KSU ChemistSpring 2006Volume 2

Department of Chemistry - Kansas State University / chemdept@ksu.edu

Dear Friends -

It has been a busy and productive year foryour Chemistry Department. Our students,faculty and staff members continue to doexceptional things, only some of whichcan be relayed in the newsletter.

In the Fall of 2005, we welcomed threenew faculty members: Assistant ProfessorsViktor Chikan (physical/materials) andSundeep Rayat (bioorganic), and ProfessorRyszard Jankowiak (biophysical). Each isoff to a great start, and I invite you to getto know them better by browsing ourwebsite.

Speaking of the website, its revision istaking longer than expected to completeand we hope to have it debut by the end ofthe summer. I think it will be worth thewait.

In Fall 2005, we enrolled one of the largestclasses of new graduate students in recentmemory: these 23 new Ph.D. students haveselected their thesis advisors and are nowfully engaged within their research groups.

Our undergraduate enrollment also

continues to increase, and now stands atnearly 80. Our undergraduate numbers arerising because of two factors: a slightincrease in freshman enrollments coupledwith a higher rate of retention. The latter isdue in large part to Dan Higgins’ effectiveadvising: Dan’s efforts were recognized in2006 with the William L. Stamey AdvisingAward from the College of Arts andSciences.

This Spring, we also began the process tore-establish the Chemistry AlumniAdvisory Council. This group will serve asa resource to our students and will seek tomuster support for enhancing our ability torecruit outstanding graduate students toour program. I encourage you to shareyour talents with us by becoming involvedwith this group - please contact me ifyou’re interested.

I hope to see you this September!

Sincerely,

Eric Maatta

Professor and Head

eam@ksu.edu

Upcoming Events:

Sept. 7Distinguished Alumni Seminar

Prof. Steve BernasekPrinceton UniversityKing Hall Room 4

1:00 p.m.

Sept. 8 - 9Alumni Advisory Council Meeting

andChemistry Alumni Gathering

Mark your calendarand plan to join us!

K-State ChemistPage 2 of 4

In March, a group of alumni gathered withcurrent KSU chemistry faculty and students atthe new Alumni Center for a day of planningand information sharing in preparation for there-formation of the Chemistry AlumniAdvisory Council.

Members of this core group included Dr. JimCurtis (PhD 1971) who will serve as Chair, Dr.John Bersheid (BS 1970), Prof. Emeritus DaleHawley, and Mr. Michael Hinton (BS 1991).Other members include Dr. John Sparapany(PhD 1985), Mr. Jerry Crow (BS 1966), andDr. Steve Bernasek (BS 1971).

The Council’s establishment will take place onFriday Sept. 8 and you are cordially invited toparticipate.

Chemistry Alumni Gathering and Alumni Council Meeting in September!

Another of the photographs we discoveredin the Willard Hall cleanout of summer2004 is this vintage 1980 formal portrait ofKen Klabunde. At that time, Ken wasnewly-arrived at KSU, having been hiredas Chemistry Department Head from theUniversity of North Dakota.

After nearly thirty years - comprising 300manuscripts, ten of millions of dollars in

Remember when?

Chris Levy, Dan Higgins and Christer Aakeröy

Chemistry faculty members ChristerAakeröy, Dan Higgins, and Chris Levy eachearned promotions effective July 2006.Christer and Dan were promoted to the rankof Professor, and Chris was promoted to therank of Associate Professor with tenure.

Christer joined the department in 1996 andwas promoted to Associate Professor in2001. His research on supramolecularchemistry and crystal engineering hasgarnered international renown, as reflectedby his service on the Editorial Boards ofthree journals. Christer is one of thedepartment’s most gifted teachers and chairsour Graduate Recruiting Committee.

Dan also joined the faculty in 1996 and waspromoted to Associate Professor in 2001.Hisresearch interests include near-field andatomic force microscopies, the study of

Three Chemistry Faculty Members Earn Promotion

To entice you to come back to Manhattan thisSeptember, we’re also planning several alumnievents. Among the activities planned for the weekendare an ice cream social with our undergraduatessponsored by Alpha Chi Sigma and a tour ofNanoScale Materials’ new research facilities. If youwould like to attend the K-State football game on Sat.Sept. 9, we’ve arranged for a block of seats to be heldfor purchase through June; if you are interested,please contact Connie Cusimano (785-532-6665;cusi2@ksu.edu) for information on how to purchasethese tickets.

Whether or not you can participate in the AlumniCouncil at this time, we’d love to see you! Send an e-mail (eam@ksu.edu) if you can come.

grants, dozens of patents, and scores of Ph.D.students - Ken continues to be one of theUniversity’s most prolific and respectedteacher-scholars. His company NanoScaleMaterials now employs 40 scientists inManhattan and was recognized in 2005 byBusiness Week as a “player” to watch innanomaterials. Popular Mechanics honoredKen with a Breakthrough Award in 2005 forNanoScale’s FAST-ACT detoxifying agent.

mesoporous silica sol-gels using single moleculefluorescence, and the preparation and studyorganic semiconducting thin films. Dan’sresearch has been featured in invited articles inAccounts of Chemical Research and NatureMaterials. Dan also serves as the department’slead undergraduate advisor, and manages ourundergraduate scholarships.

Chris joined the faculty in 2000 as an AssistantProfessor. His research interests include thedesign and synthesis of helical ligands and theirtransition metal complexes, green chemistry, andbio-inspired stereo-selective catalysis. Chris wasthe recipient of an NSF CAREER award in 2004.He has completely revamped our InorganicTechniques laboratory, and is a coordinator ofour outreach activities at K-State’s annual OpenHouse event.

Congratulations to each of them, and well done!

Donors to the Chemistry Department in 2005: Thanks to one and all!

Page 3 of 4K-State Chemist

$1000 + $100 -- $249American Chemical Society James Barnes, Jr.John Berschied Jr Roger and Jacquelyn BauerThomas and Bunny Clark Gary BenderJames and Jane Curtis Lewis and Olive BloomThe Delta Airlines Foundation Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation IncPerry Dilworth C M Stout Living TrustExxonMobil Foundation Chevron Phillips Chemical CompanyGeorge and Linda Hawks Jr Michael and Earline DikemanMichael Hinton Darrel EllisArt and Georganne Hiser Joseph FigardJames Hodgson Jerry Foropoulos JrGertrude and Herbert Moser Winston GrundmeierPharmascience Inc Kendall GuyerPhi Lambda Upsilon H O West FoundationPhyllis Johnson Patrick Trust James Hamilton JrJerry and Judy Reed Christine HannonRichard and Judith Steppel Terry Harter$500-$999 Kent and Paula HaverkampChevronTexaco Edward HodgsonJohn and Carol Collins Terry KenslerConocoPhillips Linda and Kenneth KlabundeGeneral Electric Company/GE Fund Robert and Janet KruhHospira Inc David McCurdyLouise N Grotheer Trust Marva NelsonJeffrey Meyer Marybeth NelsonTimothy Nelson Larry and Celia NicholsonPatricia Richmond Northrop Grumman FoundationShell Oil Company Foundation John NovakIsobel Smith Tsutomu OhnoJohn Sparapany Eddie Olmstead, Jr.Shangdong Zhan P & S FarmsJulie and Kenneth Zimmerman Sammy Pennington$250-$499 James PerrySteven Bernasek Paul PeurifoyEtcyl and Ruth Blair Pfizer FoundationHarold Brashears Andy and Anny SaeRonald and Nancy Bridges Sara ScottJack Finch, PhD Margaret SegebrechtDale and Jean Herbranson Martin ShetlarHoffmann-La Roche Inc Cheng ShiCharles and Joan Johnson Thomas ShieldsRichard Martin Clifford SinopoliDonald McCollister Bryan and Jenise SmithEd and Patricia Mishmash Duane TilfordTom Neill Rongda Xu and Xin HuangDonald and Elizabeth PivonkaRhonda ReistJohn and Gwen SelbyMartin and Barbara SpartzVirginia B Barney TrustDavid and Connie Wetzel

Up to $100Anton AhrensRaymond and Sheila AngellDwight and Vlasta BlaesiDavid Brooks and Laura KanostLinnea CappsDouglas DonnellyScott and Susan FeldhausenJames FinnIndranath GhoshKenton GraberDouglas and Bette GrauerCharles HannBryce and Betty HarthoornLarry JacksonSalil JhaWendell and Sharlene JolleyBerwyn JonesMichael JonesHaidoo KwenBenjamin LandisThomas LappEugene and Eulalia LewisDouglas MartinRhoda McIntyreRussell McIntyreDelbert NaumanDonald ParrishHerbert and Joanna PettyGeorgia PeurifoyNeola ProudfitClinton RileyMartin RuegseggerNeil and Ruth SchrumRenee SmithBob and Rhonda SpencerJames and Phyllis WalchJames WeberArt WilliamsonJames WindelsPhilip Zillinger

Yasmin Patell

Continuing Our Tradition ofExcellence in Undergraduate Teaching

At the Spring 2006 commencement ceremonies, Dr.Yasmin Patell received the Presidential Award forExcellence in Undergraduate Teaching - the University’shighest teaching honor. Yasmin is a remarkably dedicatedand effective instructor in our freshman program. She alsoserves on the ACS General Examination Committee and inthat capacity helped to create the standardized GeneralChemistry exams that will be used by thousands ofstudents nationwide.

Yasmin and our colleague Maria Paukstelis (a 1996recipient of the same award) combine to provide superbinstruction for all students beginning their study ofchemistry at KSU. We’re justifiably proud of both of them.

Former Head of the Department, ProfessorEmeritus Dale Hawley recounted a storyfrom the early 1990s about Ken Klabunde.

Ken took a group of Boy Scouts up to theBoundary Waters area of Minnesota for anextended outing and canoe trip. The timinghappened to coincide with a deadline for Kento submit a renewal proposal to the NSF.

A Closing Anecdote…

K-StateChemist

CHEMISTRY DEPARTMENTKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY

111 WILLARD HALLMANHATTAN, KS 66502

PHONE:785-532-6665

FAX:785-532-6666

E-MAIL:

chemdept@ksu.edu

New website coming!visit us online at:

www.ksu.edu/chem/

Department of ChemistryKansas State University

111 Willard HallManhattan, KS 66506

NAMESTREET ADDRESS 1STREET ADDRESS 2CITY, STATE 00000

Call, write, e-mail, orbetter yet, stop by.

We’d enjoy hearingfrom you!

After each day of paddling and portaging,Ken would put pen to paper after the boyswere in their tents for the night. After twoweeks, the trip was completed, as was Ken’sNSF proposal.

It was typed up and sent off upon his return.The result? A perfect set of reviews: eachrated the proposal as 5 out of 5!

A Round of Applause for:

Asst. Professor ChrisCulbertson, our department’smost recent recipient of anNSF CAREER Award (2006-2010).

Matt Basel, senior Chemistrymajor, who was named byUSA Today as an HonorableMention member of their All-USA College Academic team.

Prof. Stefan Bossmann,chosen by on-campus KSUstudents as the Housing andDining Professor of the Yearfor 2005.

Amy Twite, sophomore inChemistry and Microbiology,who was awarded a GoldwaterScholarship in 2006. Amy isone of 3 current GoldwaterScholars in the Departmentand is our 13th overall.