara Silverman Hall for Molecular Therapeutics and Diagnostics (chemistry of life processes) and Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Hall (nanofabrication and molecular self-assembly).
“Fraser's presence will elevate the entire science endeavor at Northwestern and will help us recruit high-profile scientists in the areas of organic chemistry, the chemistry of life processes, nanoscience and materials chemistry,” said Joseph T. Hupp, Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor of Chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and chair of the department of chemistry. “These are all areas that reflect Fraser's broad interests and talents. He will play a big role in moving our department and the University forward on many fronts.”
Stoddart will direct the new Center for the Chemistry of Integrated Systems at Northwestern. The center will focus on science and engineering involving complex systems that exhibit emergent behavior. It will bring together experts from many disciplines and offer a unique educational experience to those who will spark innovation and invention in tomorrow's world.
By introducing an additional type of bond (the mechanical bond) into chemical synthesis, Stoddart became one of the few chemists to have opened up a new field of chemistry during the past 25 years. He pioneered the use of molecular recognition and self-assembly to create, by means of template-directed synthesis, mechanically interlocked compounds called catenanes and rotaxanes, which have been employed as molecular switches and as motor-molecules in the fabrication of nanoelectronic devices and NanoElectroMechanical Systems (NEMS).
Stoddart also has designed and constructed nanovalves, which are much smaller than living cells. The tiny valves are capable of crossing cell membranes and are now being adapted for use as highly targeted drug-delivery systems for cancer cells.
Stoddart came to UCLA in 1997 from England's University of Birmingham, where he had been a professor of organic chemistry since 1990 and had headed the university's School of Chemistry since 1993.
Stoddart received his bachelor of science (1964) and Ph.D. (1966) degrees from the University of Edinburgh. In 1967, he moved to Queen's University in Ontario, Canada, where he was a National Research Council postdoctoral fellow and then, in 1970, to England's University of Sheffield, where he was first an Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) research fellow before becoming a faculty lecturer (assistant professor) in chemistry. He was a Science Research Council senior visiting fellow at UCLA in 1978. After spending a three-year “secondment” (1978-81) at the ICI Corporate Laboratory in Runcorn, England, he returned full-time to the University of Sheffield, where he was promoted to a readership (associate professorship). He moved to the University of Birmingham in 1990.
His work has been recognized by many awards, including the Carbohydrate Chemistry Award of The Chemical Society (1978), the International Izatt-Christensen Award in Macrocyclic Chemistry (1993), the American Chemical Society's Cope Scholar Award (1999), the Nagoya Gold Medal in Organic Chemistry (2004), the King Faisal International Prize in Science (2007), the Tetrahedron Prize for Creativity in Organic Chemistry (2007) and the American Chemical Society's Arthur C. Cope Award (2008). In 2005, he received an honorary doctor of science degree from the University of Birmingham, and then, in December 2006, the same honor from the University of Twente in the Netherlands.
Stoddart is a fellow of the Royal Society (1994), the German Academy of Natural Sciences (1999), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2005) and the Science Division of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (2006). In 2005, he was the recipient of the University of Edinburgh Alumnus of the Year Award. Stoddart, who serves on the international advisory boards of numerous journals, including the Journal of Organic Chemistry, Angewandte Chemie and Chemistry, A European Journal, has published more than 800 scientific papers, given in excess of 700 invited/plenary lectures and has trained more than 300 graduate and postdoctoral students, of whom over 60 subsequently have embarked upon successful independent academic careers.
Tobin Marks Presented National Medal of Science by President Bush
30 July 2007 - In a White House ceremony on Friday, July 27, Professor Tobin Marks received the 2005 National Medal of Science from President George W. Bush.
To read more about this honor, please click here.
Argonne, Northwestern Seek ANSER to Solar Energy Challenges
16 May 2007 - Helping the world meet increasing energy needs through solar energy will be the goal of a new research center established by the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory and Northwestern University.
The Argonne-Northwestern Solar Energy Research Center, or ANSER Center, will combine and expand the research interests of both institutions to address the grand scientific challenges posed by the need for economically viable solar energy use.
“Global energy needs will double by 2050 and triple by 2100,” said Michael R. Wasielewski, Northwestern chemistry professor and director of the new center. “An increase in the use of solar energy is essential for meeting this need in an environmentally responsible manner.”
Researchers at the ANSER Center will come from both Argonne and Northwestern, and will examine new economical ways to use sunlight to produce clean fuels, such as hydrogen, from water and to produce electricity directly from low-cost photovoltaic and thermoelectric systems.
“The scientific challenges to achieving these goals are complex and cross-disciplinary, requiring an integrated systems approach,” said George Crabtree, director of Argonne's Materials Science Division and deputy director of the ANSER Center. “Argonne and Northwestern each have a long history of accomplishment in solar energy research, as well as a culture of interactive team approaches to problem-solving. Add the world-class complementary expertise and facilities, and the result should be real breakthroughs in understanding fundamental solar energy conversion mechanisms and the ability to dramatically improve the efficiency of converting solar energy to fuels and electricity.”
Another goal is to educate a science and engineering workforce able to solve cross-disciplinary energy problems through educational opportunities available through the collaboration.
Key scientific challenges that will be addressed through the ANSER Center are:
- Coupling light energy to catalysts to produce clean fuel;
- Developing interfaces between different materials to greatly increase the performance of organic photovoltaics;
- Developing nanoscale electrode architectures within solar cells to increase their performance;
- Developing new materials to directly convert solar heat to electricity with high efficiency.
Argonne and Northwestern have other partnerships, including research areas such as superconductivity, nanoscale science and engineering, and materials science. The two institutions also have a 40-year tradition of joint appointments to integrate research.
Initial funding for the ANSER Center comes from support from both institutions. In addition, center members currently receive federal support in the solar energy field.
Joe Hupp Receives the 2007 ECS Grahame Award
15 May 2007 - Congratulations to Professor Joe Hupp, who recently received the 2007 David C. Grahame Award from the Electrochemical Society's Physical and Analytical Electrochemistry Division. The Grahame Award is given biennially by the Electrochemical Society in recognition of "outstanding research contributions to the field of physical electrochemistry".
Amanda Haes Receives the 2007 Victor K. LaMer Award
1 May 2007 - Former graduate student Amanda J. Haes received the 2007 Victor K. LaMer Award for best PhD thesis from the Colloid and Surface Chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society. The 38th of these annual awards will be presented at the 81st Colloid and Surface Science Symposium on June 27, 2007 at the University of Delaware. The award recognized Amanda's research on localized surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy in nanoparticle optics and biosensors. Amanda was a student with Professor Richard Van Duyne; she is now an Assistant Professor at the University of Iowa.
Karl Scheidt Receives the Novartis Chemistry Lectureship Award for 2007
1 May 2007 - Professor Karl Scheidt has been selected as the 2007 Novartis Chemistry Lecturer. This award has been created to honor individuals for outstanding contributions in natural product synthesis and/or the development of synthetic methodology. The focus of the lectures is on synthetic organic chemistry to enhance the exposure of the Novartis chemical community to cutting edge chemistry. The lectures are given at various Novartis research sites around the world (Boston, Basel, Japan) throughout a selected year.
Bartosz Grzybowski Receives 2007 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award
30 April 2007 - Bartosz Grzybowski has been selected as a 2007 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award winner. Congratulations Bartosz!
Teri Odom Receives 2007 Rohm and Haas New Faculty Award
10 April 2007 - Professor Teri Odom was selected as the third annual awardee of the Rohm and Haas New Faculty Award. Nominations for a non-tenured faculty member with outstanding potential for future research success are submitted by Rohm and Haas scientists worldwide, and the award is ultimately presented on their behalf. She was selected as this year's recipient based on her research in patterning and synthesis at the nanoscale.
Inaugural Eileen Foell Lecture
23 March 2007 - Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences presents an inaugural lecture by Professor Thomas J. Meade, Eileen Foell Chair in Cancer Research, titled, "Heart Attack or Heartburn?: When Seeing is Believing." Professor Meade's lecture will take place on Thursday, March 29, 2007 at 5:00 P.M. in Technological Institute Lecture Room 3. A reception will follow the lecture.
Please click here to view Professor Meade's biography.
National ACS Meeting in Chicago
21 March 2007 - The 233rd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society will take place in Chicago, IL from Sunday, March 25 through Thursday, March 29. We warmly welcome all NU-Chemistry alumni and friends to join us for a reception in our hospitality suite at the Hyatt Regency Chicago on Monday, March 26. The reception will be from 5:30 P.M. to 7:30 P.M. in Columbus Hall H.
You'll also be able to find us on the McCormick Place Expo floor from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. on both Monday, March 26 and Tuesday, March 27, and from 9 A.M. to 1 P.M. on Wednesday, March 28. We'll be at Booth 1250 in Lakeside Hall D, and we're truly excited to talk with you about your recent experiences, and also to tell you about the many new directions the Department is headed.
Finally, a quick note for our alumni - we love getting updates from you! Whether it's receiving tenure, getting married, or being promoted the CTO, we want to hear about it. So if you haven't done so lately, please take just a moment and complete our Alumni Update form. It can be found here.
Thank you and we'll see you at the meeting!
Thank You, Rick and Barbara!
6 March 2007 - Professor Richard Silverman and his wife Barbara have made a significant gift to help fund the construction of a new research facility for chemistry, biology and engineering on Northwestern's Evanston campus.
Professor Silverman, the John Evans Professor of Chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, is donating to the University a portion of the royalties that he receives from sales of the drug Lyrica. Lyrica, a drug used to combat epilepsy and neuropathic pain that is sold by Pfizer, Inc., was developed by Silverman while doing research at Northwestern. Northwestern and Silverman receive a portion of the sales income as royalties.
"In honor of the gift from Silverman and his wife, Barbara, the new building will be named Richard and Barbara Silverman Hall for Molecular Therapeutics & Diagnostics," Bienen said.
"Professor Silverman is a world-class researcher, an outstanding teacher, a valued member of the Northwestern community, and now a generous donor to the University," Bienen said. "We're truly grateful for the support from Rick and Barbara."
When completed, Silverman Hall will house 16 research groups in chemistry, biology and engineering. The focus of the building is to bring together chemists, biologists and engineers to advance biomedical research through the development of new medicines and diagnostics. The building is designed to enhance interactions and collaborations among colleagues, which will result in improved detection and treatment of disease. Faculty offices will be clustered in the middle of floors. There will be a variety of meeting rooms and gathering places to encourage both spontaneous and planned interactions among research groups and across disciplines.
Total cost of the building when completed in 2009 is expected to be approximately $100 million. The Silvermans' gift will help fund the construction.
"Since day one when I came here, I've felt that Northwestern has been an ideal place to work. I've had wonderful feelings about the University and my department," Silverman said. "Now, having this windfall, I wanted to share it with the University to express my gratitude."
Silverman credited his wife for her support in making the gift to the University. "This couldn't have happened without my wife's support. She's not a Northwestern grad, but she loves Northwestern as much as I do," Silverman said.
Silverman Hall also will be the home of the new Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, which will bridge the disciplines of chemistry, biology, engineering and computational science. The institute will focus on designing new drugs for the treatment of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases and developing improved techniques to facilitate the earlier diagnosis of diseases, as well as other related research.
Much of Silverman's research has been in the area of epilepsy, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's disease, cerebral palsy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, with a special interest in the mechanisms of drug actions and the design of medicinal agents. His interdisciplinary group investigates the molecular mechanisms of drug action, rational design and syntheses of medicinal agents that primarily inhibit enzymes, and the mechanisms of enzymes.
In 1989 Silverman first synthesized an organic molecule, which ultimately was marketed as Lyrica. "During research on our epilepsy project, we got surprising results that led us to have some of our compounds tested further for anticonvulsant activity in mice -- and one of them worked really well," Silverman said.
Silverman, who received a Ph.D. in chemistry from Harvard University, joined Northwestern in 1976. He is a member of Northwestern's Center for Drug Discovery and Chemical Biology, the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University and the Northwestern University Institute for Neuroscience.
He is author of three books, including the widely used text, "The Organic Chemistry of Drug Design and Drug Action," now in its second edition, and more than 230 articles in organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry and enzymology. Silverman holds 38 patents, and his research has been supported by numerous grants, mostly from the National Institutes of Health.
Silverman has received numerous awards for his research and teaching, including the Arthur C. Cope Senior Scholar Award of the American Chemical Society, a Sloan Research Fellowship, a National Institutes of Health Career Development Award, the Northwestern University Alumni Association Excellence in Teaching Award and the E. LeRoy Hall Award for Teaching Excellence. He is a fellow of the American Institute of Chemists and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Although Silverman's name will be on the building in which he will soon work, he'll actually be moving into a smaller office than he now has.
"They aren't planning to knock down any walls for me, but that's fine," he said. "I'm just pleased I've had the opportunity to give back to the University."
Geiger, Grzybowski, Scheidt Named Sloan Fellows
6 March 2007 - Congratulations to Professors Franz Geiger, Bartosz Grzybowski and Karl Scheidt!
On February 20, 2007, the Sloan Research Foundations named Franz Geiger, Bartosz Grzybowski and Karl Scheidt as Alfred P. Sloan Fellows.
Sloan Fellowships were established in 1955 to provide support and recognition to early-career scientists and scholars, often in their first appointments to university faculties, who were endeavoring to set up laboratories and establish their independent research projects with little or no outside support.
Selection procedures for the Sloan Research Fellowships are designed to identify those who show the most outstanding promise of making fundamental contributions to new knowledge. Sloan Research Fellows, once chosen, are free to pursue whatever lines of inquiry are of the most compelling interest to them. Their Sloan funds can be applied to a wide variety of uses for which other, more restricted funds such as research project grants cannot usually be employed. Thirty-two Sloan Fellows have won Nobel Prizes later in their careers, and hundreds have received other honors.
More information can be obtained from www.sloan.org.
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Events
Organic Seminar: Ivan Aprahamian
May 23, 2013 • 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Excellence in Graduate Research Seminar: Alex Spokoyny
May 24, 2013 • 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
