Argonne scientist named VP of American Crystallographic Association

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ARGONNE, Ill. (Feb. 21, 2008) –Senior Physicist Robert Von Dreele of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory has been voted vice president of the American Crystallographic Association.

“I was pleased and surprised the association asked me to become a candidate,” Von Dreele said. “It is the premiere organization for crystallographers in the United States.”

Von Dreele will serve as vice president for 2008, be appointed president in 2009 and be immediate past-president for 2010. He has been a member of the organization since the early 1970s.

Von Dreele studies powder diffraction crystallography at the Advanced Photon Source. He examines samples with very large numbers of very small crystals with X-rays to ascertain information about the arrangement of the atoms within them.

His work is funded by Office of Science/Basic Energy Sciences at the U.S. Department of Energy. He is also a member of the National Committee on Crystallography, which represents the interests of the professional community to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

Some of his duties as vice president will include taking part in the discussion of the governing council and taking the place of the president when he is unavailable.

The American Crystallographic Association, Inc. is a non-profit, scientific organization with more than 2,200 members.

According to the ACA Web site, the objective of the organization is to promote interactions among scientists who study the structure of matter at atomic (or near atomic) resolution. These interactions will advance experimental and computational aspects of crystallography and diffraction. They will also promote the study of the arrangements of atoms and molecules in matter and the nature of the forces that both control and result from them.

Argonne National Laboratory brings the world's brightest scientists and engineers together to find exciting and creative new solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America 's scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science.

For more information, please contact Brock Cooper (630/252-5565 or bcooper@anl.gov) at Argonne.