Awards

• WCC Travel Grants Awarded
• John Clark Receives AGRO Award
• SOCMA Hands Out Responsible Care Awards
• New Jersey Honors Inventors
• Nico Tjandra Wins NMR Award
• Lambert Nabs HIST's Edelstein Award

WCC Travel Grants Awarded

The recipients of the Women Chemists Committee/Eli Lilly Travel Award grants for the first half of 2005 have been selected. The grants provide funding to female chemistry students to attend a scientific meeting between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2005, with one exception. The recipients are listed below, with the name of the meeting they will be attending.

◾ Maren Buck of the University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Wash., will attend the 9th International Symposium on Metallomesogens in May.
◾ Katherine Cashell of Central Missouri State University will attend the spring ACS national meeting in San Diego.
◾ Sarah E. Chobot of Boston University will attend the ACS national meeting in San Diego.
◾ Natalie Giampietro of Wayne State University, Detroit, will attend the ACS national meeting in San Diego.
◾ Erin E. Greenwald of Texas A&M University will attend the ACS national meeting in San Diego.
◾ Lori J. Jacquemin of Ball State University, Muncie, Ind., will attend the American Society for Biochemistry & Molecular Biology meeting in April.
◾ Kristina Stephenson of Indiana University, Bloomington, will attend the Materials Research Society Symposium in November.
◾ Anna Vagstad of Winthrop University, Rock Hill, S.C., will attend the ACS national meeting in San Diego.

John Clark Receives AGRO Award

John M. Clark, a professor of environmental toxicology and chemistry in the department of veterinary and animal science at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, has received the International Award for Research in Agrochemicals. The award is presented by ACS's Agrochemicals Division (AGRO) and sponsored by DuPont Crop Protection.

A 28-year member of AGRO, Clark has also served as director of the Massachusetts Pesticide Analysis Laboratory (MPAL) since 1984. His research has focused on the effects of neurotoxic pesticides on a variety of organisms, and he has used novel molecular techniques to help shed light on resistance mechanisms in insects. At MPAL, he has studied concerns arising from the encroachment of urbanization on agricultural areas.

SOCMA Hands Out Responsible Care Awards

The Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association (SOCMA) presented its fourth annual Responsible Care Awards on Dec. 14 at the organization's annual dinner in New York City. SOCMA recognized three manufacturing facilities--Cambrex' Charles City, Iowa, facility; Albemarle's Tyrone, Pa., facility; and Nufarm Specialty Products' Lobeco, S.C., facility--for their commitment to Responsible Care standards.

Fifty-nine other SOCMA member facilities were honored with Achievement Awards for thorough implementation of Responsible Care improvements in their core areas. The complete list of winners can be found at http://www.socma.org.

New Jersey Honors Inventors

The Research & Development Council of New Jersey held its 25th Annual Thomas Alva Edison Patent Awards Dinner at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, N.J., on Nov. 11 to honor state companies and inventors for their achievements.

The Thomas Alva Edison Patent Awards, recognizing New Jersey scientific breakthroughs, went to the following:

◾ Celgene Corp., Warren, for a "Method of Reducing TNF-Alpha Levels with Amino-Substituted Dioxoisoindolines."
◾ Engelhard Corp., Iselin, for a "Method for Using a Close-Coupled Catalyst."
◾ ExxonMobil Research & Engineering, Annandale, for a "Process for Preparing Short-Chain Alkyl Aromatic Compounds."
◾ International Specialty Products, Wayne, for "Polymeric Composition."
◾ Merck & Co., Rahway, for "Morpholine and Thiomorpholine Tachykinin Receptor Antagonists."
◾ Princeton University for "N-Glutamic Acid Derivatives."
◾ Rutgers University for "Coherent, Flexible, Coated-Bore, Hollow-Fiber Waveguide."
◾ Sabinsa Corp., Piscataway, for "Forskolin Composition for Promoting Lean Body Mass and Treating Mood Disorders."
◾ Schering-Plough Research Institute, Kenilworth, for "Piperidine Derivatives Useful as CCR5 Antagonists."
◾ Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Princeton, for "Rapamycin Hydroxyesters."
◾ Ralph Izzo, president and chief operating officer of PSE&G, Newark, was awarded the Science & Technology Medal; Susan A. Cole, President of Montclair State University, received the Educator of the Year Award; and Rep. Rush Holt (D) received the Chairman's Award.

Nico Tjandra Wins NMR Award

Nico Tjandra, a principal investigator at the National Heart, Lung & Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health, will receive the Founders Medal of the International Conference on Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems at its meeting in Hyderabad, India, in January 2005. The award has been given out since 2002 to a scientist under 41 years of age who has made exceptional contributions in the area of magnetic resonance in biological systems.

Tjandra's work on novel NMR methods has involved measurement of residual dipolar couplings in weakly aligned molecules and other techniques, which together have provided insight into biomolecular structure determination. Tjandra, born in Indonesia, received a Ph.D. in biophysics at Carnegie Mellon University in 1993, and has been at NIH since 1994.

Lambert Nabs HIST's Edelstein Award

Joseph B. Lambert, a professor of chemistry at Northwestern University, received the 2004 Sydney M. Edelstein Award from the ACS Division of the History of Chemistry at the 228th ACS national meeting in Philadelphia.

Lambert was cited for his contributions to archaeological chemistry, including the use of X-ray photoelectron and NMR spectroscopy to study early chemical technology and investigations of pottery, bone, glass, metals, and organic materials. In addition to founding and serving as editor of the Journal of Physical Organic Chemistry, Lambert has authored 340 publications and 12 books, most notably "Traces of the Past."