Wooster Chemistry Annual Report 2001-2002

ACTIVITIES OF THE FACULTY

During the Fall Semester, Judy Amburgey-Peters taught a section of First-Year Seminar, "Cheeseburger in Paradise," as well as Organic Chemistry I (Chemistry 211) lecture and lab. In the spring, she continued with the organic sequence, teaching Organic Chemistry II (Chemistry 212) lecture and two lab sections. She also taught Introduction to Independent Study (Chemistry 401) with Drs. Bromund and Pett. She advised three Senior Independent Study students, and two of them presented posters on their research at the NCUR 2002 meeting held in Wisconsin in April.

Judy was busy in the department serving as our Pre-Health Advisor and overseeing the use, training, and maintenance of the NMR with Dr. Burns. She and Dr. Burns made extensive revisions to the organic chemistry sequence in order for Chemistry 212 to meet the criteria as a Writing Intensive (W) course. On campus, she served on several committees: Committee on Excellence in Teaching, Wooster Volunteer Network Housing Selection Committee, and College Scholars Exam Committee. She participated in the Expanding Your Horizons program in April 2002 and was a faculty panelist for the Fall and Spring Visit Days hosted by Admissions.

Judy served as Treasurer for the Wooster Section of the American Chemical Society, and hosted the Flinn Scientific Foundation Workshop for High School Chemistry Teachers, which was held on Wooster's campus July 15-19, 2002. This is the second time Wooster was selected as a host site. Judy was officially "Site Coordinator" for the workshop. Thirty-five high school chemistry teachers attended. As the Site Coordinator for the Flinn Workshop, Judy established adjunct status at Ashland University in order to be able to assess and assign the continuing education credits for the teachers who participated in the workshop. Also during the summer months, Judy worked with Ben Swarts on a project involving the synthesis of phospholipid analogs. She also co-advised Doug Hanke, along with Dr. Burns, who worked on revisions for the organic chemistry lab and its web site.

Judy was a reviewer for the NSF Major Research Instrumentation Grant Program as well as for the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund Grant Program. She was a referee for the Journal of Chemical Education.

We are very happy to announce that Judy was granted tenure and promoted to Associate Professor, effective August 2003.

Charles L. Borders, Jr. taught Biochemistry I (Chemistry 333) lecture and lab during the Fall Semester and Biochemistry II (Chemistry 334) during the Spring Semester. He also advised four Senior Independent Study Students, two of whom were co-advised by Mark Snider, who held a postdoctoral appointment with Montie during the 2001-02 academic year. In April, two of Montie's seniors traveled to Wisconsin, where they presented posters at the NCUR 2002 meeting.

Montie served as the faculty organizer for Senior I.S. Seminar. He worked closely with Dean Fraga (Biology) to change the Biochemistry major, which had been adminis-tered by the Department of Chemistry since its inception in 1994, to a Biochemistry and Molecular Biology major, which will be jointly administered by Biology and Chemistry. The changes were approved by the Educational Policy Committee of the College and went into effect in the Fall of 2002.

Montie served on the review panel for research proposals submitted to the South Carolina EPSCoR/BRIN program (April 2002).

In June 2002, Montie moved to Los Gatos, CA where he began his retirement activities. He has continued to be involved in the phosphagen kinase research activities of colleagues and students at Wooster. His new address is: 21557 Santa Ana Rd., Los Gatos, CA 95033.

Robert A. Bouchard,was again an Affiliated Scholar in the department. He was active in research, especially projects with Dr. Pett.

Richard H. Bromund's teaching responsibilities in the Fall Semester included a lecture section and a lab section of Introductory College Chemistry I (Chemistry 111, formerly Chemistry 101) and a lab section of Analytical Chemistry (Chemistry 215). In the spring, he taught Introductory College Chemistry II (Chemistry 112, formerly Chemistry 102) lecture and lab, as well as Introduction to Independent Study (Chemistry 401) with Drs. Amburgey-Peters and Pett. He served as coordinator for Chemistry 111/112 labs with Mary Kilpatrick. He advised three seniors in Independent Study, one jointly with Dr. Edmiston.

Dick was the primary contact person for the operation of Severance Hall. He also helped with supervising our chemical instrumentation. On campus, he served on two committees: the Upperclass Program Committee and the Committee to Evaluate Thomas Falkner as Dean of the Faculty. Off campus, he was on the Wayne County Local Emergency Planning Committee.

Ellen E. Burns returned to Wooster from her year as an ACS Congressional Fellow in Washington, DC, to teach First-Year Seminar, "Spin and Backspin: Information, Public Opinion, and Political Power," and Organic Chemistry I (Chemistry 211), one lecture section and two lab sections. In the Spring Semester, she taught Organic Chemistry II (Chemistry 212), lecture and lab, as well as Advanced Organic Chemistry (Chemistry 313), lecture and lab. Ellen advised two seniors in Independent Study.

During the Summer of 2002, Ellen participated in the Summer Sophomore Research program by having Alex Prochazka work on her project involving aziridinium carbonylation chemistry. She also co-advised Doug Hanke, along with Dr. Amburgey-Peters, who worked on revisions to the organic curriculum.

As mentioned previously, Ellen helped oversee the use, training, and maintenance of the new 400 MHz NMR. She served the department as our Safety Coordinator and was co-advisor for Chemistry Club with Paul Edmiston. On campus, she served on several committees: Watson Fellowship Committee, Fulbright Committee, EPC Science Subcommittee, College's SENCER Committee, and Honorary Degrees Committee. She was the organizer for Science Round Table during Spring Semester and was involved in the Expanding Your Horizons program held on campus in April 2002.

Ellen appeared on the Wooster Campus Profile to discuss bioterrorism, Congress, and science education with Jeff Hanna (Fall 2001). She had a question and answer interview on "The Science Behind Chemical and Biological Weapons" published in the Wooster Daily Record. She was interviewed on a local radio station (WAKR) about Agent Orange.

Because of her having been an American Chemical Society (ACS) Congressional Fellow, Ellen continues to have a strong connection to that organization. She was appointed to their National Committee on Chemical Safety and to the National Committee on International Relations. She also served on the Congressional Fellowship Selection Board for 2001-02.

"Science and the Law" was the topic of the First-Year Seminar taught by Paul L. Edmiston Fall 2002. Other teaching responsibilities included Analytical Chemistry (Chemistry 215), lecture and lab. Chemistry 215 continues to incorporate the forensic laboratory, featured nationally in the journal Analytical Chemistry. A display was made in the Timken Science Library by Paul, with help from Diane Rossey, to explain how Wooster students used analytical chemistry techniques to solve a simulated murder mystery.

Spring 2002 saw Paul teaching Instrumental Analysis (Chemistry 316), lecture and lab, and the non-science majors course Chemistry and the World in Which We Live: Forensic Science (Chemistry 102). Students in this course performed several in-class experiments, including detecting trace amounts of cocaine on US currency, fingerprint detection by super-glue fuming, and building and testing a breathalyzer. The forensic emphasis continued in the B-WISER Science Camp for junior high school girls (July 2002) where Paul did a week-long session using various forensic experiments. In the lab, Paul advised the work of five Independent Study students, one jointly with Dick Bromund.

Paul served the department as co-advisor for Chemistry Club with Ellen Burns, was liaison with the Admissions Department, organized the department's Summer Research Program, and oversaw the application and selection process for the Dow and Johnston Scholarships awarded to incoming students. He was also involved in the High School Visitation program mentioned elsewhere in this report.

Paul helped in the design, proposal, and implementation of the new Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (BMB) major jointly administered by the Biology and Chemistry departments. Bill Morgan (Biology) and Paul worked to develop the new laboratory course Techniques in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (BMB 303).

Paul served on the Committee on Committees and the College Scholar Committee. He participated in a Wooster Forum, Imagining Our Genetic Future: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Human Genome Project, with four other Wooster professors.

In March 2002, Paul traveled to New Orleans to attend PITTCON 2002. In June, he attended the Gordon Research Conference on Analytical Chemistry at Connecticut College.

Sheryl and Paul were happy to announce the birth of son Cameron Reid Edmiston, on July 29, 2001.

Paul L. Gaus taught Inorganic Chemistry (Chemistry 340) lecture and lab in the fall. In the spring, he taught Introductory College Chemistry II (Chemistry 112, formerly Chemistry 102) lecture and the non-science majors course Chemistry and the World in Which We Live: Ten Wonderful Things (Chemistry 101). He developed this as a Writing Intensive (W) course to fulfill part of the new writing requirement for A Wooster Education. He advised three seniors in Independent Study. He and his students continue to work on the reduction of nitro arenes to amines and the reduction of 2-nitrobenzylidenes to quinoline derivatives.

Paul served the Department as Chairperson and Annual Report Editor. He served the College as Chairperson of the Goldwater Scholarship Committee.

Paul reviewed a paper for the ACS journal Inorganic Chemistry. He lectured on Amish culture at numerous libraries, literary societies, and book clubs, emphasizing the role of First-Year Seminar in the Wooster curriculum. His third Ohio Amish Mystery; Clouds without Rain, was published by Ohio University Press in June 2001.

Wingfield V. Glassey joined the department in the fall as a tenure-track Assistant Professor. He is a physical chemist with research interests centered on theoretical studies of solids and surfaces. Upon arrival at Wooster, Wingfield built a 16 mode PC cluster, running Linux.

In his first semester at Wooster, Wingfield taught Introductory College Chemistry (Chemistry 111, formerly Chemistry 101), lecture and lab, and Physical Chemistry I (Chemistry 318), one lecture section. Spring Semester found him teaching Physical Chemistry II (Chemistry 319), lecture and lab, and Physical Chemistry III (Chemistry 320) lecture, taught jointly with Virginia Pett. He also supervised two Chemistry 112 Honors Lab students during the spring. Three seniors were advised by Wingfield for Independent Study, and two of them presented posters at the NCUR 2002 meeting. Wingfield accompanied the group that traveled to Wisconsin for that meeting. On campus, Wingfield served on the Goldwater Scholarship Committee.

Wingfield and Sara became happy home owners in time for the birth of Evan Verner Glassey, who was born July 29, 2002.

Mark J. Snider came to Wooster in the Summer of 2001 as a postdoctoral associate with Montie Borders. Mark split his position, serving part-time as a Visiting Assistant Professor. In the fall, he taught Introductory College Chemistry I (Chemistry 111, formerly Chemistry 101), lecture and lab. In the spring he taught Introductory College Chemistry II (Chemistry 112, formerly Chemistry 102), lecture and lab. He co-advised, with Montie Borders, the I.S. work of two seniors.

Mark was on the College Scholar Examination Committee and the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Committee. He initiated and chaired a volunteer committee of Wooster science faculty to judge student posters at the Ohio State Science Day on May 11, 2002, at The Ohio State University. The judges awarded five scholarships to high school students who were interested in pursuing a major in mathematics or science at Wooster. In November 2001, Mark was a Wooster Faculty Science Poster Judge at the Central Ohio Undergraduate Research Symposium held at Kenyon College. Mark and Wingfield Glassey accompanied nine Wooster students to the NCUR 2002 meeting in Wisconsin.

Due to Montie's retirement in the Spring of 2002, Mark was offered and accepted a full-time Visiting Assistant Professor position for the 2002-03 academic year.

Virginia B. Pett taught introductory College Chemistry I (Chemistry 111, formerly Chemistry 101) lecture and Physical Chemistry I (Chemistry 318), lecture and lab, in the Fall Semester. X-ray diffraction has been a topic in Chemistry 318 for quite some time, but only in the past two years has Virginia added a diffraction experiment to the laboratory. Using the Buerger precession camera, a crystal was aligned, two zero level photographs were taken, as well as a first level photograph. Nationwide, very few undergraduates have the opportunity to use equipment of this kind. During the Spring Semester, Virginia taught Introductory College Chemistry II (Chemistry 112, formerly Chemistry 102) lab, Physical Chemistry III (Chemistry 320) lecture with Wingfield Glassey, and Introduction to Independent Study (Chemistry 401) with Dick Bromund and Judy Amburgey-Peters. Chemistry 320 was reorganized to emphasize solid state chemistry, materials science, surface science, and structural chemistry. Wingfield and Virginia designed the course and co-taught it. Virginia's contributions to the course were in the areas of structural chemistry (symmetry operators, systematic absences, Fourier transform, solving the phase problem, structure analysis), and materials science.

Virginia's four senior Independent Study students worked on projects that were a collaborative effort with Bob Bouchard. Two of her students presented posters at NCUR 2002, while one gave a research talk.

In the department, Virginia was the coordinator for Chemistry 111 lecture sections. She coordinated department awards, and oversaw the operation of the departmental Mac computer classroom and the Silicon Graphics workstation cluster. She served as the department liaison with the Timken Science Library, and she planned the McFarland Lecture. Virginia was a member of the Library Information Literacy Committee.