Iota Sigma Pi Presents Awards

Iota Sigma Pi, The National Honor Society For Women In Chemistry, will present its 2005 awards at its triennial conference, which will be held June 9-12 in Sweet Briar, Va.

Sharon Hammes-Schiffer, professor of chemistry at Pennsylvania State University, University Park, is receiving the Agnes Fay Morgan Research Award. This annual award is given for research achievement in chemistry or biochemistry. The nominee must be a woman chemist or biochemist, not over 40 years of age at the time of her nomination.

Hammes-Schiffer's research centers on the investigation of proton- and electron-transfer reactions in chemical and biological processes. She has developed analytical theories and computational methods for these types of reactions and has applied these approaches to a wide range of experimentally relevant systems. Her work has elucidated fundamental principles of proton-coupled electron-transfer reactions and has provided a framework for the interpretation of experimental results in this field. Her research has also provided insight into the role of hydrogen tunneling and protein motion in enzyme reactions. In addition, her group has developed a nuclear-electronic orbital method to incorporate nuclear quantum effects into electronic structure calculations.

Linda C. Brazdil is the 2005 recipient of the Iota Sigma Pi Honorary Member Award. This is the highest honor that Iota Sigma Pi bestows on outstanding women chemists.

Brazdil, director of Prairie Crossing Charter School in Grayslake, Ill., is responsible for oversight of all aspects of school operation including adherence to its mission, curriculum development, professional development for teachers, charter renewal process, budget, human resources, and facilities management. Projects she oversees include successfully shepherding the renewal of the school's charter through the Illinois State Board of Education, overseeing the construction of the first "green" classroom building in Illinois that will obtain LEED (Leadership in Environment & Energy Design) certification, obtaining a BP Leader Award for development of a program for seventh-graders to study the effects of chloride on the local watershed, obtaining a Project Learning Tree grant for fourth- and fifth-graders to work with a landscape architect to design landscaping around the new building that incorporates native plants, and obtaining a Greening Schools Grant from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to help eliminate water runoff.

E. Ann Nalley, professor of chemistry at Cameron University, Lawton, Okla., will receive the Professional Excellence Award, which is given for ou tstanding contributions to chemistry and allied fields by a woman.

Nalley's activities in the American Chemical Society as well as the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi have earned her recognition at the national level. Nalley, who is ACS president-elect, has served for seven years on the society's board and as chair of the ACS Division of Professional Relations. Nalley is a member of the Pacifichem Organizing Committee, which organizes an international meeting every five years. She is the lead organizer on an international symposium titled "Women: Past, Present & Future," to be presented at the 2005 Pacifichem.