The Virginia Tech Department of Chemistry has a rich history, a strong international reputation and a bright future. Our curricula provide the educational foundation for all Virginia Tech science and engineering students. Our undergraduate and graduate degree programs prepare society's future chemists and scientists. Our alumni are gainfully employed in the industrial, government, and academic sectors.
Yee Awarded Certificate of Teaching Excellence
(Feb 03, 2010) Prof. Gordon T. Yee is one of only two faculty members in the College of Science to receive a 2010 Certificate of Teaching Excellence. This university award is bestowed annually to faculty members who demonstrate outstanding teaching skills and dedication to learning. Dr. Yee is recognized specifically for his commitment to interactive learning, which he has demonstrated in the classroom with lively, demonstration-enriched lectures, and as the co-author of Thinkwell Chemistry, a popular multimedia textbook. (
more on Yee ...)
Brewer Teams With Theralase to Zap Cancer
(January 25, 2010) Prof. Karen J. Brewer, in collaboration with Prof. Brenda S. Winkel (Biological Sciences) and Theralase Corporation (Toronto), has developed new compounds that will destroy breast cancer cells under laser irradiation. The new applications were underpinned by several years of fundamental research into the detailed photophysical properties of supramolecular metal-organic compounds. Theralase plans to begin pre-clinical studies this year, which hopefully will lead to FDA approval for human trials. (
more ...)
Neuroscience Program Wins NIH Funding
(January 15, 2010) Prof. Felicia Etzkorn, Prof. Terry Hrubec (VMRCVM), and Prof. Marc Edwards (CEE) are investigating possible links between neural tube defects (NTDs) in laboratory mice and tap-water contaminants introduced by common municipal water-treatment processes. With a new $410,000 grant from NIH, Dr. Etzkorn and her collaborators hope to learn whether specific byproducts arising from the use of chloramine as a disinfectant are responsible for the birth defects observed in mice. (
more on Etzkorn ...)
CHEM Named Exemplary Department
(December 06, 2009) The Chemistry Department has been named a University Exemplary Department for 2009. The award especially cited the advancement of undergraduate education through research. The Chair of Chemistry, Prof. Joseph Merola, congratulates the many faculty and staff members who have contributed to an environment in the Department that fosters undergraduate research and that has helped so many students reach for professional careers in the chemical sciences and in allied fields. (
more ...)
Department Rises in National Rankings
(November 21, 2009) The Chemistry Department has reached a national ranking of 33
rd according to National Science Foundation data published recently in
Chemical and Engineering News. The ranking is based solely on
total chemical research expenditures in the year 2007. However, an informal analysis suggests that the Virginia Tech Chemistry Departrment's expenditures
per faculty member approximately equal those of some departments presently ranked within the Top Ten.
Crawford Awarded Dirac Medal
(November 23, 2009) Professor T. Daniel Crawford has been selected to receive the 2010 Dirac Medal for the outstanding computational chemist in the world under the age of 40. The award is given annually by the World Association of Theoretical and Computational Chemists (
WATOC). Dr. Crawford was cited "for a range of outstanding advances in theoretical chemistry, including reduced-scaling coupled-cluster methods for computing optical rotation and CD spectra of large chiral molecules." (
more on Crawford....)
Reineke Wins NIH New Innovator Award
(October 6, 2009) Prof. Theresa M. Reineke is one of 54 scholars nationwide to receive the 2009 NIH Director's New Innovator Award, which recognizes "investigators of exceptional creativity who propose bold and highly innovative new research approaches that have the potential to produce a major impact on broad, important problems in biomedical and behavioral research." Dr. Reineke and her
research group will use the $2.3 million in funding to explore mechanisms of intracellular nucleic acid delivery using novel carbohydrate-containing polymers. (
more ...)
