Division of Chemistry Newsletter No. 9
September, 2006
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NEW DIVISION DIRECTOR
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We are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Luis Echegoyen
as Division Director for NSF Chemistry (CHE) effective August 16,
2006. Dr. Echegoyen comes to the Foundation from Clemson University
where he served as Chair for the Department of Chemistry. Prior academic
experience includes serving as Associate Professor and Professor
at the University of Miami; Adjunct Associate Professor at the University
of Maryland, College Park; Assistant and Associate Professor at the
University of Puerto Rico and Postdoctoral Research Associate at
the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He also conducted
research at Union Carbide Corporation, Bound Brook, New Jersey. He
received his Ph.D. from the University of Puerto Rico.
Dr. Echegoyen maintains an active research program with interests
including Fullerene electrochemistry, monolayer films, supramolecular
chemistry, and spectroscopy; endohedral Fullerene chemistry and
electrochemistry; carbon nanoonions, synthesis, derivatization
and fractionation; and chemical and active cation transport through
membranes. He has published numerous research papers and
books.
In addition, Dr. Echegoyen has extensive past experience with
NSF, including serving as a Program Officer in Chemical Dynamics
Program; a member of the Committee on Equal Opportunity in Science
and Engineering (CEOSE); and a member of the Mathematical and Physical
Sciences Advisory Committee. In addition, he has served as
principal investigator for several research grants supported by
NSF.
We are pleased to have Dr. Echegoyen join the NSF staff and welcome
him. He can be found in Suite 1055-S, by phone at 703-292-8840
or by email at echegoyen@nsf.gov.
We wish to thank Dr. Art Ellis for serving with distinction as Division
Director from June 2002 until June 2006. His active engagement
in developing new programs integrating research and education has
set the Division on a sound course for the future. Dr. Ellis’s
new position as Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of
California San Diego began in September 2006.
RECEPTION AT THE ACS NATIONAL MEETING IN SAN FRANCISCO
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We invite you to meet the new Division Director Luis Echegoyen and
speak with NSF staff members at a reception and poster session to
be held at the upcoming ACS National Meeting in San Francisco on
Monday, September 11, 2006, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Moscone
Convention Center, Room 104. Carl Lineberger, University of
Colorado, and Chair of the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Advisory
Committee, will introduce Luis. The following NSF staff members
and MPS-AC members plan to be available to meet with you informally: Ron
Christensen, Mike Clarke, Kathy Covert, Ken Doxsee, Luis Echegoyen,
Mostafa El-Sayed, Colby Foss, Joan Frye, Janice Hicks, Bob Kuczkowski,
Raima Larter, Carl Lineberger, Ty Mitchell, Charles Pibel, Marty
Pomerantz, Zeev Rosenzweig, and Chantel Sabus. Michael Pritchard
from the NSF Office of International Science and Engineering will
also attend. Colleagues from the NSF Division of Undergraduate Education
will include: Susan Hixson, Eileen Lewis, Hal Richtol and Pratibha
Varma-Nelson.
As part of the event, there will be posters highlighting recent
divisional activities including the “Workshop on Building
Strong Chemistry Departments through Gender Equity” (organized
by Cynthia Friend of Harvard University and Ken Houk of UCLA),
the Committee on the Advancement of Women Chemists (COACh)
(organized by Geri Richmond of the University of Oregon) and several
ADVANCE Institutional Transformation projects (ADVANCE is an NSF
program for broadening participation by women in the sciences and
engineering). There will also be a poster describing
the new program to enhance Cooperative Activities in Chemistry
between German and US Investigators. German Science Foundation
(DFG) program officer Georg Bechtold will be present. A video
about CHE-supported work on mapping science by Katy Boerner of
the Indiana University will be shown. The recent NSF-supported
workshop on Sustainability and Chemistry will be highlighted in
a poster prepared by co-organizer Vicki Grassian of the University
of Iowa. A town meeting will be held from noon until 1:00
p.m. as part of the reception. Guests Cynthia Friend, Geri
Richmond and Vicki Grassian will be present at the reception to
present and answer questions about the posters. This is an
excellent opportunity to share information and perspectives on
developments in the chemistry community and at NSF. Refreshments
will be available at the reception.
PERSONNEL CHANGES AND AVAILABILITY OF POSITIONS WITHIN THE DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY
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In addition to the new Division Director, the Division welcomes
Colby Foss, George Kenyon, Jeffrey Krause, Cynthia McClure and Wade
Sisk as rotators. Colby Foss comes from Trex Enterprises, Hawaii
and is working in the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program. George
Kenyon will begin January 2007 in the Organic and Macromolecular
Chemistry Program, coming from the University of Michigan. Jeffrey
Krause, of the University of Florida, is working in the Theoretical
and Computational Chemistry Program. Cynthia McClure from Montana
State University will begin October 2006 in the Organic and Macromolecular
Chemistry Program. Wade Sisk joins us from the University of
North Carolina at Charlotte and is working in Chemical Instrumentation.
We thank George Janini and Richard Foust for their service as
CHE rotators in the Analytical and Surface Chemistry and Chemical
Education Programs, respectively. George is retiring and
Rich is headed back to Northern Arizona University. We also
thank Lee Magid for her distinguished service as Senior Science
Advisor in the division for the past two years (Lee was also acting
Executive Officer for part of that time). Lee will
be enjoying retirement in Gig Harbor, Washington. Science
Assistant Kari McCarron has moved to a new job with MIT at their
office here in Washington DC, and we thank her for valuable contributions
while in CHE. Ron Christensen is moving from the Experimental
Physical Chemistry Program to lead the Chemical Education part
of Special Projects. A complete listing of current staff
may be found at http://www.nsf.gov/staff/staff_list.jsp?org=CHE.
The Division of Chemistry asks you to consider serving as a program
officer should your circumstances permit it, and to help us identify
other individuals who might serve in this capacity. Rotators are
responsible for planning, coordinating, and managing programs that
support research, education, and human resource development in
the chemical sciences. Applicants should have a Ph.D. or equivalent
training in the chemical sciences, extensive knowledge of one or
more chemistry subfields, and at least six years of successful
independent research activity. Applicants should be familiar with
the chemistry community and have administrative experience. Other
important attributes are strong verbal and written communication
skills, organizational skills, facility in using technology tools,
and the ability to work effectively on a team. If you are interested
in serving as a rotator, please see http://www.nsf.gov/about/career_opps/careers/science.jsp.
About half of our 16 program officers are rotators, and they bring
fresh insights to our work at NSF. Rotators can maintain their research
programs while working at the Foundation. NSF provides time, travel
resources, and use of technology to enable rotators to stay in touch
with co-workers at their home institutions. Rotator positions are
typically held for one or two years, but other arrangements are possible.
Rotators not only serve the community and help to shape chemistry,
but they also have excellent opportunities for professional development
and establishment of new research directions upon returning to their
laboratories. Applicants interested in rotational positions
should send an email describing their interest and CV to Luis Echegoyen
at echegoyen@nsf.gov. NSF
is an equal opportunity employer committed to employing a highly
qualified staff that reflects the diversity of our nation.
NEW NSF CHEMISTRY-SUPPORTED WORKSHOP REPORTS
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Chemistry and Sustainability, Arlington VA, June 2006, Organized
by Vicki Grassian, University of Iowa and Gerald Meyer, Johns Hopkins
University
http://www.chem.uiowa.edu/research/sustainability/index.html
Chemistry and Sustainability: Young Investigators, Richland
WA, November 2005, Organized by Geoffrey Coates, Cornell University
and Heather Allen, Ohio State University:
http://www.chem.cornell.edu/gc39/nsf/
Building Strong Academic Chemistry Departments through Gender
Equity, Arlington, VA, January 2006 (co-sponsored by NSF, NIH,
and DOE), Organized by Cynthia Friend, Harvard University and Ken
Houk, UCLA. http://www.chem.harvard.edu/groups/friend/GenderEquityWorkshop/
COMMITTEE OF VISITORS
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The triannual Committee of Visitors meeting will be held for the
Division of Chemistry in February 2007. The Chair for this
meeting will be Professor Geraldine Richmond of the University of
Oregon. The report from the previous COV and initial response
(2004) may be found at http://www.nsf.gov/od/oia/activities/cov/covs.jsp#mps.
The January 2005 update can be found at http://www.nsf.gov/mps/advisory/responses_cov/che-actions-01-31-05-04-COV-report.pdf.
The Division welcomes additional feedback from its community in preparation
for the 2007 COV. Please send to chemplans@nsf.gov.
REQUEST FOR QUALIFIED REVIEWERS
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The Division of Chemistry seeks to enhance its pool of qualified
reviewers of proposals. We invite researchers in the chemical sciences
who have not previously reviewed for the Division of Chemistry but
are interested in providing this service to contact us by visiting
our website at
http://www.nsf.gov/mps/che/reviewer/reviewer_info.jsp and completing the online
registration form. Be sure to indicate that you are “willing to travel,” if
you are interested in serving as a panelist. We welcome qualified reviewers
from academic, industrial, and government employment, as well as from other countries.
It is important to recognize that the National Science Foundation reserves the
right to choose reviewers. While we are unable to assure individuals that they
will be asked to review proposals, we do attempt to call upon as many qualified
reviewers as possible, and we try to limit the number of requests that we make
to any single individual, recognizing the many demands on our reviewers’ time.
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