Chemistry Department News

Congratulations to the New Sigma Zeta Initiates

Chemistry majors Carrie Bruno, Brandon Davis, Danielle Daykin, Clay Parks, and Jennifer Peterson were among the 23 students initiated into the Pi chapter of Sigma Zeta, the National Science and Mathematics Honor Society on November 5, 2008. They join fellow chemistry majors Sarah Lantvit (chapter president), Heather Althouse, Lauren Bringman, Brenna Gatewood, Katie Gifford, and Chelsey Imel. In addition, Associate Professor George Bennett was initiated as an honorary member of the chapter. Associate Professor and Department Chair Anne Rammelsberg is the faculty advisor of the Pi chapter and is president-elect of the national organization.

Alumnus in the News

Bryan Kickle (2006) was recently promoted to scientist II, Food Oil Development and Applications, Research at ADM. In his new role, he will be responsible for coordinating development activities and optimizing process conditions in the shortening and margarine pilot plant. Bryan was also mentioned in an article in the Summer/Fall 2008 issue of the ADM newsletter, "the Resource." The article described a strategic partnership between ADM and Sara Lee to develop trans-fat-free products.

Homecoming 2008

The 6th Annual ACS Alumni Lecture was held on Friday, October 10 at 1:00 p.m. in 001 LTSC. This year's speaker was Dr. Janet (Heinie) Clark, class of 1991, who currently teaches at St. Mary-of-the-Woods College in Terre Haute, IN. Professor Clark's seminar was entitled, "From the Big Blue to the Big Easy...Then Back Home Again in Indiana." Dr. Clark is pictured below with Dr. George Bennett, faculty advisor of the student ACS chapter, Katie Bates, president of the chapter, and Shane Kesler, secretary of the chapter.

ACS Chapter Honored (Again)

The Millikin chapter of Student Affiliates of the American Chemical Society was awarded a Commendable Chapter Award for the 2007-2008 academic year. This marks the eighth consecutive year the chapter has won an award and the sixth time that the award was Commendable. The award will be presented at the ACS national meeting in Salt Lake City on March 22, 2009.

Featured Limerick (in honor of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry):

There's no funeral when this molecule dyes

and no sin when green hits the scientist's eyes.

The fluorescent tag tells

of the workings of cells,

A protein light to show what in darkness lies.

NMR Upgrade on the Way!

The Department of Chemistry has been given funding from the University to upgrade our FT-NMR. To minimize disruption for our courses, the upgrade by Anasazi Instruments (Indianapolis) will take place between the fall and spring semesters. The upgrade will simplify and speed use of the instrument, which will allow more students to get hands-on experience with it.

The New FT-IR is Here!

A new Bruker Tensor 27 FTIR spectrophotometer with Attenuated Total Reflectance and Near IR scanning capability was delivered earlier this summer and will be put to use starting in the fall 2008 semester. The Department was awarded a 2008 Pittsburgh Conference National Memorial College Grant in the amount of $10,000 to partially fund the purchase of the instrument.

Faculty Member's Article Published

An article on "Green Chemistry in Undergraduate Research" by Dr. George Bennett, Associate Professor of Chemistry, was published in the Summer 2008 issue of Council on Undergraduate Research Quarterly.

Faculty Member Attends ACS National Meeting

Dr. George Bennett, Associate Professor of Chemistry attended the 236th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, which was held in Philadelphia August 17-21. Dr. Bennett presented an invited talk on "Incorporating Green Chemistry into the Undergraduate Curriculum: The Development Process" as part of a symposium on "Sustainability Across the Chemistry Curriculum: Green Chemistry and Beyond." Dr. Bennett also served as an invited panelist in a workshop on "How to be a Green Chapter" as part of the undergraduate programming. In addition, he finished fifth overall in the 6th Annual Younger Chemists Committee 5K Fun Run.

Faculty Members Attend BCCE

Dr. Anne Rammelsberg, Chair and Associate Professor of Chemistry, Dr. Gwen Baumann, Adjunct Professor of Chemistry, Dr. Clarence Josefson, Professor of Chemistry, and Dr. George Bennett, Associate Professor of Chemistry attended the 20th Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, which was held at Indiana University July 27-31. Dr. Rammelsberg presented a paper on "Portfolios for Enhancing Student Learning in Essentials of Organic and Biochemistry." Dr. Josefson presented a paper on "Block Chemistry: Thirty Days of Intensive, Integrated, Lab-Centered First Semester General Chemistry." Dr. Bennett presented a poster on "Eleven Years of Green Chemistry at Millikin University." Dr. Bennett also finished second overall and first in the 35- to 39-year-old male group in the conference 5K cross country race.

Department Chair Honored

On July 17, 2008 Dr. Anne Rammelsberg, Chair and Associate Professor of Chemistry, was recognized at the ADM biennial award ceremony for helping ADM recieve US Patent #7,368,138 issued on May 6, 2008. The patent covers the extraction of phytosterols from corn fiber using green or environmentally benign solvents and will help ADM provide ingredients that when added to foods will lower cholesterol when consumed. This is her second US Patent for work completed at Archer Daniels Midland Company while on sabbatical in 2001-2002. The first US Patent #6,982,328 was issued on January 3, 2006 and included research collaborators from Batelle Memorial Institute (Richland, WA) as well as those at ADM.

Alumna Featured on Millikin's Homepage

Sarah Stopek-Hirsch ('97) is the owner and president of Sublime Promotions, a promotional merchandise company located in Chicago which she started in 2004. Read more about Sarah here.

Faculty Member Receives Award

Associate professor George Bennett was named one of the inaugural recipients of a Millikin University Research and Artistic Achievement Award. The award includes a $1,000 research stipend.

Presentations at the 235th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society

Seniors Keith Kunz and Andy Dunn presented their research posters accepted for presentation at the 235th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in New Orleans. Keith worked with Dr. Ed Acheson on an HPLC method to detect progesterone in local water samples. Andy worked with Dr. Anne Rammelsberg on using gold nanoparticles to detect DNA in impure solutions. Their poster symposium was held on April 7, 2008.

Chemistry at Millikin is approved by the
Committee on Professional Training
of the American Chemical Society.