Sixteen Women From Academia Named American Chemical Society Fellows

The American Chemical Society recently named its new class of fellows for 2015. The induction ceremony for the 2015 fellows will be held at the 250th ACS National Meeting in Boston on Monday, August 17, 2015. Of the 78 new fellows, 16 are women who have current affiliations with higher educational institutions in the United States. Here are brief biographies of the 16 academic women selected as fellows.

(L to R) Mary K. Boyd, Linda C. Brazdil, Diane M. Bunce, Peggy Cebe, and Amber Flynn Charlebois

Mary K. Boyd is vice president for academic affairs at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. Earlier, she was the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of San Diego for five years and previously taught at Georgia Southern University and Loyola University in Chicago. Dr. Boyd is co-editor of Broadening Participation in Undergraduate Research: Fostering Excellence and Enhancing the Impact (Council on Undergraduate Research, 2009). Dr. Boyd holds bachelor’s and doctoral degrees in chemistry from the University of Toronto.

Linda C. Brazdil is the director of the Center for Science and Math Education and a chemistry instructor at Loyola University in Chicago. Dr. Brazdil received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Notre Dame College of Ohio in South Euclid and a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.  She holds 33 U.S. patents.

Diane M. Bunce is a professor of chemistry at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Her research deals primarily with the application of cognitive psychology to the learning and teaching of chemistry. Dr. 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. in chemical education from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Peggy Cebe is a professor of physics and astronomy at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. She has been on the faculty at the university since 1995. Professor Cebe previously taught at MIT. Dr. Cebe holds a bachelor’s degree in physics and a master’s degree in mathematics from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. She earned a second master’s degree and a Ph.D. in physics at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

Amber Flynn Charlebois is a professor of chemistry and pharmaceutical sciences at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey. Dr. Charlebois is a graduate of Syracuse University and holds a Ph.D. from the University at Buffalo of the State University of New York System.\

(L to R) Christine S. Chow, Renee S. Cole, Marilyn D. Duerst, Ellen R. Fisher, and Rebecca Cowan Hoye

Christine S. Chow is a professor of chemistry and associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. Dr. Chow is a graduate of Bowdoin College in Maine. She earned a master’s degree at Columbia University in New York City and a Ph.D. at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Renee S. Cole is an associate professor of chemistry in the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Iowa. She joined the university’s faculty in 2011 after teaching at the University of Central Missouri. Dr. Cole is a graduate of Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of Oklahoma.

Marilyn D. Duerst is a Distinguished Lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. The primary focus of her research is the development and writing of experiments for introductory chemistry lab courses. She is a graduate of St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, and holds a master’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

Ellen R. Fisher is a professor of chemistry at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. She has been on the faculty at Colorado State since 1993. Dr. Fisher is a graduate of Texas Lutheran College in Seguin and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Utah. She conducted postdoctoral research at the Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Rebecca Cowan Hoye is a professor of chemistry at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. Her research is concentrated in field of organic synthesis, with an emphasis on the synthesis of molecules with interesting biological activity. Professor Hoye is a graduate of Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. She holds a master’s degree from Harvard University and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.

(L to R) Anna Krylov, Jennifer Lewis, Alice C. Mignerey, Carol A. Parish, Ellene Tratras Contis, and Vickie M. Williamson

Anna Krylov is a professor of chemistry at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. She joined the USC faculty in 1998. Dr. Krylov’s current research is focused on theoretical modeling of open-shell species. A native of the Ukraine, she holds a master’s degree from Moscow State University in Russia and a Ph.D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel.

Jennifer Lewis is an associate professor in the department of chemistry at the University of South Florida in Tampa. Her research focuses on current trends in the teaching and learning of chemistry at the undergraduate level. Dr. Lewis is a graduate of the University of North Dakota. She holds a Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University.

Alice C. Mignerey is a professor of chemistry at the University of Maryland. Professor Mignerey’s research is focused on understanding the behavior of nuclear matter under conditions of extreme density and temperature. Dr. Mignerey holds bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees, all from the University of Rochester in New York.

Carol A. Parish holds the Floyd D. and Elisabeth S. Gottwald Chair in Chemistry at the University of Richmond in Virginia. Dr. Parish is a graduate of Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. She earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry at Purdue University.

Ellene Tratras Contis is a professor of chemistry at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti. She has been on the faculty at the university since 2000. Professor Contis is a graduate of Youngstown State University in Ohio. She earned a master’s degree at the University of Pittsburgh and a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry at the University of Michigan.

Vickie M. Williamson is an assistant instructional professor of chemistry at Texas A & M University. Dr. Williamson is a graduate of the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in chemical education from the University of Oklahoma.