Chemistry

Assistant Professor Ramon Alain Miranda Quintana received one of the 2021 Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Awards. Dr. Miranda Quintana was one of 35 recipients of this award (out of 156 applicants nominated by their universities), which is given to young faculty members working on one of the five disciplines: engineering and applied sciences; life sciences; mathematics/computer sciences; physical sciences; policy, management, or education. Dr. Miranda Quintana’s proposal (entitled “Flexible Wavefunction Methods and Artificial Neural Network Operators for Strongly Correlated Systems”), intents to find novel ways to accurately describe strongly correlated electronic systems. His research group is currently working on developing new wavefunction methods and how they could be improved using machine learning-inspired corrections. The generous award from ORAU includes seed funds and a matching contribution from UF’s Department of Chemistry. 

Chemistry’s own Kathryn “Kitty” Williams recently completed the veterinary technology program through City College and currently volunteers her time at  St. Francis Pet Care.

You can read the full article here: https://www.wuft.org/news/2021/04/16/age-is-just-a-number-at-least-for-kathryn-kitty-williams/

Professor Rick Yost has been awarded the 2021 Pittsburgh Analytical Chemistry Award. Dr. Yost is University Professor and Head of Analytical Chemistry at the University of Florida and directs the Southeast Center for Integrated Metabolomics and the NIH National Metabolomics Consortium. He has received the ASMS Award for Distinguished Contribution in Mass Spectrometry, the MSACL Award for Distinguished Contribution to Clinical Mass Spectrometry, and the Florida Academy of Sciences Medal.

This prestigious award was established by the Society for Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh to recognize a scientist’s significant contributions to the field of Analytical Chemistry including the introduction of a significant technique, theory or instrument and providing exceptional training or a fertile environment for progress in Analytical Chemistry. The award, along with an honorarium and a plaque, was presented at the 2021 Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy (Pittcon) during a symposium held in his honor on March 11.

Professor Yost is widely recognized as a world leader in the field of mass spectrometry and analytical chemistry, most notably for his invention of the triple quadrupole mass spectrometer, which has revolutionized important measurements impacting human health and well-being in the fields of drug metabolism, pharmacokinetics, environmental studies, and biological analyses. He has also pioneered the development of other instruments now widely used in commercial systems, including the ion trap, laser microprobe, and ion mobility tandem mass spectrometer. For these seminal and groundbreaking contributions, the Society for Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh is proud to confer this award.

At UF, Professors Herb Laitinen, Jim Winefordner, and Weihong Tan have previously received this award.

To read more: https://www.news-medical.net/news/20210303/Analytical-Mass-Spectrometry-How-Did-We-Get-Here-Where-are-We-Going.aspx#

UF Distinguished Professor and Drago Chair of Chemistry George Christou has been selected for the 2021 Mentor in a Leadership Position award by the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL), with which he is affiliated. He was nominated by his graduate student Ashlyn Hale on behalf of his present and past group members. This is one of three mentor awards given annually to people associated with the MagLab at any of their system-wide sites (Tallahassee, Gainesville, and Los Alamos). The categories are: mentors in leadership positions (full professors, directors, deputy and assistant directors); mentors in faculty/staff positions (other faculty and staff); and mentors early in their career (graduate students, postdocs, and Research 1 faculty).

Prof. Christou’s research is in synthetic and physical-inorganic chemistry of the transition metals and lanthanides, and spans molecular nanomagnetism, coordination cluster chemistry, and bioinorganic and supramolecular chemistry.

The Keaffaber Scholar Award recognizes the overall excellence in research and academic scholarship of one of our senior chemistry majors.  To be eligible for the award, the undergraduate must be research active within the Department of Chemistry and committed to pursuing a Ph.D. in chemistry. 

This year, the recipient of the Keaffaber Scholar Award is Caroline Coxwell. Caroline is a senior chemistry major with a minor in communications studies. Caroline decided she wanted a career in chemistry after taking organic chemistry in her sophomore year of college. In the fall of her junior year, Caroline joined Dr. Stephen A. Miller’s research group in polymer chemistry. Her specific project studies the effects of acetalization of polyvinyl alcohol with ketones and aldehydes to increase the functionality and thermal properties of the polymer. Caroline was accepted into the UF’s international REU in France for the summer of 2020 but could not attend due to COVID-19. Beyond academics, Caroline enjoys running stadiums, watching movies, and hanging out with her research group. After she graduates, Caroline plans to pursue a Ph.D in Chemistry with an emphasis on polymer chemistry.