Chemistry students receive 2023 ACS Undergraduate Awards in organic, inorganic, and physical chemistry

Date
06/02/23
Portrait of Ian Garvey in graduation regalia against an orange background with Block I letters

Ian Garvey

A May 2023 graduate of the Department of Chemistry with a B.S. in Specialized Chemistry and an undergraduate researcher in Professor Liviu MIrica's group, Garvey has been awarded the ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry Undergraduate Award in Inorganic Chemistry for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Garvey also received the John C. Bailar Award for excellence in undergraduate research. In the Mirica lab, Garvey worked primarily on the synthesis and characterization of a new bidentate pyridinophane ligand, followed by a slew of para substituted derivatives. These ligands were then used to make novel low-valent Nickel complexes, which could have promising reactivity and applications in catalysis. Garvey presented his research at the 2022 Chemistry Summer Undergraduate Poster Session on the UIUC campus. Garvey will be pursuing a PhD in chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Shannon Stahl’s lab, where Garvey will start research this summer.

 

Portrait of Morgan Kennebeck in graduation regalia with Noyes entrance in the background

Morgan Kennebeck

A May 2023 graduate of the Department of Chemistry with a B.S. in Specialized Chemistry and an undergraduate researcher in Professor Scott Silverman's group, Kennebeck has been awarded the 2023 American Chemical Society Division of Organic Chemistry's Undergraduate Award in Organic Chemistry for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

This award recognizes senior students who display a significant aptitude in the field. In her nearly four years of undergraduate research in the Silverman laboratory, Kennebeck studied DNAzymes that modify oligonucleotides. With her research accomplishments, she is first author on one forthcoming manuscript and second author on another manuscript.

Kennebeck is the outgoing vice president of the UIUC campus ACS student chapter, and she was a teaching assistant and peer mentor for the First Semester Success in Chemistry freshman course. At the May 14, 2023, Chemistry Convocation ceremony, Kennebeck received the Reynold C. Fuson award for excellence in undergraduate research. In the fall, Kennebeck will be attending the University of California Berkeley to earn her PhD in chemistry.

 

Outdoors portrait of Aidan Lindsay from the shoulders up and green foliage in the background.

Aidan Lindsay

A sophomore in the Department of Chemistry and an undergraduate researcher in Professor Prashant Jain's group, Lindsay has been awarded the 2023 American Chemical Society’s Undergraduate Award in Physical Chemistry for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The ACS Division of Physical Chemistry started the undergraduate award in 2017 to recognize and honor talented young physical chemists across the country. Awardees are chosen for their demonstrated excellence in physical chemistry and related fields based on research, coursework, and a commitment to a career in chemistry.

In the Jain laboratory, Lindsay has been studying the electronic properties of oxygen-deficient oxide-based photocatalysts by optical spectroscopy and electronic structure simulations. For his academic accomplishments, Aidan has received several accolades including most recently a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. Aidan aspires to pursue graduate studies in preparation of a research career in computational materials science.