Gateway Dining Hall, Gateway Dining Events Center - Salon C

The Bulletin of the Virginia Section AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY FEBRUARY MEETING NOTICE Virginia State University Petersburg, Virginia Friday, February 17, 2012 SOCIAL HOUR: 6:00 p.m. Gateway Dining Hall Gateway Dining Events Center - Salon C DINNER: 6:30 p.m. Gateway Dining Hall Gateway Dining Events Center - Salon C FEBRUARY 2012 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 reservations meeting 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 PROGRAM: MENU: 7:30 p.m. Gateway Dining Hall, Gateway Dining Events Center - Salon C Breaded Chicken Breast Florentine, Cucumber Cup Salad, Sautéed Green Beans, Red Bliss Mashed Potatoes, Rolls and Butter, Tiramisu, Beverages PRICE: ACS Members and Guests - $18.00 High School Students, College Students, High School Teachers - $9.00 Retired ACS Members & Guests; Retired Teachers & Guests - $13.00 DINNER Please make reservations for the Dinner by NOON on Tuesday, RESERVATIONS: February 14 by calling Mrs. Fran Thomas at (804) 524-5438 or by e-mail to cmtaylor@vsu.edu HOST: Dr. Colleen Taylor, (804) 524-5481; cmtaylor@vsu.edu SPEAKER: Dr. Kelli M. Slunt, University of Mary Washington TOPIC: USNCO and Beyond

Page 2 The Bulletin Dr. Kelli M. Slunt Dr. Slunt is currently a Professor of Chemistry and the Director of the Honors Program at the University of Mary Washington. She obtained her undergraduate (B.S.) degree from Mary Washington College in 1991 and her Ph.D. in bioorganic chemistry from the University of Virginia in 1995. In August of 1995, Kelli returned to Mary Washington and has been on the faculty there since then. She has taught a wide range of courses, including general chemistry, introductory chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, and a first-year seminar on food chemistry. Her current research interests include estrogens in food products and the development of new biochemistry laboratory experiments. In addition, Kelli is very active in science outreach, including serving as a volunteer at the Science Museum of Virginia, facilitator for several after school science clubs, and as a college mentor for the U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad (USNCO) team. USNCO and Beyond The International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) is an international high school competition involving theoretical and practical examinations covering advanced chemistry topics. Since 1968, the competition has been held every year except in 1971. Since 1984, the ACS Donald F. and Mildred Topp Othmer Chemistry Olympiad Endowment has allowed for the US National Chemistry Olympiad team to compete at IChO. Each year approximately 10,000 students participate in the local section exams and from those over 900 students are selected to take the national exam. Twenty students are invited to the study camp at the US Air Force Academy and a team of four plus two alternates is selected to represent the US at IChO. This presentation will focus on my experiences as a college mentor for the USNCO and participation in the IChO. The 2011 United States National Chemistry Olympiad Team July, 2011 - Ankara, Turkey

Page 3 The Bulletin DIRECTIONS Virginia State University is located in Chesterfield County, near the town of Ettrick. The easiest way to get there from the north or south is to use I-95 to the Colonial Height exit (# 54): 1. Take Interstate 95 to Colonial Heights, Exit 54 (Temple Avenue). Turn left at the traffic light when coming off the exit ramp, heading toward Boulevard (US 1-301). 2. Turn left at the second traffic signal on to U.S. Route 1-301 (Boulevard). 3. Stay in the right lane to the fourth traffic light. Turn right (at the WaWa) on to Dupuy Avenue. 4. The VSU campus is less than a quarter of a mile. Turn left on to Matthews Jefferson Drive to enter the campus. Park in lot 28 which is on the left just after you pass the softball field. Take the walking bridge from the parking lot to the Gateway Dining Hall. MAP Gateway Dining Events Center

Page 4 The Bulletin *** VIRGINIA SECTION NEWS *** FUTURE MEETINGS DATE: March 16, 2012 DATE: April 20, 2012 LOCATION: University of Richmond LOCATION: University of Virginia Richmond, VA Charlottesville, VA HOST: Dr. Lisa Gentile HOST: Dr. James Demas PHONE: (804) 484-1578 PHONE: (434) 924-3343 E-MAIL: lgentile@richmond.edu E-MAIL: demas@virginia.edu SPEAKER: Dr. Robert G. Griffin SPEAKER: Dr. Anne Henriksen TOPIC: High Frequency Dynamic TOPIC: What If I Don t Want Nuclear Polarization Why Two to Work at a Lab Bench? Electrons Are Better Than One STUDENT POSTER SESSION (POWELL LECTURESHIP) VIRGINIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE ANNUAL MEETING Norfolk State University May 23-25, 2012 CALL FOR PAPERS The 90 Annual meeting of the Academy will be held at Norfolk State University th in Norfolk on May 23-25. Titles for papers should be sent to the Secretary of the Chemistry Section by Friday, February 10, 2012. Oral presentations will be scheduled on May 24. There will be a Poster Session for all Sections that will be set up and stay up all day Thursday, May 24. To submit an oral presentation or poster, send the title and author(s) to Alan Rowe, Chemistry Section Secretary at harowe@nsu.edu, (757) 823-2531. Note that the presenting author must be registered for the VAS meeting and at least one author must be a member in good standing of the Academy. Abstracts of papers will be collected electronically in the spring prior to the Annual Meeting. Full information about paper submission and about Academy membership can be found on the Academy s website: www.vacadsci.org.

The Bulletin Page 5 THE CHAIR S CORNER Although the international year of chemistry has passed, the ACS has extended the celebration Chemistry our life, our future. The theme for the spring national meeting is The Chemistry of Life. This theme has always inspired me, as chemistry is present in every aspect of our lives. One hundred years ago this year, Casimir Funk introduced the concept of vitamins. Today, vitamins are something most of us consider daily. A hundred years ago, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was shared by Victor Grignard, for the discovery of the Grignard reagent, and Paul Sabatier, for his method of hydrogenating organic compounds in the presence of metals. These two organic reactions are widely used, highly recognized, and taught in basic chemistry classes. Fifty years ago, Max Ferdinand Perutz and John Kendrew shared the 1962 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for their studies of the structures of hemoglobin and globular proteins. The ACS website called 365: Chemistry for Life (http://iyc2011.acs.org/) is still available and highlights a different chemical discovery of everyday things each day. This month we will hold our meeting at Virginia State University on Friday, February 17. It s been a few years since we have made it down to the historic city of Petersburg, and I invite all of our local section members to attend. I encourage you to visit the Section s website at http://virginia.sites.acs.org or check us out on Facebook (Virginia Section of the American Chemical Society) to find out what s happening in our local section. If you have any recommendations for meetings or events or would just like to volunteer, please contact me or any other local section officer....karen Carter, Section Chair kcarter@aibiotech.com WCC ACTIVITIES FOR 2012 The Women Chemists Committee of the Virginia section held a planning meeting on Wednesday, November 30, 2011 at Beauregard's Thai Room Restaurant in Richmond to discuss WCC activities for 2012. A networking lunch is planned for Friday June 8, 2012. In October, the WCC will hold its annual chemistry career discussion panel for undergraduate students this will be at Virginia Union University in Richmond. Suggestions for panelists to invite are welcomed. The group also discussed expanding the WCC s focus from college students to high school and middle school students. This could be done by collaborating with the MathScience Innovation Center or other local groups. Longer term, the WCC will want to develop a program of lab tours or workshops for girls focusing on chemistry careers. If you would like to get involved with any of these WCC activities, or be added to the email list, contact Stephanie Mabry at 804-788-5280 or stephanie.mabry@aftonchemical.com.

Page 6 The Bulletin REMARKS BY THE PAST CHAIR Thank you for the opportunity to serve as chair of the Virginia Section in 2011. It was a privilege and honor, and I also have to admit, enjoyable. During my term, I met many old and new members of the section, visited many chemistry departments in the state, interacted with other local sections and the national ACS, and learned a lot about the chemical community in Virginia. It was definitely a growth experience for me. I want to thank Karen Carter, the members of the Executive Committee, and the numerous other volunteers for their help over the past year. It is your continuing efforts that keep the Virginia Section going and make it one of the best sections of the ACS. I also want to thank my employer, Afton Chemical Corporation, for supporting my involvement with the ACS and for financial support given to the Virginia Section and to SERMACS. Finally, thanks to my husband, Mark, and my sons, Stephen and Patrick, for their support and understanding over the past few years as we scheduled many weekends around section meetings and other ACS activities. Best regards to you all, and best of luck to Karen as she takes over as chair....stephanie Mabry SEMINARS AT VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY February 9 - Dr. Nicholas Leventis, University of Missouri February 16 - Dr. James Landers, University of Virginia March 1 - Dr. Eugene Mazzola, University of Maryland-College Park March 8 - Dr. Marcus Lay, University of Georgia March 22 - Dr. Kit Bowen, Johns Hopkins University, Clusters: Bridging the Gap Between the Microscopic and Macroscopic Worlds March 29 - Professor Joseph Wang, University of California-San Diego (MARY KAPP LECTURE) April 12 - Dr. Gavin Williams, North Carolina State University April 17 - Dr. Amar Natarajan, University of Nebraska April 19 - Dr. Raymond Schaak, Pennsylvania State University The seminars are held at 3:30 p.m. in the Kapp Lecture Hall, Room 1024, in the Physical Science Wing of Oliver Hall, 1001 West Main Street in Richmond. For more information, call (804) 828-1298

The Bulletin Page 7 PROGRAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON Monday, February 6 7:00 pm Monroe Hall - Room 116 University of Mary Washington Fredericksburg, Virginia Dr. Cathy Middlecamp Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies Integrated Liberal Studies Program Chemistry Department (affiliate) Center for Culture, History, and the Environment (affiliate) To Roosevelt Island (and back) Matching Our Curriculum to Our Planet The title of this talk comes from a visit that I unexpectedly made last January to Theodore Roosevelt Island, a 90-acre preserve in Washington, DC. The encounters with those whom I met on the island allowed me to reflect not only on my decades of work in curriculum change for introductory chemistry courses, but also more specifically on the challenges of living sustainably in our world today and how to infuse the principles of sustainability into our undergraduate curriculum. Ultimately, the quest is for ways to get a better match between our students, our undergraduate science courses, and our planet. Sponsored by Women s and Gender Studies, the Department of Chemistry, and the Campus Academic Resources Committee at the University of Mary Washington For more information contact Allyson M. Poska - aposka@umw.edu

Page 8 The Bulletin CHEMISTRY AT VSU Chemistry at Virginia State University means small classes, frequent contact with instructors, and plenty of individual attention. Classes and laboratories are taught by faculty members who are dedicated to excellence in teaching. Facilities, equipment, and personnel provide opportunities for undergraduate research and student-originated projects. Students are expected not only to master the principles and theory of chemistry, but to become proficient in laboratory techniques, instrumental methods, computer applications, and the use of the chemical literature. Instrumentation includes ICP, NMR, GC, UV/Vis, FTIR, polarimetry, and a variety of small portable instrumentation. There is a heavy emphasis on written and oral communication skills. The curriculum has undergone some recent revision and now offers a BS in Chemistry with a concentration in Forensic Chemistry and a Biochemistry/Pre-professional curriculum for students interested in professional schools. Students in the department are involved in a wide variety of research work with projects ranging from the search for new sources of biofuels to the fabrication of biosensors for applications in imaging and the detection of toxins. They are supported by the VSU HBCU-UP, LS-AMP and RIMI programs. The ACS student affiliate is very active, participating annually in National Chemistry Week at the Science Museum of Virginia, the Fool for the Arts Festival in Chesterfield County, the Christmas Angel Tree, and the Girls in Science event sponsored by DuPont. Recently, the students were awarded an Undergraduate Student Affiliate Grant to sponsor the undergraduate program at SERMACS 2011. Undergraduates exceeded all other contingencies at the conference with over 30% of the attendees and 83 student volunteers from universities around Virginia. Work is underway on the development of new drugs for treating cancer and other diseases. New areas of research interests include structure elucidation of glucans and glycoproteins via mass spectrometry; the development of new analytical methods for drugs and biological molecules; the development of novel metal/silica particles; and monitoring the concentration of pollutants in local water bodies, as well as tracing pesticide degradation products in nature and in water treatment plants. VSU Student Affiliate members Pauline Allen, Paige Scott, Ajibola Baiyewu, Stephanie Ellis, Dominique Covington, Danielle Moye, and Kelsey Davis, along with mentor Dr. Colleen Taylor participated in the DuPont-sponsored Girls in Science event on October 8, 2011 at the Science Museum of Virginia

The Bulletin Page 9 REPORT ON THE JANUARY SECTION MEETING The Virginia Section meeting on January 13, 2012 was held at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland. Dr. Karen Carter, Virginia Section Chair, presided. She introduced Dr. William Carroll of Occidental Chemical Corporation, who spoke on Where Everything Comes From: Industrial Chemistry 101. Dr. Carroll discussed the sources of many of the most common chemicals, both organic and inorganic. He is a former President of the ACS and was recently elected as Chairman of the ACS Board of Directors. About 36 persons attended the talk. Special thanks to April Marchetti and John Thoburn for arranging this meeting. Dr. William Carroll with Dr. Kristine Dr. Sheryl Baldwin, Section Councilor, Smetana, Alternate Councilor of Section Virginia Section, with Dr. William Carroll QUESTIONS FROM THE PAST This question was asked in the January Bulletin: The Virginia Section has been presenting an award to an outstanding high school chemistry teacher since 1948. In 1958, a member of the Virginia Section contributed $500 to the Section and suggested that the interest from this sum be used for a cash award to the high school teaching award winner. Who was the contributor and to whom was the first monetary award made? Dr. Lauren Hitchcock contributed the $500. The 1958 teaching award, then known as the Distinguished Service for Outstanding Contributions in Science Education, was presented to Vera B. Remsburg (Mrs. Brent Remsburg). The amount that she received is not known. The Awards Meeting was held in Richmond on June 6; 221 persons attended. The Philip Morris Company sponsored the Social Hour. Vera Baron Remsburg was very active in science and science education. She served as president of the Virginia Academy of Science and was active in the formation of the Virginia Association of Science Teachers, serving as president of that organization in 1960-62. She worked with Roscoe Hughes in building the groundwork for the Science Museum of Virginia. Mrs. Remsburg died in 2000 at the age of 80. An avid gardener, she was active in the Abington Garden Club, the Abington Tree Committee, and the Federation of Garden Clubs. The photograph is from 1958 when she was head of the science department at the consolidated high school of Halifax County and South Boston. A new question: The February meeting of the Virginia Section will be at Virginia State University. When was the last time that the Section met there and who was the speaker at that meeting?

Page 10 The Bulletin THE 2012 CHEMISTRY OLYMPIAD The Virginia Section will host the 2012 Chemistry Olympiad for all high school chemistry teachers and students who are interested in participating. The Local Section competition will involve first and second year chemistry examinations given between February 27 and March 26. The deadline for registration is February 24. The students who do well in the local competition will be nominated to take the national examination on April 21 at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College in Richmond and to compete for 20 positions in the study camp at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado (May 29 - June 13, 2012). The five member International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) team will be chosen from these 20 students and will compete in the IChO, to be held in Washington, DC, July 21-30, 2012. The United States team won two gold and two silver medals in the 2011 International Chemistry Olympiad, held in Ankara, Turkey. For more information and the application forms, either hard copy or on-line, go to the Virginia Section website http://www.virginia.sites.acs.org and click on ACTIVITIES. Dr. Ann Sullivan is the coordinator for the Chemistry Olympiad in the Virginia Section; she can be reached at asullivan@reynolds.edu. SEMINARS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA February 3 - Professor Robert Davis, University of Virginia, Some Current Challenges in the Conversion of the Biomass-derived Molecules over Supported Metal Catalysts March 2 - Professor Sam Cho, Wake Forest University, MD Simulations of Telomerase Folding and Ribosome Assembly March 23 - Sir David A. King, Oxford University March 30 - Professor Jon Clardy, Harvard University, Expanding Our Knowledge of Nature s Chemical Diversity (Jefferson Lecture) April 2 - Professor Laurence Hurley, University of Arizona, Could DNA Function as a Natural Molecular Switch in Cells? (Hecht Lecture) April 6 - Dr. Jennifer Lee, National Institutes of Health/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Probing the á-synuclein-membrane Interface by Photons and Neutrons April 20 - Professor Tamar Seideman, Northwestern University Chemistry colloquia are held at 4:00 p.m. in Room 304 of the Chemistry Building. The complete colloquium schedule is on-line at http://chem.virginia.edu/events-seminars/. ------------------------ Science Can Be A Bridge To Peace WORDS OF WISDOM FOR FEBRUARY:

The Bulletin Page 11 CURRENT CONTACT INFORMATION Does ACS have your correct contact information? If you have had a change in address, phone number, or e-mail address, contact ACS to update your information. Please include both the old and new contact information and your membership ID (the 8-digit number in the upper left hand corner of the C&E News address label. Telephone (800) 333-9511 or e-mail service@acs.org. CHEMISTS CELEBRATE EARTH DAY (CCED) Earth Day has been observed since 1970. April 22 is Earth Day 2012. The ACS will be participating in Earth Day through the Chemists Celebrate Earth Day (CCED) program. This will be the ninth year for CCED. The theme this year is Rethinking, Recycling It s Easy to Be Green. The Virginia Section will participate with special Earth Day activities. Dr. Kristine Smetana will coordinate the CCED program. Contact her for more information and to volunteer your support and assistance: ksmetana@jtcc.edu. CAN YOU IDENTIFY THIS PERSON? The photograph is from 2008. The subject holds a B.S. degree in Chemistry from Virginia Military Institute and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War and has taught at the University of Central Florida, the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and the University of Richmond. Over the past 33 years he has worked with more than 100 undergraduate research students who have been coauthors on the majority of his publications. The person shown in the January Bulletin was Mr. William Kuhn, who was Chair of the Virginia Section in 1981 and received the Section s Distinguished Service Award in 1985. He served as Co-Chair of SERMACS 1991. METRO RICHMOND SCIENCE FAIR The Virginia Section of the ACS is a supporter of the Metro Richmond Science Fair. This year s fair will be held at Hanover High School on March 24, 2012. The Fair is Central Virginia s th th regional qualifying science fair for 7-12 grade students. It is hosted by the MathScience Innovation Center. The Metro Richmond Fair is associated with the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Past winners at the Fair have gone on to national and international competitions. Projects are subjected to a two level process. Submitted papers are read and screened by the preliminary judges in February. Top scoring students are invited to present their projects at the Fair on March 24. There are cash prizes at both the Junior and Senior Divisions and numerous special awards. The deadline for submitting Junior Division (grades 7-8) papers is Feb. 3; for the Senior Division (grades 9-12), it is Feb. 10. Full information can be found on the website: http://sciencefair.msinnovation.info/index.htm. Judges are needed for both the preliminary screening of papers and for the projects that are presented on March 24. Contact sciencefair@msinnovation.info to volunteer your assistance.

THE BULLETIN Published eight times a year by the American Chemical Society Virginia Section P. O. Box 27972 Richmond, VA 23220 http://www.virginia.sites.acs.org/ NON-PROFIT ORGN. U.S. POSTAGE PAID Richmond, Virginia Permit No. 1231 address service requested OFFICERS OF THE VIRGINIA SECTION OF THE ACS Chair - Dr. Karen Carter (804) 521-7369 Karen Carter Chair Elect - Dr. Joseph Crockett (540) 828-5431 Vice Chair - Dr. Scott Gronert (804) 828-1298 Secretary - Dr. Rob Davidson (804) 788-6327 Treasurer - Dr. Stephanie Mabry (804) 639-6991 Bulletin Editor - Dr. James Beck (804) 733-5286 Bulletin Publisher - Dr. Will Lewis (804) 274-5869