Many Congratulations to the ACS DFW Award Recipients for 2022!

The ACS DFW local section is pleased to announce the award winners for 2022. The ACS DFW local section would like to thank the 2022 Awards Committee for their hard work in selecting the winners.

Martha Gilchrist is the winner of the Chemistry Ambassador Award for 2022. The Chemistry Ambassador Award recognizes an outstanding member of the ACS DFW local section who has made a significant impact via promoting chemistry to the community. 

Martha Gilchrist is Instructor of Chemistry at Tarrant County College South campus, where she has taught organic chemistry since August 2000.  She holds a BA from Austin College and a M.S. in Physical Chemistry from Michigan State University, where she conducted research under Professor Marcos Dantus. Before arriving at TCC, Martha taught at Brevard Community College in Florida and at Alma College in Michigan. While at TCC, Martha has facilitated ACS meetings including hosting Dr. Bill Carroll (in 2020) and Kirk Hunter (in 2019). Martha has also been involved in activities educating the public on climate science through serving on the steering committee for Dr. Bob Landolt’s Climate Challenge project (2013-1014) and helping to organize TCC’s climate change summit series (2016). Martha has served as advisor for the TCC South campus pre-medical professionals student club since 2014. In 2014 Martha started an undergraduate research initiative at TCC and has mentored over 30 students at TCC who conduct research projects and present at meetings such as the ACS meeting in miniature, the National Conference for Undergraduate Research, American Indian Science and Engineering National meeting, and the TCC South campus Cultivating Scholars research showcase. Martha has been a member of ACS since 1993 and served as the treasurer of the local section since 2019.

Eric E. Simanek, Robert A. Welch Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Texas Christian University, is the winner of the Wilfred T. Doherty Award for 2022. The Doherty Award recognizes excellence in chemical research or chemistry teaching, meritorious service to ACS, the establishment of new chemical methodology (for the industry), solution of pollution problems, and advances in curative or preventive chemotherapy. 

Dr. Simanek received his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign in 1991 and Ph.D. in Chemistry from Harvard University in Cambridge, MA in 1996. After a postdoctoral appointment at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA, he joined the Department of Chemistry at Texas A&M University in College Station in 1998. During this time, he led the general chemistry program from 2006-2009. After 12 years on the faculty, Dr. Simanek moved to his current position at Texas Christian University in 2010 as the Welch Chair and is currently the department chair. He founded the TCU IdeaFactory in 2011 and served as its director until 2019.  He has published more than 100 papers and graduated 16 PhD and 4 MS students while mentoring far more undergraduates. In 2016, he coauthored Shots of Knowledge: The Science of Whiskey which went on to garner recognition from Gourmond and the International Association of Culinary Professions, winning the Hall of Fame Award  from the former and named a finalist by the latter. More recently, his first novel was released, The Whiskey Thieves: An American Adventure in 1871. In addition to teaching a whiskey science and history course at TCU, he travels and lectures on the intersection of science, technology and society using whiskey as a lens.  From 2018-2020, Dr. Simanek was a Sigma-Xi Distinguished Lecturer. He was named Honors Professor of the Year in 2019.  He was recognized with the Dean’s Award for Distinguished Achievement as a Creative Teacher Scholar in 2020. He started the TCU Whiskey School in 2022. His research group has focused on polymer-based drug delivery and more recently on the design of macrocyclic drugs with support from agencies including the National Institutes of Health. His efforts in education have been funded by the National Science Foundation.

Many Congratulations to the ACS DFW Award Recipients for 2021!

The ACS DFW local section is pleased to announce the winners of the Wilfred T. Doherty and Werner Schulz Awards for 2021. The ACS DFW local section would like to thank the 2021 Awards Committee led by Dr. Trish Smith for their hard work in selecting the winners for 2021.

Mihaela C. Stefan, Eugene McDermott Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Texas at Dallas, is the winner of the Wilfred T. Doherty Award for 2021. The Doherty Award recognizes excellence in chemical research or chemistry teaching, meritorious service to ACS, the establishment of new chemical methodology (for the industry), solution of pollution problems, and advances in curative or preventive chemotherapy.

Mihaela C. Stefan received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering and Ph.D. in Chemistry from Politehnica University Bucharest, Romania. She joined the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Texas at Dallas in 2007, and she is currently an Eugene McDermott Professor and Interim Department Head. She received the NSF Career Award in 2010, the NS&M Outstanding Teacher Award in 2009 and 2017, the Inclusive Teaching Diversity Award in 2012, the President’s Teaching Excellence Award in 2014, the Provost’s Award for Faculty Excellence in Undergraduate Research Mentoring in 2015, and the Provost’s Award for Faculty Excellence in Graduate Research Mentoring in 2021. She published more than 135 papers in peer-reviewed journals, graduated 22 Ph.D. students, and mentored more than 125 undergraduate students. Her research group is developing novel organic semiconductors for organic electronics, biodegradable and biocompatible polymers for drug delivery applications, and rare novel catalysts for the polymerization of dienes and cyclic esters.

Heather Thompson is the winner of the Werner Schulz Award for 2021. The Schulz Award recognizes outstanding high school chemistry teachers, who, like the late Dr. Werner Schulz, bring excellence to the teaching of chemistry.

Heather Thompson received her B.A. in General Chemistry and M.Ed. in science education from the University of Texas at Arlington. Currently, she is working on her Ph.D. in Science Education at Texas Christian University. She began teaching chemistry in 2008 at Paschal High School in Fort Worth and is currently teaching at Lake Ridge High School in Mansfield. She has taught chemistry in high school at many different levels, including organic chemistry. Additionally, she has taught chemistry and forensics at Tarrant County College for the College for Kids summer program. She also had the chance to be a teacher’s assistant and educational researcher during a TRIO Upward Bound Summer Chemical Research program at Texas Christian University.   She received science teacher of the year award in 2013. Her Master’s thesis research focus was on technology integration for immediate formative assessment feedback to students. Heather is currently focused on science language acquisition and laboratory use to enhance the acquisition of multiple science language modalities.

Many Congratulations to the ACS DFW Award Recipients for 2020!

The ACS DFW local section is pleased to announce the winners for the Doherty, Schultz, and Chemistry Ambassador Awards for 2020. The ACS DFW local section would like to thank the 2020 Awards Committee led by Professor John P. Ferraris (University of Texas at Dallas) for their hard work to select the winners for 2020.

The ACS DFW local section is also proud to announce the 2020 recipient of the ACS SWRM High School teaching Award for outstanding contributions to high school chemistry education.

Nicolay V. Tsarevsky, Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Southern Methodist University, is the winner of the Wilfred T. Doherty Award for 2020. The Doherty Award recognizes excellence in chemical research or chemistry teaching, meritorious service to ACS, the establishment of new chemical methodology (for the industry), solution of pollution problems, and advances in curative or preventive chemotherapy.

Nick Tsarevsky obtained M.S. degree in theoretical chemistry and chemical physics in 1999 from the University of Sofia, Bulgaria, and a Ph.D. degree in chemistry in 2005 from Carnegie Mellon University under the supervision of Prof. Kris Matyjaszewski. He was a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemistry at Carnegie Mellon University (2005-6), and a member of the founding team of ATRP Solutions, Inc., of which he served as Chief Science Officer (2007-2010). He joined the Department of Chemistry at Southern Methodist University in the summer of 2010 as an assistant professor, and in 2016 he was promoted to associate professor with tenure. He has authored and co-authored over 100 journal articles and book chapters, 1 textbook, and has served as the co-editor of 7 books. He also co-authored two scripts for science education programs for children (shown on national TV in Bulgaria). He received several awards, including the IUPAC Young Observer Fellowship, an NSF CAREER award, and the 2020 W. T. Doherty Award of the Dallas – Fort Worth local section of the ACS. Research interests include polymerization techniques, functional materials, coordination chemistry and catalysis, and the chemistry hypervalent compounds, in addition to the history of chemistry and chemical education. He served as chair of the Polymer group of the Pittsburgh local section of the ACS as well as chair of the Section itself. Since 2018, he has been the program chair of the Division for the History of Chemistry (HIST) of the ACS.

Nicole Lyssy is the winner of the Werner Schulz Award for 2020. The Schulz Award recognizes outstanding high school chemistry teachers, who, like the late Dr. Werner Schulz, bring excellence to the teaching of chemistry.

Nicole Lyssy began her chemistry teaching career at Bryan High School after earning a BS in Biochemistry from Texas A&M University in 1999 and building upon the many teachers who influenced her. A move to north Texas in 2003 brought her to Plano West Senior High, where she was able to grow the AP Chemistry program, sponsor an active ACS Chemistry Club, and co-sponsor LASER (science fair). She has been involved in curriculum and instructional design for Plano ISD and a professional development presenter at the district and state levels. She is currently creating an AP Chemistry course for the International Academy of Science and president of the Associated Chemistry Teachers of Texas.

William H. Hendrickson Jr. is the winner of the Chemistry Ambassador Award for 2020. The Chemistry Ambassador Award recognizes an outstanding member of the ACS DFW local section who has made a significant impact via promoting chemistry to the community.

Bill Hendrickson (aka Dr. William H. Hendrickson Jr.) is a Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at the University of Dallas, where he taught organic chemistry for 40 years. He was a department chair from 2005-2015 and the Director of the O’Hara Chemical Sciences Institute from 2000-2017. He holds a BS from Louisiana Tech and a Ph.D. from LSU. He did a post-doc at Johns Hopkins and was a Visiting Professor of Chemistry at UAB before coming to the University of Dallas. At UD, he received the President’s Award twice (1989, 1993), and in 2015, he was named King Fellow for outstanding service to the university and research. Bill has been an ACS member since 1974 and has served as secretary and chair of the DFW Section, as well as participating in many ACS events (Chemistry Olympiad, Meeting-in-Miniature, science fairs, National Chemistry Week, Science Bowl). From 1989 to 2010, he did chemistry demonstration shows at numerous schools in the DFW area. Most importantly, Bill has mentored over 90 undergraduate students in summer research, with student publications in ACS journals, presentations at regional and national meetings, and the Meeting-in-Miniature.

Jo L. King won the 2020 ACS SWRM High School Teaching Award for outstanding contributions to high school chemistry education.

Jo L. King teaches AP Chemistry at Plano West Senior High in Plano, TX and is currently learning the nuances of virtual teaching. In her many years of teaching, Jo has taught many levels of high school chemistry: on-level, Pre-AP, AP, Dual Credit, Organic, and Biochemistry. She received her B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Chemistry from Midwestern State University, her M.A. in Religion from Wayland Baptist University, and her M.S. in Chemistry-Chemistry Education from the University of North Texas. She is in her 33rd year of teaching chemistry. She is currently the co-chair of the ACS Pre-College Committee for the Division of Chemical Education. She has been a Reader for the AP Chemistry exam for the past seven years. She was a pre-college co-chair for BCCE 2010 hosted in Denton. She was also a co-program chair for the international ChemEd 2007 conference held in Denton. Jo has served on the ACS Advanced High School Exam Committee and has written questions for the TExES exam for those seeking to become a certified teacher in Texas. She is the sponsor of the Plano West ChemClub and Key Club. Jo has given numerous presentations at local and national meetings. Dedicated to staying current with new techniques, Jo has committed to attending several conventions and workshops each year. She is also active in a greyhound rescue group.

Many Congratulations to ACSDFW Award Recipients 2019!

Remember to Register and Attend the events Recognizing the Awardees’ respective Innovations in ChemEd, Contributions to Chemistry, and effectiveness in Sharing Chemistry with the World

Werner Schulz Award for Excellence in High School Chemistry Teaching

Neil Milburn, MA
AP Chemistry Teacher
National Academies Honorary Board of Educators
LASER, & Key Club Club Sponsor
Plano West Senior High

Wilfred T. Doherty Award for Contributions to Chemistry

Julia Chan
Professor of Chemistry
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
University of Texas at Dallas 

Chemistry Ambassador Award for Promotion of Science

Robert G. Landolt, Ph.D.
Professor, emeritus
Texas Wesleyan University

Many thanks to the Awards Committee of the ACSDFW Local Section (2019 Chair: Sean O’Brien, PhD of TI) for the selection of such worthy Recipients. Nominate deserving chemists and chemistry teachers for The Schulz, Doherty and Ambassador Awards. Online nomination info available on acsdfw.org.