UW-Eau Claire, Chemistry Department Newsletter, 2008

	Message from the Chair “Welcome Friends!” from Professor Jim Phillips, who assumed the role of Department Chair on August 18, 2008.

Chemistry Department Highlights for 2008

	UW-Eau Claire hosted the 35th annual UW System Chemistry Faculties’ Meeting In October, 2008, the Chemistry department hosted representatives from UW chemistry departments. The meeting featured presentations by Chemistry department alumnus, Prof. Richard Saykally (UC-Berkeley) and Prof. Thomas Greenbowe (Iowa State).

	Warren Gallagher and Student Lee Behling publish JACS Communication The Communication describes a revised structure for methanobactin. Their finding were also reported as a "News of the Week" item in the September 8, 2008 issue of Chemical & Engineering News.

	Alan Gengenbach obtains PRF Grant The grant will allow Alan and his students to investigate strategies for removing sulfur-containing compounds from petroleum-based fuels. Initially, the project will focus on "in vitro" studies to identify the best catalysts, but ultimately will target real fuels.

	Sanchita Hati, Kurt Wiegel, and Scott Hartsel obtain Major Research Grants Together these faculty members received over $400,000 in funding from the NIH-AREA (Hati), NSF (Wiegel) and Research Corporation (Hartsel). Their projects include studying molecular communication in protein molecules, the behavior of liquid crystalline molecules, and the structure and behavior of methanobactin, a copper binding molecule.

	Bob Eierman named Director of Center for Teaching and Learning Chemistry Professor Bob Eierman becomes the first Interim Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, which was created to help educators to develop effective methods for teaching and assessing learning. CETL staff works with teachers from across campus on various curriculum development projects and we bring in education leaders to make presentations.

	Chemistry Major Skye Doering wins Kell Container Scholarship Doering joins four previous Chemistry and BMB winners of this Award, which provides a full tuition scholarship, as well as funds for supplies and a summer stipend.

	BMB Major Katie Klotz wins prestigious Goldwater Scholarship BMB Major Lee Behling receives Honorable Mention Klotz, and Mathematics major Eric Weber, are the first UWEC students to receive this award, which provides up to $7,500 for tuition, fees, and room and board.

	Jason Halfen co-authors paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Halfen and collaborators at the University of Minnesota and other institutions report a synthetic compound that mimics the active site structure of the active form of cytochrome P450, an enzyme that is responsible for the detoxification of a broad range of organic molecules in biological systems.

	UWEC Chemistry holds 50th Anniversary Celebration During Homecoming weekend 2007, many Emeritus Faculty and Alumni gathered for a special get-together celebrating the 50th anniversary of the chemistry degree at UWEC. The event included a Friday Evening Banquet at Stella Blues, as well as department “breakfast tours” on Saturday morning.

	Jim Phillips obtains $189,000 renewal of NSF grant This grant will support Phillips’ on-going research into condensed phase effects on the structural properties of nitrile donor-acceptor complexes. New equipment purchased using these funds includes a corrosive-compatible turbomolecular pumping system to be used with the optical cryostat obtain with the original grant.