Chemistry News

Brett VanVeller, assistant professor of chemistry, received the Cassling Award for Early Achievement in Teaching. The award recognizes an early career faculty member with outstanding teaching performance.

VanVeller’s students describe him as “passionate,” “enthusiastic,” and “charismatic.” He holds innovative office hours in a large conference room where students gather to discuss and work through problems together and have student-led discussions. At the graduate level, he has restructured a foundations course to accelerate the research productivity of first-year graduate students.

“Brett’s emphasis to build upon concepts and examine the ‘how’ and ‘why’ is an eminently sound approach to help students succeed, not only in the difficult subject of organic chemistry, but in other courses as well,” said Gordon Miller, University Professor in chemistry. “He is highly respected and admired by students for his energy, clarity, and passion, and his faculty colleagues are adapting their own philosophies of student-instructor interaction based on some of Brett’s ideas.”

The Cassling Awards were donated by Randal S. and Lori S. Cassling, in honor of Randal’s parents, Robert and Rita Lenore Dunn Cassling. Robert Cassling was a 1956 graduate of Iowa State University while Rita attended Iowa State and was a former homecoming queen.

Congratulations Brett!!

Manufacturing medicines can be expensive and create a lot of waste. Levi Stanley, an expert in the field of catalytic chemistry, wants to make pharmaceutical practices a little more green.

Arthur White, graduate student in the Vela/Miller group, has been selected as a finalist for the Reaxys Prize.

The Reaxys PhD Prize is the most prestigious prize recognizing young chemists’ work by celebrating the very best in chemistry research being performed worldwide. This year, 45 finalists chosen from 550 entries, are invited to present their research at the Reaxys PhD Prize Symposium on 19 and 20 October organised in Shanghai. The very top finalists will have the opportunity to give an oral presentation and 3 winners will be selected that day by the members of the Reaxys Advisory Board and PhD Prize Coordinators.

Congratulations Arthur!!

A new "ship in a bottle" strategy, designed by assistant professor Wenyu Huang and his colleagues, improves catalysts for MRI imaging and fuel cells by protecting nanoparticles from aggregating, thus increasing surface area.

Iowa State University and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has honored Chemistry faculty and staff with awards. They will be awarded at the Fall Convocation ceremony on Tuesday, September 5 at 3:30 PM in the Memorial Union Sun Room.

Emily Smith received the ISU Mid-Career Achievement in Research Award. This award recognizes faculty members who have demonstrated outstanding accomplishments in research and/or creative activity at the mid-career stage. Emily joined the department in 2006 in our analytical chemistry group.

Igor Slowing received the ISU Professional and Scientific Research Award. This award recognizes Professional and Scientific staff members for excellence in research. Igor received his PhD at Iowa State under the last Victor Lin in 2008. He joined the Ames Laboratory as a staff scientist in 2009 and then came to Chemistry in 2013 as an Adjunct Assistant Professor.

Brett VanVeller received the LAS Early Achievement in Teaching Award. This award recognizes a tenured or tenure-track faculty member who has demonstrated outstanding teaching performance unusually early in their professional career. Brett is an organic chemist who joined the department as an Assistant Professor in 2014.

Javier Vela received the LAS Institutional Service Award. This award recognizes a member of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences faculty or staff for a history of exemplary institutional service that has benefitted the department, College and/or the University. Javier is a synthetic inorganic and materials chemist. He joined the department in 2009.

Gordon Miller received the LAS Award for Excellence in Graduate Mentoring. This award recognizes the effectiveness of major professor who serve as mentors and who enrich the student-professor relationship by support and attention to detail which enables students to finish their work in a time and scholarly manner. Gordie is an experimental and theoretical solid state chemist who has mentored students in the department since in 1990.

George Kraus received the LAS Achievement in Intellectual Property Management. This award recognizes faculty and staff members four outstanding LAS/ISU based achievements in producing intellectual property. George joined our faculty in 1976 as an organic chemist.

Levi Stanley received the LAS Award for Learning Community Leadership. This award recognizes faculty and staff members for outstanding coordination and leadership for a learning community in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He is an organic chemist who joined the faculty in 2012.

Theresa Windus received the LAS Outstanding Teaching Award. This award recognizes members for outstanding teaching performance over an extended period of time in education. Windus, a theoretical and computational chemist, received her PhD from ISU in 1996 and joined the department as a Professor in 2006.

Cristina Bonaccorsi received the LAS Undergraduate Introductory Teaching Award. This award recognizes outstanding performance in teaching undergraduate introductory classes. Cristina was a post-doc under the late Victor Lin and joined the department as a Lecturer in 2007.

Kathy Burke received the LAS Award for Outstanding Teaching by a Lecturer. This award recognizes lecturers or senior lecturers for outstanding teaching performance over an extended period of time in undergraduate education. Kathy is a Lecturer who brings experience from teaching in both two-year and four-year undergraduate chemistry programs.

Steve Heideman received the LAS P & S Excellence Award. This award recognizes Professional and Scientific employees who have achieved excellence in their respective fields. Steve is the Teaching Laboratory Manager and assists with the departmental IT needs.

Ed Jack received the LAS Merit Excellence Award. This award recognizes Merit employees who have achieved excellence in their respective fields. Ed is one of the storekeepers in Chemistry Stores.

Virtual Special Issue “Mark S. Gordon Festschrift” .  Among the many research paths Mark Gordon has explored are the development of fragmentation methods such as the effective fragment potential (EFP) and the effective fragment molecular orbital (EFMO) methods, the study of heterogeneous catalysis, and the study of the fundamentals intermolecular interactions.