Women From Higher Education Named Fellows of American Chemical Society

The American Chemical Society recently named its new class of fellows for 2014. The induction ceremony for the 2014 fellows will be held at the 248th ACS National Meeting in San Francisco on Monday, August 11, 2014. Of the 99 new fellows, 17 are women who have current affiliations with higher educational institutions in the United States.

(L to R) Top row: Jacqueline K. Barton, Nancy E. Levinger, Karen E. Grant, Linette M. Watkins, Natalie Foster, and Hiroko Ito Karan. Middle row: Arlene A. Garrison, Kathryn Uhrich, Doris Ingram Lewis, Debbie M. Decker, Marilyn M. Olmstead, and Arlene A. Russell. Bottom row: Darlene K. Slattery, Kristi L. Kiick, Carol A. Fierke, Loretta L. Jones, and Stephanie L. Brock.

Jacqueline K. Barton is the Arthur and Marian Hanisch Memorial Professor of Chemistry and chair of the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology. She has been at CalTech since 1989 after teaching at Hunter College of the City University of New York and Columbia University. Dr. Barton is a summa cum laude graduate of Barnard College in New York City and holds a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from Columbia University.

Nancy E. Levinger is a professor of chemistry at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. Her research focuses on the influence of condensed-phase environments on structure and dynamics of molecules. Professor Levinger is a graduate of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She holds a Ph.D. in chemical physics from the University of Colorado.

Karen E. Grant has a joint appointment as professor of chemistry at Columbia Basin College in Pasco, Washington, and program director of chemistry at Washington State University Tri-Cities in Richland. Dr. Grant holds a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a Ph.D. in chemical physics from Oregon State University.

Linette M. Watkins is a professor of chemistry at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. From 1997 to earlier this year, she taught at Texas State University in San Marcos. Professor Watkins is a graduate of Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, where she majored in biochemistry. She earned her Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University of Notre Dame.

Natalie Foster is a professor of chemistry emerita at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. She is the co-author of the textbook Chemistry: An Atoms-Focused Approach (W.W. Norton, 2013). Dr. Foster is a graduate of Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from Lehigh University.

Hiroko Ito Karan is a professor of chemistry at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York. She is a graduate of Hoshi University in Tokyo, Japan, and holds a master’s degrees from Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and a Ph.D. from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

Arlene A. Garrison is vice president of university partnerships at Oak Ridge Associated Universities in Tennessee. She previously served as the associate vice president of research at the University of Tennessee. Dr. Garrison holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of Tennessee.

Kathryn Uhrich is a professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Rutgers University in New Jersey. She is the editor of the Journal of Bioactive and Compatible Polymers. Her research is focused on the design of biocompatible, biodegradable polymers that will improve human health. Professor Uhrich is a graduate of the University of North Dakota. She earned a Ph.D. at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

Doris Ingram Lewis is a professor of chemistry and biochemistry emerita at Suffolk University in Boston, Massachusetts. She authors her own blog entitled Doris Lewis Good Chemistry. Dr. Lewis is a graduate of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and holds a Ph.D. from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts.

Debbie M. Decker is the safety manager for the chemistry department of the University of California, Davis. Previously, she was in safety services for the university for 10 years where she was responsible for lab safety training for the entire university.

Marilyn M. Olmstead is a professor of chemistry at the University of California, Davis. She joined the faculty in 2003 after conducting research for several years at the University of Bern in Switzerland. Professor Olmstead is a graduate of Reed College in Portland, Oregon. She earned a Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Arlene A. Russell is a senior lecturer in the department of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is also the director of the General Chemistry Laboratory Program and the Science Teacher Education Program. Dr. Russell is a graduate of the University of Toronto and holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from UCLA.

Darlene K. Slattery is a retired senior research chemist who worked at the Florida Solar Energy Center of University of Central Florida. She began work at the Hydrogen Research and Development Division of the Florida Solar Energy Center in 1989. She earned a Ph.D. in chemistry at the Florida Institute of Technology. Her primary area of research was in the storage of hydrogen for use in automobiles.

Kristi L. Kiick is a professor and deputy dean of engineering at the University of Delaware. Her research involves the synthesis, characterization, and application of biologically inspired and biologically produced materials. Professor Kiick is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Delaware. She earned a master’s degree in chemistry at the University of Georgia and a second master’s degree and a Ph.D. in polymer science and engineering from the University of Massachusetts.

Carol A. Fierke  is a professor of biochemistry and chair of the department of chemistry at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The goal of her research to understand the mechanisms used by biological catalysts, both proteins and nucleic acids, to achieve high efficiency and stringent specificity. A graduate of Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, she earned a Ph.D. at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Loretta L. Jones is professor emerita of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. Dr. Jones earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Loyola University in Chicago. She earned a master’s degree in chemistry at the University of Chicago and then worked for nine years at the Argonne National Laboratory and in industry. She then went on to the University of Illinois at Chicago to earn her Ph.D. in physical chemistry.

Stephanie L. Brock is a professor of chemistry at Wayne State University in Detroit. Her research is centered on the synthesis and characterization of novel inorganic solid state materials with unique and tunable properties, particularly low dimensional solids and nanomaterials. Professor Brock is a graduate of the University of Washington and earned a Ph.D. at the University of California, Davis.