Carlos M. Bowman received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Utah in 1957. While working in rocket fuel research early on in his career at the Dow Chemical Company, Bowman implemented the innovative use of computers in using thermodynamics to predict substance thrust capabilities for use in rocket propellants. In 1967 he became the Dow Chemical Company’s Research Director, where he continued to advance the field of cheminformatics until 1980.

Ellen R. Fisher earned her Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Utah in 1991, after which she joined Colorado State University as a Professor of Chemistry. From 2009 to 2014 she served as Department Chair for CSU’s Department of Chemistry, and in 2014 she became Senior Faculty Advisor to the Vice President for Research. Her research focuses on using analytical and materials chemistry methods to better understand the underlying mechanisms of the processes of chemical vapor deposition and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition.

Bryant W. Rossiter earned his Ph.D. from the University of Utah in 1957 and currently works as a consultant, author, and as senior editor of Physical Methods of Chemistry. From 1957-1985 he was the Director of the Chemistry Division at Eastman Kodak Co., and from 1985-1989 he served as President of Viratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. His ventures resulted in several successful attempts at developing broad-spectrum antiviral drugs, some of these treatments experiencing worldwide implementation.

Clifton G. Sanders earned his Ph.D. from the University of Utah in 1990 and went on to hold many positions in both research and education, including Research Scientist for CardioPulmonics, Dean for the School of Science, Mathematics and Engineering for Salt Lake Community College, and Adjunct Instructor for the Salt Lake Theological Seminary. He is currently the Chief Technology Consultant and Co-Owner of Better Options Consulting International and is the Provost for Academic Affairs at Salt Lake Community College.

Honorary Distinguished Alumnus Edward M. Eyring received his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry in 1960 and proceeded to become an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow with the University of Goettingen. He would then spend the next 50 years of his life as a dedicated faculty member of the University of Utah Department of Chemistry, where he contributed most recently to the nanoparticle and Chemical Looping Combustion research. He is the recipient of several awards, including the NATO Senior Fellowship in 1977, the Willard Gardner Prize of the Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters in 1993, and the Utah Governor’s Medal for Science and Technology in 2011. He retired in 2016, after which the Edward M. Eyring Undergraduate Scholarship was established in his honor and in gratitude for his many years of service and contributions to chemistry.

Cindy Burrows was selected as the recipient of the 2018 Willard Gibbs Medal of the Chicago Section of the American Chemical Society. This is one of the most prestigious honors in chemistry. Its purpose is “To publicly recognize eminent chemists who, through years of application and devotion, have brought to the world developments that enable everyone to live more comfortably and to understand this world better.” This award has been given since 1911, and only one previous Utah chemist (Henry Eyring, 1968) has received it.

A photo taken by Ryan Steele was chosen as the cover art for the Journal of Chemical Education in January 2018. The photo showcases liquid oxygen gathered during a simple and inexpensive process developed by Jeff Statler, which uses a magnetic field to extract pure liquid oxygen through condensation; his demonstration was published in the same issue.

Luisa Whittaker-Brooks was named one of 2018’s Cottrell Scholars, an award given by the Research Corporation for Scientific Advancement to 24 early-career academic scientists in the areas of chemistry, physics, and astronomy. The program is designed to foster synergy among faculty at major American research universities and undergraduate institutions.

Shelley Minteer was awarded the 2018 ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry Award in Electrochemistry. She is the third professor from the University of Utah Department of Chemistry to receive this award, with Henry White receiving it in 2004 and Debra Rolison in 2014.

Peter Armentrout was awarded the 2018 Ron Hites Award, given by the American Society of Mass Spectrometry, for his contribution, “How Hot Are Your Ions Really? A Threshold Collision-Induced Dissociation Study of Substituted Benzylpyridinium “Thermometer” Ions.”

Marc Porter was awarded the University of Utah Distinguished Scholarly and Creative Research Award for 2018 in recognition of his important contributions to research and scholarship in the field of analytical chemistry and biosensors.

The Career and Professional Development Center at the University of Utah recognized Peter Flynn as an outstanding faculty member as part of their Faculty Recognition Program. The program celebrates student-nominated faculty who have done an exceptional job of mentoring students and facilitating their professional growth.

Ming Hammond joined the faculty in July 2018. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 2005 and was a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale University from 2005-2009. She started her independent career at Berkeley as an assistant professor in the Chemistry and Molecular & Cell Biology departments. While at Berkeley, she built a strong research program that was recognized by the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, the Women in Science Award from the Chau Hoi Shuen Foundation, and one of her discovery papers published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science was selected as a ‘2015 Signaling Breakthrough of the Year by Science Signaling.

Charles (Butch) Atwood retired in 2018. During 7 years at the University of Utah, Butch taught thousands of students from freshmen to seniors in general chemistry and in radiochemistry, mentored graduate students in chemical education, and impacted hundreds of high school students and teachers per year through summer outreach and academic-year AP laboratory courses. Atwood retired from his position as Professor of Chemistry at the U and as the inaugural holder of the Ronald and Eileen Ragsdale Chair in Chemical Education. When he joined the U, moving from the University of Georgia in 2011, he transformed the general chemistry laboratory and lecture courses into more efficient and more effective learning experiences, increasing the success rate of students from highly diverse high school backgrounds. He also hosted weekend sessions for a cadre of high school teachers who have benefitted as a cohort working to improve chemical literacy and STEM teaching techniques in the Salt Lake Valley. His research in item-response theory helped us understand how students learn. All of these contributions aligned perfectly with the University’s overall mission and present goals of increasing student success and improving the undergraduate experience.

On March 1, 2018, the Department of Chemistry hosted the inaugural Edward M. Eyring Lecture by Martin Gruebele, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Gruebele is the James R. Eiszner Professor of Chemistry, Professor of Physics, Professor of Biophysics and Computational Biology, and Professor in the Center for Advanced Study. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the ACS, APS, and Biophysical Society, and a member of the German and the U.S. National Academies of Sciences. His research includes protein and RNA folding, fast dynamics in live cells, vibrational energy flow in molecules, quantum computing and quantum control, optically assisted STM, glass dynamics, and vertebrate swimming behavior. His talk was titled “Simple dynamics of complex chemical systems: from nanoparticles to proteins in the cell”

The prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship for the 2018-2019 academic year was awarded to two students in the state of Utah, both of whom are chemistry majors at the U!

Cameron Owen		Philippe David

Philippe David is currently doing undergraduate research in the Grunwald group and plans to pursue a Ph.D. in theoretical chemistry and develop new models and simulation methods to study nanomaterials. He plans to become a professor at a research university.

Cameron Owen’s undergraduate research with Peter Armentrout has already resulted in several publications, and he hopes to study the chemical properties of materials in the search of new catalytic devices. He plans to earn a Ph.D. in analytical and physical chemistry.

Matthew Sigman, Peter J. & Christine S. Stang Presidential Endowed Chair of Chemistry, received a Humboldt Research Award from the Humboldt Foundation based in Berlin, granted in recognition of academics whose fundamental discoveries, new theories, or insights have had a significant impact on their own discipline and who are expected to continue producing cutting-edge achievements in the future. In addition to the award, winners were invited to carry out research projects of their own choice in cooperation with specialist colleagues in Germany.

Janis Louie, Professor of the Department of Chemistry, received the 2018-19 College of Science Award for Teaching Excellence. The CoS Award for Teaching Excellence recognizes extraordinary skill in university teaching with an emphasis on outstanding accomplishments and commitments to science and/or math education.

The U.S. Department of Energy announced Luisa Whittaker-Brooks as one of 84 recipients of the U. S. Department of Energy Early Career Research Program award. The award will assist Whittaker-Brooks in investigating the properties of two-dimensional hybrid organic-inorganic materials for their use as detectors of low-energy infrared photons. Luisa was also named one of C&EN’s Talented 12 young scholars during the Fall 2018 ACS national meeting in Boston, giving a TED talk that morning and participating in an award celebration later in the afternoon. Whittaker-Brooks, aptly named a “sustainability powerhouse” by C&EN, earned her spot among 11 other bright chemists for her research in finding alternative ways to provide power.

President Watkins authorized the appointment of Valeria Molinero as the first Jack and Peg Simons Endowed Professor of Theoretical Chemistry. The appointment began on July 1, 2018 and was established with a generous gift from Jack and Peg Simons in recognition of Jack’s outstanding contributions to theoretical chemistry. Annual donations will accelerate this endowment to the level of an endowed chair within the next several years.

On August 21, 2018, Shelley Minteer was awarded the 2018 ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry Award in Electrochemistry, which was given at the ACS meeting in Boston. She is one of six awardees for the division and is the third professor from the University of Utah Department of Chemistry to receive this award, following Henry White and Debra Rolison. Shelley was also named the next David Grahame Awardee in Physical Electrochemistry, a significant award given by the Electrochemistry Society in memory of an iconic figure in the field. The award will be presented in May 2019 in Dallas with a symposium and reception.

Professors Peter Armentrout and Scott Anderson were appointed by President Watkins as holders of Henry Eyring Presidential Endowed Chairs in Chemistry.

The inaugural symposium for the Dale & Susan Poulter Endowed Lectureship in Biological Chemistry took place on October 4, 2018, bringing together notable chemists for a day of lectures on cutting-edge research. The speakers consisted of: John Kozarich, ActivX Biosciences, Inc., “Reflections of an Enzyme Mechanic”; Jackie Winter, University of Utah, “Developing Heterologous Expression Platforms for Elucidating Fungal Natural Product Biosynthesis.”; Jeffrey Rudolph, University of Florida, “Biosynthesis of the Antibiotics Platensimycin and Platencin”; John Gerlt, University of Illinois, “Discovery of Novel Enzymes in Novel Pathways”.

Alumni News:

David Hamilton, Sr. graduated from the department in 2011 and then went on to medical school at the University of Utah. He has been working as a resident physician at Loma Linda University in California. In July 2018, he will start work and further training as a cardiology fellow physician at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

Jonathan (J.D.) Herr defended in December 2016, officially graduating in May 2017, working under Dr. Ryan Steele while pursuing a Ph.D. in theoretical and computational chemistry. He landed a full-time position at Enterra Solutions in Newtown, Pennsylvania as a data scientist on February 1st, 2018. Before obtaining this position, he worked as a contract data scientist consultant and a boxing instructor while job searching.

Ray Hoff was awarded a Ph.D. in 1964 in Organic Chemistry from the University of Utah with James Sugihara as his advisor. He is the editor of Handbook of Transition Metal Polymerization Catalysts, 2nd Edition, and was co-editor for the 1st edition. Ray has had a meaningful 27-year career in research of transition metal polymerization catalysis.

Chad Knutson earned his Ph.D. in 2003 and after working as a senior scientist and scientific advisor now manages an auto body shop. Chad worked with Gary Keck and remembers with fondness how he was always enthusiastic about helping his students use their chemistry skills to get into multiple and diverse fields and careers, a quality Chad greatly admires and respects.

Dr. Ray Price Graduated from the University of Utah Magna Cum Laude in 1983. After graduating from Harvard Medical School and completing a surgical residency at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, he returned to Salt Lake City at the Salt Lake Clinic and Intermountain Healthcare. From 1993 until the present, Dr. Price co-directed or directed the graduate surgical education program at LDS Hospital and Intermountain Medical Center for hundreds of surgical residents and medical and physician assistant students.

Dr. Price is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Surgery and an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, Division of Public Health. He co-organized the country’s first course on Global Surgery and Public Health, which led to his co-authoring the seminal book, “Global Surgery and Public Health: a New Paradigm”, that is now being used in many universities worldwide. Dr. Price helped co-found the University of Utah’s Center for Global Surgery, the first academic Center for Global Surgery in the United States, guiding research and education programs worldwide. He is the author of numerous peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and books.

He served and currently serves in many leadership positions on many national and international committees, including the World Health Organization Global Initiative for Emergency and Essential Surgical Care, the Society of American and Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES), the American College of Surgeons, the International Surgical Society (ISS), and as an advisor to the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery. He is the recipient of many honors and awards.