U CHEM
A
Chemistry Department News
December 2009
December 2009
A quarterly newsletter
for our faculty,
graduate students,
undergraduates, alumni
and friends
The University of Akron
Department of Chemistry
Dr. Perry Recognized as Fellow of the APS
Dr. David Perry, professor
of chemistry, was elected
a fellow of the American
Physical Society during its
meeting in November.
Special points of
interest:
• Perry named
fellow of APS
• Energy conserva-
tion Campaign
recognized
• Fall 209 gradu-
ates
• Department Re-
search Funding
• Faculty and
Alumni News
Inside this issue:
Department recognized for conservation efforts
2
Fall UG and Grad
degrees
3
Research funding
4
Faculty and Alumni
News
4
Volume 1, Issue 4
Election to fellowship is
limited to no more than
one half of one percent of
the society’s total membership. David was nominated
through the APS Division
of Chemical Physics, of
which he is a member, and
his election shows the
high regard that his peers
have for his work in the
field.
His APS Fellowship certificate reads: For outstanding contributions to
the understanding of the
dynamics of molecular vibrations, especially the
important roles largeamplitude motions play in
intramolecular vibrational
redistribution (IVR) of flexible molecules.
David joins a very distinguished group of researchers at our university. Other
fellows of the APS on campus include Drs. Ed Lim,
Stephen Cheng, Daryl Reneker, Ernst von Meerwall,
Shiqing Wang, Robert
Weiss and Alexel Sokolov.
Having joined the Department of Chemistry as associate professor of chem-
istry in 1987, David was
elected department chair
in 1999 and served in that
capacity until 2005. He has
more than 60 publications
in the area of dynamics
and energy redistribution
in vibrationally excited
molecules. Over the years,
he has received more than
$1 million in funding from
federal agencies such as
NSF, DOE and NASA. He
has also served as dissertation director for nine
Ph.D. graduates and thesis advisor for two MS
graduates.
During his career, David
has been actively involved
with the work of the university, the region and his
profession. He currently
serves on several UA committees in the areas of undergraduate advising and
university safety. In addition, he has served as
chair of the Akron section
of the ACS for the past two
years and on the APS
Plyler Prize selection committee.
Page 2
Volume 1, Issue 1
Department Conservation Efforts Recognized
Conceived as a way to
change energy consumption habits and raise
awareness of energy use,
Knight Chemical Labs began a “Goggle Roo-Power
Down” competition last
April, and what began as a
light-hearted effort became
so successful that, within
nine months, the department reduced electric consumption nearly 12 percent
from its previous two-year
average.
Closing hood sashes and
turning off lights saved 23
percent of heavy equipment power consumption.
Taking into account the
burden of using temporary
heaters and dehumidifiers
during building construction at UA, that achievement is particularly impressive. It is not generally
appreciated that a chemical fume hood, such as
those in the chemistry
building, can use between
$1800 and $3000 in energy costs to run for one
year. Put another way, a
fume hood can use as
much energy as 3.5
houses per year.
Making easy adjustments
to routine use of energy
helped individuals grow
more conscious of their
impact on the environment.
Faculty, staff and students
demonstrated that an orchestrated commitment to
conservation can yield big
achievements for all.
Lisa Zickefoose, senior
budget analyst, led the
Goggle Roo-Power Down
effort, named for none
other than the cheerful UA
mascot. No small wonder
that the university’s own
Blue, Gold and Green (eco
-friendly) Committee recognized Goggle Roo-Power
Down as a model campus
program.
Zippy came to Knight
Chemical Lab to encourage everyone in the energy conservation campaign. Above right, Zippy
with Lisa Zickefoose.
Right, Zippy inspects the
department progress chart.
Goggle Roo-Power Down
participants were regularly
tracked for the number of
lights left on and hood
sashes left up overnight. A
community-based progress
chart was devised, which
heightened competitive
spirit among faculty, students and staff even as it
offered positive feedback.
The energy-saving program proved the power
that daily habits wield.
Winning research groups were recognized by Dr. Proenza. L to r: J. Hardy, M.
Espe, C. Ziegler, L. Zickefoose, Pres. Proenza, D. Smith, and D. Perry
Page 3
Volume 1, Issue 4
Fall 2009 Graduates
This fall semester, four
undergraduates earned
bachelors degrees in
chemistry. The new chemistry alumni are:
Catherine Gallo, B.S.
Chemistry. Catherine will
be attending graduate
school in Cleveland.
Paul Misseldine, B.S.
Chemistry. Paul is currently looking for a job.
Chris Swech, B.S. Chemistry. Chris plans on attending graduate school
next year.
Joseph Powell, B. S.
Chemistry. Joe plans on
attending law school in the
fall.
Top to bottom Joe
Powell, Catherine
Gallo, Paul Misseldine,
Chris Swech
Graduate Students Earn Degrees Fall ’09
Three newly minted chemistry Ph.D.’s crossed the
stage at the Fall 2009
graduation. We congratulate all for their hard work
and thank them for their
contributions to the department.
Dr. David Dabney, Ph. D.,
“Characterization of Commercial Polypropylene by
Mild Pyrolysis and Mass
Spectrometry”, Dr. Chrys
Wesdemiotis Advisor
Dr. Jae-Kwan Lee, Ph. D.,
“Intramolecular Charge
Transfer in Dimethylaminobenzonitirle and Related
Aromatic Nitriles”, Dr. Ed
Lim Advisor.
Dr. Alesia Salberg,
Ph.D.,”Characterization of
the Physical and Chemical
Networks in Filled Rubber
Compounds”, Drs. Chrys
Wesdemiotis and Ed Johnson co-advisors.
Page 4
Volume 1, Issue 4
Grants, Contracts and Patents News
The faculty continue to receive research support from national funding
agencies.
Grants
Chris Ziegler, NIH, Synthesis and
Screening of Rhenium Carbonyl
Compounds as Technetium Models,
$222,750
Chrys Wesdemiotis, OBR, Support
of NSF MRI grant, $20,000
Tire and Rubber Co. and Akron Research Development Corp., $32,800
Patent Applications
Jun Hu, Optical Device and Method
for Non-invasive Real-time Testing
of Blood Glucose Levels
Wiley Youngs, Matt Panzer, and
Carolyn Cannon, Metal Complexes
of N-heterocyclic Carbenes
Industrial Assistantships, Goodyear
Faculty and Alumni News
Akron Research Commercialization
Corporation has been selected as a
finalist for the 2010 NorTec Innovation Awards. The annual NorTech
Innovation Awards program honors
the innovations and achievements of
companies, entrepreneurs, universities and nonprofit organizations from
Northeast Ohio. This corporation,
founded by Dr. Wiley Youngs, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry,
was honored for the discovery of silver based anti-microbials used in the
treatment of cystic fibrosis, pneumonia and other lung infections.
Dr. William Donovan served as
ACS Project Seed coordinator for
2009. He was able to accommodate
10 high school students this past
summer, placing the Akron ACS section among the national leaders in
Project Seed participation.
Dr. Thomas Cronin (Ph.D. ‘99), of
SUNY Cobbleskill, was named a
2009 senior Fullbright Scholar. Cronin spent nine months teaching and
conducting research at Ataturk University in Erzumum, Turkey. Cronin
is chair of the Natural Sciences Department at SUNY Cobbleskill. His
research advisor was Dr. David
Perry.
Top, Dr. Youngs,
left Dr. Donovan
with Zippy