Jeffrey Kovac Honored by the College of Arts and Sciences

April 15, 2013 by chemweb

By Lynn Champion

On Saturday, April 6, Theresa Lee, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, presented an award on behalf of the college to Jeffrey Kovac, professor of chemistry, acknowledging his extraordinary contributions to pre-collegiate STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education in the state of Tennessee through his long and distinguished service as director of the Tennessee Governor’s Schools for Sciences and Engineering (1994–2012) and Tennessee Science Olympiad State Tournament (2008–2012).

Lee said Kovac’s talents as an educator in the undergraduate and graduate classrooms found expression beyond the traditional university classroom through his leadership of these two programs designed to educate pre-collegiate students. At a time when improving STEM education has become both a state and national priority, Kovac has been a leader in the college and the university in STEM education and successfully led these two important statewide STEM educational initiatives for a number of years.

“Jeff’s  leadership of these programs has produced remarkable outcomes and touched many students,” Lee said. “We are very grateful for his service on behalf of the college.”

As director of the Governor’s School for the Sciences and Engineering, Kovac designed an appropriate curriculum and complementary co-curricular activities for 100–150 of Tennessee’s best and brightest students each year, recruiting appropriate faculty instructors and teaching at least one seminar himself. His steadfast commitment to educational excellence, passionate advocacy for pre-collegiate education, skillful negotiation, and documentation of student success enabled the university to obtain a total of $4,424,058 in funds and contracts to sponsor the program and provided a high-quality academic educational experience for more than 2,000 talented Tennessee high school students. One scholarly publication stems from his work in pre-collegiate education: Scientific Ethics for High School Students, co-authored with P. A. Frase and L. M. Barden.

In 2009, Kovac was invited to direct the Tennessee Science Olympiad State Tournament. For each year that he served as director, Kovac recruited and trained dozens of event coordinators and more than fifty student volunteers for the one-day event that brought thirty-six teams of middle school and high school students to campus to compete in twenty-three individual events per division. About 1,000  students participated each year.  Kovac’s knowledge of pre-collegiate education and administrative experience was a critical factor in the planning and execution of highly successful tournaments throughout his tenure as director.

Science Olympiad is a powerful program for introducing middle and high school students to science and engineering concepts and their applications through competitive events, but the number of schools in Tennessee that participate is much smaller than in comparable states. As a member of the Tennessee Science Olympiad Board of Directors, Kovac took a leadership role on the board to expand participation by schools in Tennessee.

Kovac earned a PhD in 1974 from Yale University. After completing two years as a postdoctoral research associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 1976. In the course of his career here, he earned tenure and then promotion to full professor and has become an all-around successful member of the academic community. His outstanding academic career has been an integration of his excellence in research, teaching (including advising and mentoring students), and outreach and public service. While serving as the director of the undergraduate instructional program in the Department of Chemistry and carrying a regular faculty load, he has maintained an active program of scholarship that includes the publication of six books, eight chapters of books, more than seventy articles, and more than fifty book reviews.

Numerous campus awards acknowledge his success in the university’s missions of teaching, research, and outreach. Among the awards he has received are the College of Arts and Sciences Advising Services Award, the College of Arts and Sciences Academic Outreach Award, and the College of Arts and Sciences Senior Faculty Teaching Award. At the campus level, he has been awarded the Chancellor’s Citation for Excellence in Teaching, the L. R. Hesler Award for Superior Teaching and Outstanding Service, the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Advising, the Chancellor’s Award for Academic Outreach and Engagement, and the University Honors Program Outstanding Service Award.

Chemistry Faculty and Students Lauded at Chancellor Honors Banquet

April 9, 2013 by chemweb

The Chancellor’s Honors Banquet is held each spring to recognize students, faculty, staff, and friends of the University of Tennessee for their extraordinary achievements.The 2013 banquet was held April 8th at the University Center. Following chemistry faculty and students are recognized during the banquet.

Professor George Schweitzer received a Citation for Success in Multidisciplinary Research.

Rachel Narramore received a Citation for Extraordinary Academic Achievement.

Rachel Naramore is a senior at the University of Tennessee double majoring in Honors Chemistry and History and is the outstanding graduate in Chemistry for Spring 2013 Commencement. She currently works in Dr. Baker’s lab in synthesis of novel sultams with potential as non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors for HIV. Last year she worked as a TA in Chemistry 120 and 130. Next fall she will begin medical school at the University of Florida College of Medicine. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, singing, and spending time with her family and friends.

Burton Mandrell received a Citation for Extraordinary Professional Promise.

Mandrell is from Knoxville, TN where he went to Bearden High School and graduated as a salutatorian of his class. At UT, Mandrell is a senior in the Chancellor’s Honors program pursuing an Honors BS in Chemistry (ACS certified) with a biology minor. He was recognized for Extraordinary Professional Promise at the Chancellor’s Honors Banquet and will be recognized as an Outstanding Graduate of the Chemistry Department at commencement this May. Currently, Mandrell works with Drs. Best and Camden on synthesizing deuterium labeled dyes for use in Hyper Raman Spectroscopy as part of his honors thesis.

Mandrell has been working in the Camden lab for 3 years, but he also spent a summer internship doing C-11 radiochemistry at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital as part of the NIH funded Pediatric Oncology Education program. In his free time, Mandrell enjoys live music and playing cards, especially bridge for which he represented UT along with 3 other UT students at the North American Collegiate Team Bridge Tournament in Philadelphia in July 2012 placing 7th out of 8th (beating Harvard!). After graduation, Mandrell will be attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison to pursue a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry.

The Banquet program also announced that Desta Bume, a College Scholar working with Professor Craig Barnes as one of the winners of a EUReCA award.

Desta Bume is from small village of Wotera in southern Ethiopia. After completing his education through 8^th grade in Wotera, he went to high school in Hawassa city and graduated as valedictorian of his graduating class of nearly 1000 students. During his high school career in Ethiopia, Desta had an opportunity to come to the United States through an exchange program and he spent his junior year at Signal Mountain High School in Chattanooga, TN.  Being an exchange student provided him with priceless experiences that helped him return to the University of Tennessee Knoxville as a Haslam Scholar, one of fifteen students accepted to the program from entering freshmen, in 2010. He is also a member of Chancellor Honors program. Currently, Desta is doing his course work through the College Scholars Program under Chemistry and Biological Sciences major.

Since the summer of his freshmen year in the College, Desta has been working with Dr. Craig Barnes on the project titled “Controlled Formation of Silicate Monolayers on Silicon Wafers.” In addition, he is working on “Expression, Purification and Characterization of Human Cytochrome P450 2C9 (CYP2C9) with Dr. Nitin Jain in BCMB Department.  For last two summers, Desta worked as a teaching assistant in Chemistry and Biology for Governor School of Sciences and Engineering and is planning to teach again this summer. At the end of his sophomore year, he received a top rising junior in Chemistry (ACS) and also won EUReCA award for his project with Dr. Barnes. After graduating in May 2014, Desta is planning to attend graduate school in Medicinal Chemistry.

In his spare time, Desta enjoys running, playing soccer, volleyball and volunteering for various charitable organizations. Partnered up with his former host high school, Desta raised money to build water wells, classrooms and bought library books for elementary school in home village of Wotera.

Chemistry Undergraduate Received NSF Predoctoral Fellowship

April 5, 2013 by chemweb

Chemistry undergraduate student Britta Johnson, who graduated last year, recently received National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRFP). Johnson was also the receipient of 2012 Outstanding Graduate in College Scholars at the University of Tennessee, College of Arts and Sciences and the winner of Best Presentation Award in 2012 EUReCA.

The NSF GRFP  will provide Johnson with funding for three years ($30,000 per year) along with a full tuition waiver. Johnson is now a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the Chemistry Department, Physical Chemistry Division. While looking forward to start her research project at the beginning of this summer, Johnson is currently focused on completing her first year of classes and teaching.

When Johnson entered UT, her concentration was Mathematical and Chemical Physics. As a freshman, Britta won the C. W. Keenan Prize given to the best student in Honors General Chemistry and in 2011 she was one of three UTK students to be awarded the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship. Johnson began her research in computational quantum chemistry with Professor R. J. Hinde in the Department of Chemistry as a freshman, an experience she described as most rewarding. “I wanted to thank Dr. Hinde for all of the support and opportunities that he provided me that made this (NSF GRFP) possible. I could not have gotten this without him!” Johnson said.

Her work with Professor Hinde has resulted in one peer-reviewed publication to date: B. Johnson and R. J. Hinde, “Pairwise Additive Model for the He-MgO(100) Interaction,” Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 2011, 115, 7112-7119. During the summers Britta worked as a resident advisor for the Governor’s School for the Sciences and Engineering while carrying on research in chemistry or mathematics.

Founded in 1952, NSF GRFP is a program that recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited US institutions.This year, they awarded 2000 graduate students out of the 13000 who applied.

For more information about their program, check out NSF GRFP website.

Chemistry Department Held 2013 Research Open House

March 11, 2013 by chemweb

The Department of Chemistry held 2013 Research Open House on Friday, March 8 and Saturday, March 9 to showcase exciting research happening in the Department to the prospective students.

35 students from all around the country participated in this two-day events. Each one of them was paired with a current graduate student as their host to answer any questions they might have about research and study at the University of Tennessee as well as the student life and living in Knoxville.

The two-day event started with a meet and greet reception in Four Points on Friday, and ended with a dinner banquet inside Neyland Stadium. The Department organized faculty poster session, student and alumni presentations, facility tour, campus tour, meetings with faculty, graduate students panel, and student organization social to introduce the Department as a whole to the prospective students. More than 20 faculty members and staff and over 40 current graduate students participated to help organize the events and welcome prospective students.

Professor Fred Grimm Passed Away

February 16, 2013 by chemweb

I am sad to report that Dr. Fred Grimm, Professor Emeritus of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Tennessee, passed away on Saturday, February 9, 2013.  Fred was born on June 15th, 1937 and is survived by his wife, Pam and daughter, Gail.

Professor Grimm received his B.S. in Chemistry from Rutgers University in 1963 and a PhD in Chemistry from Cornell University in 1968.  He joined the faculty of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Tennessee in the same year he received his PhD degree.  As a Full Professor in Chemistry, Dr. Grimm was granted emeritus status upon his retirement in 1999 after 32 years of service to the University.

Fred had a strong reputation in the area of chemical physics, where his research emphasis was in theoretical methods of studying photoelectron dynamics and surface phenomena.  He published over 70 papers in scholarly journals, was a long-time collaborator with Tom Carlson and Manfred Krause at ORNL, and was an invited Research Scientist at the Swedish National Research Council.  Professor Grimm was a dedicated and skilled teacher who taught general chemistry and all levels of physical chemistry.  He served as the Director of General Chemistry for the department for more than a decade.  Fred was always a gentleman and treated colleagues, staff and students with gentleness and respect.  He will be missed.  A memorial service for Fred Grimm will be held on Saturday, March 2nd at 10 AM in the Mann Heritage Chapel at Rose Mortuary, 6200 Kingston Pike.

Chuck Feigerle
Professor and Head
Department of Chemistry
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN 37996-1600

Professor Jenkins Received NSF CAREER Award

February 12, 2013 by chemweb

David Jenkins, an assistant professor of inorganic chemistry at UT, has been announced a recipient of the CAREER award from the National Science Foundation. This marks the third CAREER award inside the Chemistry Department in the past 3 years.

CAREER award is one of “the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious awards in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations.”

Jenkins’ award includes a 5-year $650,000 grant to support his research and educational activities. “Being granted a CAREER award is an awesome feeling and a great honor, and more importantly it provides us the financial stability to keep working on a fantastic project — catalytic aziridination using our macrocyclic tetracarbene catalysts.” Jenkins said.

Funding from this award will be primarily used to support graduate students working on the project and to purchase necessary supplies to move the project forward. “We have completed a lot of preliminary work, but I am confident that we have many more productive years of research on this project.” said Jenkins, “We have scratched (or maybe dented) the surface of this exciting new field in organometallic chemistry.”

In fact, Jenkins’ group has published some great results already. Four graduate students from the group, Alan Cramer, Chris Murdock, Heather Bass and Brianna Hughes, will attend an American Chemical Society meeting this April in New Orleans and give talks during the meeting.

“I encourage all of my group members to attend at least one ACS meeting or more before they finish their PhDs.” Jenkins commented, “Oral communication skills are vital for almost any career that they pursue after their time at UT.”

Besides efforts put into scientific research, Jenkins group is also actively engaged with Central High school through the Pre-Collegiate Scholar Program. As part of the CAREER award, they will continue working closely with the school. The group will partner up with one of their high school teachers to develop new teaching materials for AP chemistry labs that focus on sustainable synthesis.

Meng Rowland Received NIH Fellowship

February 1, 2013 by chemweb

A recent graduate from the Chemistry Department, Dr. Meng Rowland, received a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA)from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a fellowship for individual postdoctoral fellows.

The NRSA provides two year funding starting in January 2013 for Rowland’s proposal entitled “Molecular determinants of DNA sliding and hopping by a DNA repair glycosylase.” The fellowship is highly competitive with less than 10% of applicants funded.

Rowland worked in the research group of Professor Michael Best during her 5 years at the University of Tennessee. “I had 9 publications working with Dr. Best, which weighed heavily in the fellowship evaluation.” Rowland said, “I want to thank Dr. Best for being such an extraordinary mentor and the UT Department of Chemistry for years of training!”

After graduation, Rowland joined the department of pharmacology at Johns Hopkins Medical School and is now receiving postdoctoral training in enzymology and  molecular biology in the lab of Dr. James Stivers.

Orignally from China, Rowland received her B.S. in pharmacology from Jilin University in 2004 and moved to Knoxville, Tennessee when she enrolled in the Chemistry Ph.D. program in 2006. She met her husband Garland Rowland and got married while studying at UT. They now reside in Baltimore, MD with their beloved dog Edgar.

ACGS Held Bake Sale to Help Ownby Family

January 20, 2013 by chemweb

Association of Chemistry Graduate Students (ACGS) held a bake sale on January 17 and 18 in the chemistry tutorial center to help Ownby family, whose house was burned down two weeks ago. Marilyn Ownby works for the Chemistry Department in the general chemistry lab.

An email calling for participation was sent two weeks prior to the bake sale. Over thirty people volunteered to bake. Baked goods ranged from freshly baked loaves of bread to brownies to cheesecakes.

More than a hundred faculty, students and staff showed up during the two days of sale and contributed over a thousand dollars in total.

“The idea was to provide a more accessible way for graduates and undergraduates to help.” Sam Rosolina, Community Service Chair of ACGS said. “With a limited disposable income it’s hard for us to see our few dollars going far for causes like this, but this sale was proof that a little can go a long way when so many people are involved.”

Rosolina was also surprised to see how many undergraduate students came to show support once they found out what the cause was.

Almost everyone in the Department participated and helped to organize the event. “I want to especially thank Pam Roach and Christiane Barnes who performed large roles in making the event happen.” said Rosolina.

Fundraising is still going on for Ownby family. If you would like to make a donation, please following the link created by their daughter http://www.giveforward.com/reliefforfirevictims.

Chemistry Department Held BoV Career Workshop

January 15, 2013 by chemweb

The Department of Chemistry held 2013 Board of Visitors Career Workshop Unveiling the Mystique of Industry and Government Jobs, co-sponsored by Association of Chemistry Graduate Students, on Thursday, January 10 from 1pm to 5pm in Buehler Hall 511.

Six speakers, all on Chemistry Board of Visitors, are from industry, ORAU and ORNL. They were invited to give talks on different aspects of job hunting including interviewing and hiring process, resume building, dos and don’ts during on-site interviews, identifying jobs, government jobs and specifics about being a chemist at ORNL. Each speaker gave a presentation and took questions both during and after their presentations.

32 graduate students attended the workshop. A survey conducted afterwards shows that all students found it useful. “I thorougly enjoyed the workshop.” Morgan McConico, a graduate student from Vogt’s group said, “Before the workshop I had several open ended questions, and after the workshop I feel that all of my questions have been answered.  I now feel better equipped for the entire process of applying and interviewing for jobs.” McConico is expected to graduate in May and is actively looking for jobs in industry.

Not only students, but also BOV members enjoyed the workshop. “One of the greatest personal rewards I enjoy is meeting students.” Warren Schmidt, Chemistry BOV member said, “I look forward to my visits to UT as an opportunity to meet some more of our future leaders and scientists. In this workshop, I was pleased with the pre-work completed by many of the students, their attention to the presentations, and especially the quality of the questions.”

Naixiong (David) Jin, a graduate student from Zhao’s Group was especially thankful for the variety of speakers this workshop has brought together. “The speakers had extended experience in the hiring process either for industrial jobs or positions in national laboratories. They shared many details and useful tips all the way from resume preparation to on-site interviews.” Jin will also graduate in May and is open to all opportunities in industry, national laboratories and universities.

Positive feedbacks and constructive suggestions have strengthened the belief that this is a constant need of the students. “If possible, we plan to host this workshop every year.” Rachel Rui, Development Coordinator of the Department said. “We may also bring some students who recently graduated and found jobs to share their succesful stories. So the students are able to get information from two different perspectives.”

Rebecca Horton Article Featured on Cover of Analytica Chimica Acta

September 26, 2012 by chemweb

Dr. Rebecca Horton, a student graduated from Professor Vogt’s group in May 2012 had her article featured on the cover of October 2012 issue of Analytica Chimica Acta.

The artilce entitled ” Introducing nonlinear, multivariate ‘Predictor Surfaces’ for quantitative modeling of chemical systems with higher-order, coupled predictor variables ” introduced ‘Predictor Surfaces’, an innovative chemometrics tool developed for studies of more chemically complex systems such as biological materials in order to ensure accurate quantitative analyses and proper chemical modeling for in-depth studies of such systems.

“Understanding the biochemical interactions microalgae have with their environment is key in studying the effects of environmental contaminants.” Horton commented on the significance of her study. “Since microalgae respond to their environments in a nonlinear fashion, a novel method for investigating these responses was necessary. While this work has been applied to the study of microalgae, these algorithms open new possibilities for studying a variety of nonlinear systems and responses, both biological and chemical.”

Horton came to UT from Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, TN. Her achievements in research involve growing microalgae under different environmental conditions along with sample preparation methods for spectroscopic analyses and complex chemometric algorithms for studying biological processes. This work also resulted in a publication in Applied Spectroscopy in 2011. She recently received a travel award from Eastman Chemical Company for presenting her work at the ACS National Meeting and won the 2010 Chemistry Board of Visitors Poster Competition.