Cynthia Burrows Named New Editor Of Accounts Of Chemical Research

The next editor-in-chief of the American Chemical Society journal Accounts of Chemical Research will be Cynthia J. Burrows, a chemistry professor and chair of the chemistry department at the University of Utah. ACS, which also publishes C&EN, made the announcement today with an effective date of January 2014.

Burrows will succeed Joan S. Valentine, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles.

The journal publishes concise overviews of basic research and applications in chemistry and biochemistry as well as special issues devoted to single topics of unusual research activity and significance.

Burrows says she is thrilled to join the journal’s team and notes that it “has a rich history of providing scholarly essays on frontier areas of research. Going forward, I expect Accounts to maintain its global leadership as a unique venue for communicating the excitement of the chemical sciences, both in core areas of chemistry and at the interfaces with biology, medicine, materials, and energy research.”

Burrows “brings keen insight across the broad disciplines related to chemistry and an enthusiasm for leading the journal that will serve her well in her new role,” says Susan King, senior vice president of the ACS Journals Publishing Group. Valentine dedicated 19 years to serving as editor-in-chief, “positioning the journal as a unique and leading resource for the global multidisciplinary chemistry community,” King adds.

Burrows has served as an editor or on the advisory boards of several journals. She earned a B.A. in chemistry from the University of Colorado, Boulder, in 1975, and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Cornell University in 1982. She is an ACS Fellow and has received numerous honors for her research and teaching. Her research covers both organic and biological chemistry, with a focus on chemical modifications of DNA and RNA bases.