CLASS OF 2023
Congratulations to our 2023 senior undergraduates! Whether it is medical school, an industry career, or continuing chemical research at the graduate level, read what is next for some of the Class of 2023.
STUDENT AWARDS
Chemistry undergraduate Abigail Soliven has earned a prestigious Goldwater Scholarship. A junior from Melbourne, Florida, Abi was recommended for the program by her research mentor Professor Chris Uyeda. Read more about her academic accomplishments and Purdue’s other Goldwater Scholars.
Chemistry undergraduate Mariana Aguilar received a first-place award at Purdue’s Fall Undergraduate Research Expo for her talk on the ancient lunar atmosphere. She is investigating how water droplets that contain lunar dust simulant particles freeze. Mariana is from West Lafayette and is double majoring in Planetary Science.
Chemistry undergraduate Valerie Minnick earned a first-place award at Purdue’s Spring Undergraduate Research Conference for her poster on Glassware Reading. She is a member of Professor Jon Rienstra-Kiracofe’s lab. Valerie is from Brighton, Michigan and is a drum major for Purdue’s “All-American” Marching Band.
Lexi Fresh, Vanshika Gupta, and Cody Ng earned NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program awards. Lexi just graduated from Purdue and is headed to Cornell University to pursue a doctorate. She was a member of Professor Chris Uyeda’s lab. Vanshika is a graduate student in Professor Jeffrey Dick’s lab. Cody is a Chemistry alumna (B.S. 2021) who is attending graduate school at the University of Michigan.
ALUMNI NEWS
Karen M. Vogel Pinette was presented with a 2023 Distinguished Science Alumni Award earlier this spring. She received a Ph.D. in 1995 under the direction of Professor Jean Chmielewski. Read more about Dr. Pinette’s outstanding career in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry.
Hannah Brown won a Mass Spectrometry & Advances in the Clinical Lab Young Investigator Educational Award. She earned a Ph.D. in 2022 under the direction of Professor Graham Cooks. Hannah is a Clinical Chemistry Fellow in the Department of Pathology and Immunology at Washington University in St. Louis.
#1 ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
Analytical Chemistry has maintained its longstanding No. 1 ranking in the latest U.S. News and World Report. Read more about why our program is the best in the nation.
NEW FACULTY
Two faculty members joined us this spring. Hanzhe Liu is an assistant professor of physical chemistry and Severin Schneebeli is an associate professor of organic chemistry, industrial and physical pharmacy. Read more about their research interests.
FACULTY AWARDS
Professor Jeffrey Dick has been named the recipient of the 2023 ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry Arthur F. Findeis Award for Achievements by a Young Analytical Scientist. He was also recently named to the board of directors of the Society for Electroanalytical Chemistry.
Professor Shelley Claridge has been named a recipient of the American Chemical Society Women Chemists Committee’s Rising Star Award, which recognizes exceptional early-career to midcareer women chemists across all areas of chemistry.
Interim Dean of the College of Science and Chemistry Professor Jean Chmielewski has been selected as one of the recipients of the 2023 Purdue University Dreamer Award and the department's Wetherill Medal. She is being recognized for her outstanding contributions and commitment to diversity in our graduate student program, which is recognized as a model and beacon for advancing graduate representation and success in STEM fields across Purdue.
Professor Betsy Parkinson has won the Christian J. Foster Award for her contributions to K-12 STEM education in Indiana. Read more about the virtual lab she and her team created for high school science teachers.
Purdue honored 46 of its rising young faculty members at the inaugural Early Career Awards celebration, acknowledging their success as recipients of awards from federal agencies that recognize outstanding early career researchers. Chemistry’s awardees were: Jeffrey Dick, Jonathan Hood, Betsy Parkinson, Mike Reppert, Christina Li, Lauren Ann Metskas, Severin Schneebeli, and Chi Zhang.
FACULTY PROMOTIONS
Purdue University’s Board of Trustees approved these Chemistry faculty promotions: Christina W. Li, associate professor of chemistry; Shelley A. Claridge, professor of chemistry; Jianguo Mei, professor of chemistry; Ryan A. Altman, professor of chemistry; medicinal chemistry and molecular pharmacology; and Bryan Boudouris, named the R. Norris and Eleanor Shreve Professor of Chemical Engineering.
in memoriam : BOB SANTINI
Alumnus and longtime staff member Robert Santini (Ph.D. 1970) passed away on March 11, 2023, at age 81. He was a part of our department for more than 50 years, serving as director of the Amy Facility for two decades. Read more about his career at Purdue.