University of Michigan DEPARTMENT OF Chemistry NEWSLETTER Letter from the Chair Greetings from Ann Arbor and the chemical biology. In addition to these that Jim has done. He will be replaced by Department of Chemistry. After one full two outstanding senior hires, we welcome Professor Masato Koreeda. Professor year as Department Chair, I have come to Dr. Larry Beck from Cal Tech as the Dow Mark Meyerhoff will continue as Associ- realize the full scope of this administra- CorningAssistant Professor of analytical ate Chair for Graduate Student Affairs for tive challenge. It’s been a very busy and chemistry in September. Larry brings a another year after which he will take a exciting year as we forge ahead to meet broad spectrum of research expertise in well deserved sabbatical leave. the goals and implement the plans set out solid state NMR, zeolites and We have had another excellent year for in our new 5-year plan. nanostructures. Faculty recruiting will recruiting graduate students. In the fall, One of the most ambitious parts of our continue at a vigorous pace in the coming 45 new Ph.D. students will join the De- plan is the recruitment of new faculty at year with no less than four searches in the partment. This summer has also been a the senior and junior levels. During the area of theoretical physical chemistry, very productive one for undergraduate past year, Professor William Roush organic and chemical biology and inor- research participation with a total of 20 settled in the Department as the first ganic/materials chemistry. The College undergraduates doing research in various Warner Lambert/Parke Davis Professor and the University both have been sup- laboratories. We were fortunate to re- of Chemistry. Bill has assembled a super portive and have facilitated the recruit- ceive several significant gifts for under- research group of graduate students and ment of outstanding faculty. graduate support this year which we have postdoctorals. We were successful this Unfortunately, we are losing one of our directed to summer fellowships including year in recruiting Professor Edwin Vedejs greatest supporters in the administration. gifts from the Dreyfus Foundation, from from the University of Wisconsin. Ed In April, Edie Goldenberg announced her PPG Co. and the Pfizer Pharmaceutical will join the faculty next January as the resignation as Dean of LS&A effective Co. Special gifts were also received from Moses Gomberg Professor of Chemistry. this August. In October, she will become Helen Schaefer and from Marion Harris Some of his research group will start Provost at the University of Texas, Aus- to supplement named endowments for arriving at Michigan by August of 1998. tin. We all express our gratitude for her undergraduate scholarship support. Lou Ed is a very distinguished organic chem- efforts to build a stronger Chemistry De- Centofanti and Bob and Marj Parry added ist whose research spans both mechanis- partment and wish her well in her new special gifts to the Robert W. Parry fund, tic and synthetic chemistry. He is a long post. During the coming year, Professor and Jerry Robertson similarly strength- time consultant for Pharmacia Upjohn Pat Gurin of the Psychology Department ened the P. A. S. Smith fund. These two Pharmaceutical Co. and is currently an will serve as interim Dean while a na- endowments and a new corporate gift Associate Editor of the Journal of the tional search is undertaken for a perma- from Pharmacia & Upjohn in Kalamazoo American Chemical Society. We were nent Dean. are directed to graduate support. Charles fortunate in recruiting Professor Carol Other news in the Department includes and Genevieve Walton also initiated an Fierke from the Department of Biochem- the promotion of Dr. Richard Goldstein to endowment fund for the support of mate- istry at the Duke Medical School. She Associate Professor with tenure. Richard rials research. will arrive at Michigan some time next is also an Associate Research Scientist in I would like to acknowledge and thank summer. Carol is a biochemist with a the Division of Biophysics. Professor the alumni, alumnae and friends of the strong physical organic background, and James Penner-Hahn finishes his term as Department for their generous gifts dur- someone who will be a significant addi- Associate Chair for Curriculum Develop- ing the past year. It is gratifying to see so tion to our biochemistry undergraduate ment and Faculty Affairs. The Depart- many special gifts to named fellowships, program and our graduate program in ment is grateful for the outstanding job lectures and to our Alumni/ae Fund. This 1998 U-M DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY latter resource has become an increas- ception and social hour on Monday ingly important component of our effort evening, August 24, at 6 P.M. in the Contents to provide the finest educational experi- Brandeis Room of the Marriott, Copley ence for our students. You will find that Place. I invite those of you at the meeting Letter from the Chair .................... 1 the back cover of the newsletter has the to stop by and meet new and old friends. Symposia and Seminars ................ 2 familiar gift reply form for the depart- In the fall, the College and Department mental annual appeal. This newsletter will have a short program and reception to Spotlight Profiles ........................... 3 will be the only solicitation this year to all celebrate the naming of Bill Roush as the New Faculty ................................... 4 of you from the department for your con- first Warner Lambert/Parke-Davis Pro- Faculty News.................................. 5 tinued support of our endeavors. fessor of Chemistry. We are all indebted One of the high points of the academic to Dr. Ronald Creswell, Chairman and Graduate Program News year was the award of an honorary degree Warner Lambert/Parke-Davis for spon- Graduate Awards ....................... 7 to alumnus, Professor Richard Smalley sorship of the first endowed chair in the Doctoral Degrees ......................10 (BS ‘65) at the December, 1997 com- Department and in the College from a corporate source. This event will take Undergraduate Program News mencement. Professor Smalley is Profes- sor of Chemistry and Director of the Cen- place on October 29, 1998. Undergraduate Awards.............12 ter for Nanoscale Science and Technol- In closing, I extend my best wishes for Summer Research Programs ....14 ogy at Rice University. He was a a happy and prosperous year. I look for- Undergraduate Degrees ...........15 corecipient in 1996 of the Nobel Prize in ward to seeing some of you in Boston and Chemistry for the discovery of to relating to all of you next year the Gifts................................................16 buckminsterfullerene. progress in making the Chemistry De- Alumni News .................................18 At the next national meeting of the partment at Michigan one of the best. In Memoriam .................................25 American Chemical Society in Boston, Faculty Listing ..............................26 the Department will have a separate re- J. P. Marino Alumni Reply Form............... inside back cover Symposia/ ries, coordinated and hosted by our assis- tant professors, and co-sponsored by the Seminars Dow Chemical Co. began in September The with Prof. Jiri Jonas (U. of Illinois, Department of Chemistry October 28, 1997 was an extra special Champaign-Urbana) discussing high- Newsletter day for the Department. Professor resolution NMR spectroscopy at high pres- Dimitri N. Coucouvanis, Professor of is published once a year by the Depart- sures. Prof. David Chandler (U. of Cali- ment of Chemistry at the University of Chemistry, received the Margaret and fornia, Berkeley) presented a lecture se- Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1055 Herman Sokol Faculty Award in the ries Phase Equilibria, Frustration, and Sciences. Professor Coucouvanis gave Self Assembly. In December, Prof. Craig a lecture on Understanding the Struc- Townsend (Johns Hopkins U.) conducted ture-Function Relationship in Nitroge- a lecture series on Understanding the Syn- nase: A Major Challenge in Bio-inor- thetic Roles of Multifunctional Proteins ganic Chemistry. The event was held at in the Formation of Polyketides and Beta- Printed on Recycled Paper the Rackham Amphitheater in the Lactam Antibiotics. In April, the Depart- Rackham Graduate School with a recep- ment was very busy with visits from Prof. tion and dinner following. The award Alexander Pines (U. of California, Berke- was established at the Graduate School ley) presenting NMR/MRI: All Lit Up; Chair: Joseph P. Marino through the generosity of Mrs. Margaret Prof. Christopher Walsh (Harvard Medi- Editor: Doreen Fussman Sokol. cal School) speaking on Post Transla- Asst. Editor: Agnes Soderbeck tional Modifications; Prof. Francis Alumni News: Robert C. Taylor The Department hosted, with pleasure, many visitors to special events this past DiSalvo (Cornell U.) speaking on Chal- year. The Moses Gomberg Lecture Se- lenges and Opportunities in Solid State Chemistry; and Prof. Graham Fleming The Regents of the University of Michigan: (U. of California, Berkeley) giving a lec- Lawrence B. Deitch; Daniel D. Horning; Olivia P. Maynard; Shirley M. McFee; Rebecca McGowan; ture series on Ultrafast Nonlinear Spec- Andrea Fischer Newman; Philip H. Power; S. Martin World Wide Web Address: troscopy and Photosynthetic Light Har- Taylor; Lee C. Bollinger, ex officio. Lee C. Bollinger, vesting. President. http://www.umich.edu/~michchem In May, the Department was co-host to The University of Michigan is an equal opportunity/ E-mail: [email protected] affirmative action employer. the Fourth Michigan Symposium on Con- 2 1998 temporary Challenges in Molecular Medi- fornia Institute of Technology), and Prof. very exciting to bring new ideas and re- cine sponsored by Parke-Davis Pharma- Paul Wender (Stanford U.). search developments to the Department ceutical Research. This year the focus of The Bachmann Lecture was presented this through seminars, symposia and lectures. the symposium was on research at the year by Yoshito Kishi (Harvard) and the The Department is able to host these events chemistry-biology interface.