Department News
Department creatively pivots instruction to meet the challenges of COVID-19 environment
Posted September 18, 2020
With uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 and its sometimes quick-changing impacts, the Department of Chemistry kicked off the fall semester with meaningful learning experiences for students that include online and in-person classroom and laboratory teaching and learning. That planning also allows for a quick pivot to all online learning, if necessary. All of this has been done with the safety of students forefront in mind and meeting COVID-19 protocols.
Connie Lu promoted to professor
Posted September 17, 2020
Connie Lu has been promoted to full professor, effective fall 2020. She started with the Department of Chemistry in 2009 as an assistant professor and was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2015.
Professor Siepmann named editor-in-chief of Journal of Chemical & Engineering Data
Posted September 15, 2020
The Publications Division of the American Chemical Society (ACS) has named J. Ilja Siepmann, Ph.D., of the University of Minnesota editor-in-chief of the Journal of Chemical & Engineering Data.
University of Minnesota receives $18M grant for materials research
Posted September 11, 2020
The University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering announced that the National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $18 million in renewed funding over the next six years for the University’s Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC). The University of Minnesota MRSEC program is among only 11 centers nationwide receiving funding for successful collaborative research.
Outstanding Teaching Assistants, Students honored for 2019-20
Posted September 10, 2020
The Department of Chemistry honored its outstanding teaching assistants and those earning 4.0 GPAs for the 2019-20 school year.
Professor Truhlar named reviewer of the month
Posted August 28, 2020
Regents Professor Donald Truhlar has been named Reviewer of the Month for July 2020 by the International Journal of Quantum Chemistry.
Nicholas Race receives MIRA grant
Posted August 24, 2020
Professor Nicholas Race has received a Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) General Medicine that brings in $1.9 million for five years to fund projects involving the use of the phenonium ion as a control element in synthesis.
Victor Young Jr. elected Fellow of American Crystallographic Association
Posted August 24, 2020
Victor Young Jr., Ph.D., has been elected a 2021 Fellow of the American Crystallographic Association. Young has been director of the Department of Chemistry's X-ray Crystallographic Laboratory for 25 years.
Adeline Espinasse receives Baxter Young Investigator Award
Posted August 19, 2020
Adeline Espinasse, a 5th-year graduate student working with Professor Erin Carlson, has received a Baxter Young Investigator Award. She was selected as a First-Tier Awardee, of which there are only two in the nation.
Ambika Bhagi-Damodaran receives MIRA grant
Posted August 17, 2020
Professor Ambika Bhagi-Damodaran has received a Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) General Medicine that brings in $1.9 million for five years to fund her research on decoding and rewiring enzymatic redox signal transduction pathways.