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Environment

New Editor For Organometallics

Publishing: Texas A&M's John Gladysz succeeds journal's founding editor

by Sophie L. Rovner
April 28, 2010 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 88, Issue 18

Gladysz
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Credit: Janet Bluemel/Texas A&M
Credit: Janet Bluemel/Texas A&M

The American Chemical Society has appointed John A. Gladysz, distinguished professor of chemistry and holder of the Dow Chair in Chemical Invention at Texas A&M University, as the new editor of Organometallics. Gladysz succeeds Dietmar Seyferth, an emeritus chemistry professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who has served as editor since helping to found the journal in 1982.

With the help of his associate editors, Gladysz says, he plans to strengthen the journal's position as "the go-to source for cutting-edge research and the latest developments in the field." He hopes to introduce new cover graphics for each issue and to "tap the full intellectual firepower of the editorial board" to identify new directions for the journal, including possible themed issues. Gladysz also intends to repay the mentoring he received from many ACS journal editors by assisting new authors and helping groom new reviewers and future editors.

Gladysz "has had a distinguished career of research in organometallic chemistry, and his previous appointment as associate editor of Chemical Reviews provides experience that should be of great value to him in his new role," Seyferth says. "Also, since Organometallics is an international journal, his years as a chemistry professor in Germany serve to make him well-known in the European organometallic community, which has been a source of many excellent manuscripts for Organometallics."

Chemical Reviews Editor Josef Michl says he regrets that his journal "will be losing an extremely gifted, energetic, knowledgeable, and innovative associate editor. However," he adds, "I am delighted that John will have this opportunity to use his vast experience and original ideas to follow up on Dietmar’s pioneering accomplishment. I look forward to watching Organometallics continue to grow and flourish under John’s thoughtful guidance."

"John Gladysz is an excellent choice to lead Organometallics," says Susan King, senior vice president of ACS's Journals Publishing Group. "His desire to develop a 'marketplace of ideas' with bottom-up and top-down input to further the journal and ensure its continued success represents a vision that ACS Publications embraces. We are certain that John will build on the tremendous legacy that Dietmar has built for Organometallics," she says.

Born in 1952 in Kalamazoo, Mich., Gladysz earned a B.S. in chemistry at the University of Michigan in 1971 and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry at Stanford University in 1974. He joined the faculty of the University of California, Los Angeles, later that year and moved to the University of Utah in 1982. He became chair of organic chemistry at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, in Germany, in 1998. A decade later, he took up his current post at Texas A&M. Throughout his academic career, Gladysz has served as a consultant for numerous companies, including Exxon, Total, and Edwards Nanoscience.

Gladysz' work centers on organometallic chemistry, including catalysis and building blocks for molecular devices. Honors for his contributions include the ACS Award in Organometallic Chemistry in 1994 and an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research Award for Senior Scientists in 1995–96.

When he isn't busy with research or editorial duties, Gladysz dedicates time to running and to his 66-acre ranch, located just 15 minutes from the chemistry building. He and his wife, Texas A&M chemistry professor Janet Bluemel, recently moved into a new home on the ranch. There they graze cattle, improve wildlife habitat, grow hay, and pump oil from a well. "From our living room window, we can see the series of tanks where the crude oil and water separate," Gladysz says. "This really makes us feel 'surrounded by chemistry.' "

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