Here on campus we are in the midst of a vibrant autumn. As fall break and Thanksgiving approach, we are grateful for the loyal partnership of our alumni and friends. We are a rich and diverse community, and we have good reasons to be proud of our many individual and collective accomplishments.
CHEMISTRY TURNED 150
For starters, we celebrated 150 years as one of the leading chemistry departments in the world.
On October 6-7, we hosted approximately 150 alumni, faculty, staff, and guests on campus in commemoration of our sesquicentennial. The Daily Illini provided an excellent recap of the festivities.
Highlights from the event included the re-dedication of the recently-renovated Chemistry Annex into one of the nation’s top undergraduate lab spaces, explosive lecture demos by Steve Zumdahl and his wizards, and a wonderful history of the School of Chemical Sciences presented by Greg Girolami. Greg’s talk served as a preview of a book on the school’s history, which he is co-authoring with Vera Mainz, former director of the School of Chemical Sciences NMR Laboratory. I look forward to reading The Story of Chemical Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign soon!
AWARDS AND HONORS
Our faculty and students continue to be recognized for their outstanding contributions to the scientific community.
Alison Fout was selected as the Ed Stiefel Lecturer at the 2018 Gordon Research Conference on Metals in Biology in addition to receiving the 2017 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award. Paul Hergenrother received the Sosnovsky Award for Cancer Research, one of the National Awards of the American Chemical Society (ACS). Kami Hull won an Amgen Young Investigator Award. Prashant Jain was named a Richard and Margaret Romano Professorial Scholar by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Jain was also the Kavli Foundation Emerging Lecturer at the fall 2017 ACS meeting—a high-profile, general-audience lecture that highlights one of the top young chemists in the U.S. John Katzenellenbogen received the 2017 Society of Radiopharmaceutical Sciences President’s Award, their highest honor. Tom Rauchfuss received the 2018 ACS Award for Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Inorganic Chemistry, sponsored by Strem Chemicals. Ken Suslick was appointed the 76th Eastman Professor at the University of Oxford for the 2018-19 academic year. Finally, Jonathan Sweedler was recognized by The Analytical Scientist as one of the “10 Top 10s” on the Analytical Scientist Power List.
Congratulations are also due to Mike Sofia (PhD, '84, Katzenellenbogen), who received a 2017 LAS Alumni Achievement Award in recognition of his hepatitis C cure. He gave an exciting science lecture on his work towards the cure, and met with our students and faculty.
Be sure to visit our website regularly for the latest awards and other news.
LOOKING FORWARD
This spring we will honor another faculty member, So Hirata, with an endowed professorship. Professorships and chairs are a testament not only to the success of our faculty, but also the continued support of our alumni.
We are also excited to host our 2018 convocation speaker, ACS president-elect and Illinois alumnus Peter Dorhout (BS, ’85). Peter visited Illinois on behalf of the ACS as part of our 150th anniversary celebration to present the Herb Gutowsky Citation for a Chemical Breakthrough, and we look forward to having him back on campus to congratulate and inspire our 2018 graduates.
WITH ILLINOIS
At 150 years, what better time to launch our most ambitious philanthropic campaign to date? Just a week after our sesquicentennial festivities, the university celebrated the launch of its $2.25 billion capital campaign: With Illinois.
Events included a Quad Festival—complete with carnival games, cotton candy, and even a Ferris wheel!—and a Launch Celebration at the State Farm Center. With performances, videos, and appearances by Illinois students, alumni, faculty, donors, and special guests, this multimedia event showcased Illinois’ illustrious history and unique ability to transform the world of the future.
One of the faculty whose work was highlighted during the event was chemistry’s own Paul Hergenrother, the Kenneth L. Rinehart Jr. Endowed Chair in Natural Products Chemistry and Professor of Chemistry. Hergenrother and Illinois colleague, veterinary oncologist Timothy Fan, were featured for their collaborative research on brain cancer. The professors were joined on stage by two of their canine patients, which was certainly a high point of the evening celebration!
If you missed the launch, I invite you to read about the alumni who are already partnering with us and to get inspired by how you can be involved. We are already more than halfway to our goal, and, with your generosity, I am fully confident we will surpass it.
Thank you for your continued support. Please feel free to be in touch at any time.
Cheers,
Martin
Martin Gruebele
Head, Department of Chemistry
James R. Eiszner Chair in Chemistry
Professor in the Center for Advanced Study
Professor of Physics
Professor of Biophysics and Quantitative Biology