Kovac Appointed Director of College Scholars Program

October 25, 2011 by newframe

Dr. Jeff Kovac, Professor of Chemistry, was appointed the new Director of College Scholars Program in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Being a faculty member in the Chemistry Department since 1976, Kovac directs the department undergraduate programs, serves as the Director of the Tennessee Governor’s Schools for Science and Engineerigthe and also directed the Tennessee Science Olympiad State Tournament in 2009. He recently received Chancellor’s Honor for his excellent work in academic outreach.

The College Scholars Program is an interdisciplinary honors program in the College of Arts and Sciences. The program was founded to support highly motivated and academically talented students who have clear goals for their undergraduate education, and who cannot attain those goals within the traditional requirements structure of the College.

Once admitted to the program, a Scholar is exempt from all the course distribution requirements for undergraduates in the College of Arts and Sciences. Instead, each Scholar works with a faculty member who serves as a Mentor, with the Director of College Scholars, and with others to design a unique curriculum to meet the Scholar’s individual educational goals.  For more information, please visit CSP web site.

Xiaojun Wang Receives ACS Travel Award

October 11, 2011 by newframe

Chemistry graduate student Xiaojun Wang in Professor Mays Group is selected as one of two recipients of American Chemical Society (ACS) Graduate Travel Award to attend 2012 ACS National Meeting in San Diego.

This Travel Award is sponsored by the ACS Division of Polymer Chemistry’s Membership Committee. Each year, the Committee provides funding for two polymer graduate students to travel to ACS National Meeting and present their research results.

Wang will be delivering a presentation entitled “Microstructure Effects on Self-assembly of Polystyrene-b-Sulfonated Poly(cyclohexadiene)” to address an unexplored issue regarding self-assembly behavior of strong electrolyte block copolymers derived from dienes.

Wang is very excited for receiving this award. “I felt very excited and honored,” he said. “That means recognition of my research among all the applicants. And I am very grateful to my advisor, Prof. Jimmy Mays, who has supervised my research, fully supported this travel award application and gave me a strong recommendation.”

Wang obtained his Bachelor of Engineering in Material Science and Engineering at East China University of Science and Technology and a Master degree in Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics at Fudan University. He joined Prof. Jimmy Mays’ group in 2007 to pursue his Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry.

Wang’s research mainly focuses on synthesis of well-defined linear and branched polymers by anionic polymerization, post-modification, morphological study of sulfonated and fluorinated polymers, and self-assembly of amphiphilic block copolymers in aqueous system.

With full devotion to his research, Wang had first-authored and co-authored multiple publications in Soft Matter, Biomacromolecules and European Polymer Journal. Currently, he is working on an invited review for Soft Matter, collaborating with researchers at Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences in Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).

Wang is also recently selected the Excellence in Graduate Polymer Research Symposium which will take place at the ACS Sandiego meeting starting on Sunday, March 25, 2012.

UT Celebrates National Chemistry Week

October 11, 2011 by newframe

Members of the American Chemical Society (ACS) nationwide will be celebrating National Chemistry Week (NCW) October 16-22.

During this week, ACS members will have the opportunity to present the positive aspects of chemistry, promote science education, and to heighten the public awareness of the contributions chemistry has made to society and to everyday life.

The NCW theme for this year is “Chemistry — Our Health, Our Future” Members will explore the positive impacts of chemistry as it relates to nutrition, hygiene, and medicine.

One of the activities that is planned by the East Tennessee Section of ACS is the 21st anniversary of Dr. Hazari’s “THE MAGIC OF CHEMISTRY SHOW.” The event will be held at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville Dabney-Buehler in Room 555, on Tuesday, October 18, 7:00-8:00 pm. Kids ages 2-102 years are invited to attend this free admission show.

Since the NCW theme for this year is about Health, a donation of a bar of soap for East Tennessee area needy is requested. No show reservations are necessary and questions may be addressed to Dr. Al Hazari (ahazari@utk.edu ; 865-974-1065). Paid parking is available at the UT University Center Parking Garage.

Best Featured in Pregame Showcase

October 11, 2011 by newframe

KNOXVILLE – Michael Best, associate professor in the department of chemistry, will be speaking at this week’s Pregame Showcase on “Bioorganic Chemistry: Advancing the Frontiers of Medicine.”

The showcase will take place Saturday, October 15, before the Vols’ home game against Louisiana State University. The showcase will begin at 1:30 p.m., two hours before the game’s kickoff. Featuring a thirty-minute presentation followed by a fifteen-minute question-and-answer session, each showcase is free and open to the public and held in the Carolyn P. Brown Memorial University Center Room 213. Light refreshments are provided, and guests have a chance to win door prizes. Guests who complete a registration form receive a 10 percent discount coupon for game day purchases from the UT Bookstore.

The presentation will focus on bioorganic chemistry research performed in Best’s laboratory and cover the fundamentals of bioorganic chemistry by discussing how his lab goes about designing, creating, and applying organic molecules to study important biological processes, particularly those relevant to disease.

“Specifically, we will discuss recent efforts by my lab to develop inhibitors of the target protein autotaxin, which is of significant interest since this protein is overstimulated in many human cancers,” Best said. “My laboratory has also developed small molecule probes corresponding to an important family of lipids that has been implicated in diverse processes, including the onset of cancer and diabetes, as well as HIV-1 virus proliferation.”

Best teaches graduate and undergraduate classes in organic chemistry and is passionate about mentoring graduate, undergraduate, and pre-collegiate students. He leads the annual mentoring day on behalf of the Department of Chemistry, which brings local high school students to campus to learn about chemistry education and research.

Best has received more than $1.2 million in funding for his research, including the National Science Foundation Career Award in 2010. He has published his work in thirty research.

Department Hosted 2011 Board of Visitors Annual Meeting

October 1, 2011 by newframe

Department of Chemistry hosted 2011 Board of Visitors Annual Meeting on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 in Buehler Hall 511.

Eight BOV members participated in this year’s meeting and 19 students from all five divisions presented their posters during the Students Poster Competition. Heidi Bostic from Best group and Chris Bennett from Camden group won the poster awards with Nan Chen from Barnes group, Sneha Belapure from Campagna group, and Xiaojun Wang from Mays group as runner-ups.

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