Seven Women Scholars Win Awards from the American Chemical Society

The American Chemical Society has announced the winners of its 2012 awards which will be given out on March 27 at the ACS annual meeting in San Diego. Several of the award winners are women with ties to academia.

Loretta L. Jones, a professor of chemistry at the University of Northern Colorado, will receive the ACS Award for Achievement in Research for the Teaching and Learning of Chemistry. She is being honored for pioneering work in multimedia development and design, for seminal research on its instructional effectiveness, and for promoting the field of chemical education research.

Professor Jones is a graduate of Loyola University of Chicago. She earned a master’s degree at the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Vicki H. Grassian is the F. Wendell Miller Professor of Chemistry at the University of Iowa. She will be given the ACS Award for Creative Advances in Environmental Science and Technology. The award recognizes her original and creative contributions in understanding mineral dust aerosol properties through laboratory studies and their impact on atmospheric chemistry and climate.

Dr. Grassian is a graduate of SUNY Albany. She earned a master’s degree at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Ph.D. at the University of California at Berkeley.

Alanna Schepartz is the Milton Harris Professor of Chemistry at Yale University. She will be the recipient of the Ronald Breslow Award for Achievement in Biomimetic Chemistry. Dr. Schepartz pioneering work in the use of α- and β-peptides to elucidate fundamental and paradigmatic principles of molecular recognition controlling protein–DNA and protein–protein interactions is being honored.

Professor Schepartz is a graduate of SUNY-Albany and holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University.

Anna K. Mapp is a professor of chemistry at the University of Michigan. She will receive one of several Arthur C. Cope Scholar Awards for contributions at the interface of organic chemistry and chemical biology that have led to advances in the understanding and control of eukaryotic transcription.

Professor Mapp holds a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley and conducted postdoctoral work at CalTech.

Sue B. Clark, Regents Professor at Washington State University, will be awarded the Francis P. Garvan – John M. Olin Medal for “seminal contributions to understanding chemistry governing behavior of actinides in the environment, and tireless efforts to bring gender diversity to university chemistry departments.”

Dr. Clark is a graduate of Lander College in Greenwood, South Carolina. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from Florida State University.

Diane M. Bunce, professor of chemistry at the Catholic University of America in Washington, will be the recipient of the George C. Pimentel Award in Chemical Education “for selfless dedication to mentoring chemistry educators and extraordinary dedication to the field of chemical education.”

Professor Bunce is a graduate of Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York. She holds a master’s degree from Cornell University and a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland.

Silvia S. Jurisson is a professor of chemistry and radiology at the University of Missouri in Columbia. She will be honored with the Glenn T. Seaborg Award for Nuclear Chemistry. ACS is recognizing her “distinguished work in radioinorganic and radiopharmaceutical chemistry, which is saving lives and protecting the environment and for her work in educating the next generation of radiochemists.”

Professor Jurisson is a graduate of the University of Delaware. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati.