What's New in Chemistry | Recent Chemistry Student Awards
Recent Chemistry Faculty Awards | Departmental Accolades
What's New in Chemistry:
Karen Brown '08 earned a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship Award, a Goldwater Scholarship, and was awarded The Merck Index Women in Chemistry Scholarship.
James McDonough '07 won a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.
Ann McDermott '81, professor of chemistry at Columbia University, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences. She is among the 72 new members honored for their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.
McDermott's research focuses on the development and applications of new spectroscopic techniques to study proteins that play a variety of roles in biology. These studies are aimed at understanding the mechanism of basic cellular processes, such as the acceleration of chemistry by enzymes and the binding of drugs to their targets.
"Despite the fact that there are many who, fairly, should be ahead of me in this honor, I am nevertheless deeply flattered," McDermott said of her election.
The National Academy of Sciences is an organization of scientists and engineers dedicated to furthering science and its use for the general public. "Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honors in American science and engineering," Academy President Ralph Cicerone said following the announcement.
Twelve students from the HMC Chemistry presented at the American Chemical Society Spring 2007 National Meeting in Chicago.
Ten students from the HMC Chemistry summer research program present at the American Chemical Society spring 2006 national meeting in Atlanta.
Elaine Hart '06 won a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship
Christine Kalcic '06 won a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.
Whitney Duim '05 has been awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship and Cole Witham '05 received honorable mention.
The HMC Faculty approve a joint major in chemistry and biology . Our objective is to establish a curriculum that will enable students to think at the interface, to effortlessly move back and forth between chemistry and biology. They will have the background to appreciate the biological context of their research questions and they will have mastered the chemistry fundamentals that underlie the properties and reactions of biomolecules. These successful students will be able to make connections and have insights that are difficult to obtain without a thorough training in both chemistry and biology. We expect that the program in Chemistry and Biology will capture the imaginations of talented HMC students and reinforce their abilities to think across disciplines.
Whitney Duim '05 has been awarded a Gates Cambridge Scholarship to study colloid and interface chemistry with Stuart Clarke in the Department of Chemistry at Cambridge University. Whitney will build on her research experience with HMC professors Gerald Van Hecke and Kerry Karukstis, with whom she studied the phase diagrams of lyotropic liquid crystals. Whitney is a Beckman Scholar and was awarded both the Sly and Campbell prizes during her time here at Harvey Mudd. While Whitney has traveled widely in the United States, her trip to Cambridge will be her first trip abroad and she is looking forward to exploring England and the rest of Europe.
Whitney is Harvey Mudd College's first Gates Cambridge Scholar. The scholarships were founded in 2000 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support international scholarship at the University of Cambridge.
Tyrel McQueen '04, Kevin Esvelt '04 (chemistry & biology), Christopher "Kit" Rodolfa '04 (chemistry & physics), & Courtney Rotstan '04 won National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowships. Juliette Petersen '04 and Monica Jo Patten '03 received honorable mention. NSF Graduate Fellowships offer recognition and three years of support for advanced study to approximately 900 outstanding graduate students in the mathematical, physical, biological, engineering, and behavioral and social sciences, including the history of science and the philosophy of science, and to research-based PhD degrees in science education. These awards carry a stipend for each fellow of $30,000 for a 12-month tenure and an annual cost-of-education allowance of $10,500, paid to the Fellow's institution in lieu of tuition and fees.
Kevin Esvelt '04 (chemistry & biology) was awarded a Fannie & John Hertz Foundation Fellowship. The Hertz Foundation awards its fellowships based upon Exceptional Intelligence and Creativity, with particular emphasis on those aspects pertinent to technical endeavors; Excellent Technical Education evidenced not only by transcripts and reference reports from senior technical professionals, but also by the results of a personal, technical interview; Orientation and Commitment to the applications of the physical sciences as is typical of most applicants; Extraordinary Accomplishment in technical or related professional studies which may offset slightly lower academic records, or add luster to outstanding ones; Features of Temperament and Character conducive to high attainment as a technical professional the assessment of which is difficult, albeit important to the Foundation; Appropriate moral and ethical values of considerable interest to the Foundation in the furthering of our basic goals; Leverage, or what difference the award of the Hertz Fellowship is likely to make in the kind, quality, and/or personal creativity of the student's graduate research . The Hertz Fellowships consists of the cost of education plus a stipend of $25,000 per year, renewable over five years.
Christopher "Kit" Rodolfa '04 (chemistry & physics) has been awarded a 2004 Winston Churchill Scholarship for a year of graduate study at Cambridge University in England.The scholarships, funded by the Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States, provide for a year of graduate study in engineering, mathematics or the sciences for students with exceptional academic records and research proposals that can be carried out at Cambridge. The Churchill Scholarship Program was established in 1959 as an expression of American admiration for one of the great leaders of the free world. The foundation aims to encourage the exchange of knowledge and the sharing of ideas in science and technology between the United States and Great Britain, permitting outstanding American students to do graduate work in engineering, mathematics and the physical and natural sciences at Cambridge. At least 10 of the one-year Churchill Scholarships are offered annually. Criteria for the selection of Churchill Scholars include academic achievement, Graduate Record Exam scores, character, adaptability, capacity for original, creative work, demonstrated concern for the critical problems of society, and good health.
Elizabeth Walsh '04 won the Nathional Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship in 2005.
Elaine Hart '06 received a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship in recognition of her outstanding academic merit in science and engineering. The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program, which Congress established in 1986 to honor the former U.S. senator, awards scholarships to highly qualified scientists, mathematicians and engineers who intend to pursue careers in their fields of study. Worth a maximum of $7,500, each of the 300 annual scholarships is funded by a U.S. Treasury trust fund. It is assumed that the award recipients will go on to pursue advanced degrees in their fields.
Twenty-two students from the HMC Chemistry summer research program presented posters at the American Chemical Society spring 2004 national meeting in Anaheim. The HMC chemists were the largest contingent of undergraduate researchers at the meeting of 13,000 scientists.
Read about Harvey Mudd's Interdisciplinary Laboratory in the September 13, 2002 issue of Science and the Bio 2010 Report of the National Academy Press. The Interdisciplinary Laboratory bridges together laboratory experiences from Chemistry, Biology, and Physics. See what experiments comprise this National Science Foundation-sponsored course by visiting the ID Lab Home Page.
Watch Synthesis and Analysis in Sixty Seconds, a QuickTime movie outlining one of the experiments run in Chem 25, General Chemistry Laboratory.
RUGG'S Recommendations on the Colleges, 15th Edition ranks the HMC chemistry department as the best undergraduate program in the nation from a list of the 56 most selective programs.
Recent Chemistry Student Awards
Karen Brown '08 Goldwater Scholar
James McDonough '07 National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship (Stanford)
Elaine Hart '06 National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship (Stanford)
Elaine Hart '06 Goldwater Scholar
Christine Kalcic '06 National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship (Michigan State University)
Whitney Duim '05 National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship (2006), Gates Cambridge Scholarship(Wolfson College - (2005), Honorable Mention, National Science Foundation (2005)
Cole Witham '05 Honorable Mention, National Science Foundation
Kevin Esvelt '04 National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship; Fannie & John Hertz Foundation Fellowship; Goldwater Scholar.
Tyrel McQueen '04 National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship; Goldwater Scholar.
Juliette Petersen '04 Honorable Mention, National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship
Christopher Rodolpha '04 Churchill Scholar (Churchill College, Cambridge University); National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship; Goldwater Scholar.
Courtney Rotstan '04 National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.
Elizabeth Walsh '04 National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship.
Monica Jo Patten '03 Honorable Mention, National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.
Caitlin Devereaux '02 National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (MIT).
Matthew Mattozzi '02 National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.
Nathaniel Brown '98 Churchill Scholar (Churchill College, Cambridge University); National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.
Todd Clements '97 Honorable Mention, National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.
Ryan Danell '97 Honorable Mention, National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.
Joseph Danzer '98 Honorable Mention, National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.
Noel D'Angelo '97 Honorable Mention, National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.
Shelly Fujikawa '98 National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.
Alice Lee '96 Honorable Mention, National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.
Nikolaus Loening '97 Churchill Scholar (Churchill College, Cambridge University); National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.
Christine Loftus '96 Honorable Mention, National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.
Mike McAlpin '96 Honorable Mention, National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.
Samuel Mikes '97 Fulbright Scholar, University of Lund (Sweden); National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.
Eric Paulson '97 Honorable Mention, National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.
Ryan Pearman '95 National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.
Hans Purkey '96 Honorable Mention, National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.
Robin Rosenfeld '95 Honorable Mention, National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.
Jon Sorenson '95 Churchill Scholar (Churchill College, Cambridge University); National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.
Steven Suljak '95 National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.
Joleen White '97 National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.
Ned Zimmerman '95 Honorable Mention, National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.
Troy Tanzer '94 Hertz Foundation Fellowship.
Recent Chemistry Faculty Awards
Professor Karl Haushalter Iris and Howard Critchell Assistant Professorship 2007-2008
Professor Shenda M. Baker National Science Foundation-Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), 1997; US Department of Energy Young Scientists and Engineers Award, 1997; National Science Foundation Early CAREER Award, 1996.
Professor Robert J. Cave Camille & Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar, 1993-1997.
Professor G. William Daub Camille & Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar, 1982-1987.
Professor Kerry K. Karukstis Camille & Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar, 1994-1998.
Professor Mitsuru Kubota American Chemical Society National Award for Research at an Undergraduate Institution, 1992.
Professor Philip C. Myhre American Chemical Society National Award for Research at an Undergraduate Institution, 1991.
Professor Gerald R. Van Hecke Camille & Henry Dreyfus Scholar Fellow, 1995-1996.
Departmental Accolades
- RUGG'S Recommendations on the Colleges, 15th Edition, F. E. Rugg (1998) rates the Harvey Mudd College chemistry program as the best undergraduate chemistry program in the nation from a list of 56 most selective programs, which includes Caltech, MIT, Harvard, and Stanford. This rating is based on a survey of 732 secondary school counselors who responded to the question "Which college or university would you recommend to a student who asks for an outstanding place to major in a given field regardless of size, location, nature of the student, etc?
- In a rating of undergraduate college programs by Change magazine, the Harvey Mudd College chemistry program was the only one ranked among the top ten in five categories: overall quality of undergraduate education, preparation of students for graduate or professional schools, preparation of students for employment after college, faculty commitment to undergraduate teaching, and innovation of curriculum.
- According to the Journal of Chemical Education, the HMC Chemistry Department ranks among the top five chemistry departments of predominantly undergraduate institutions nationwide in both the number of research articles published and the percentage of articles co-authored by students.
- A Project Kaleidscope survey revealed that Harvey Mudd College is number one in the nation in the percentage of women students on campus who earn degrees in chemistry.
- Harvey Mudd College's high overall quality of education has earned a ranking in the top three colleges and universities in California, according to a study conducted by Collegiate Information Services (CIS), of Riverside, Conn. Harvey Mudd College was ranked with Caltech and Stanford in the CIS study, based upon input from a random sample of guidance counselors at 800 high schools across the nation. In the survey, counselors were asked to rate the nation's colleges and universities according to their academic programs, leadership opportunities, personal attention from faculty, campus safety, and other factors CIS determined as pivotal to a quality education. The counselors gave HMC, Caltech, and Stanford the "highest ratings for overall quality of education in California."
- Highly competitive national awards won by HMC chemistry graduates include one Rhodes Scholarship; 39 National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowships (10 in the years 1994 to 1998); one Hertz, four Churchill, three Watson, and three General Electric fellowships.
Departmental Prizes
Special prizes available for chemistry students include the Dotty and Art Campbell Prize, and the W. G. Sly Prize. In addition, HMC chemistry students have won the Mindlin Prize for Innovative Ideas in the Sciences, a prize awarded annually to the student author whose paper demonstrates the best innovative thinking in the pure sciences, in 1992,1993, 1997, and 2004.