Department News
A collection of news items related to the Department of Chemistry at Western Michigan University is listed below.
Past Department news
- April 2019 - Congratulations to the 2019 chemistry award/scholarship recipients.
- February 2019 - A new agreement between Aquinas College and Western Michigan University provides a path for Aquinas students to obtain two degrees in less time, allowing them to earn an advanced degree faster, with less cost and in programs that give them the skills and expertise needed in the marketplace | MLive article
- September 2018 - Chemistry welcomes Kylie Schultz as undergraduate academic advisor. Schultz has worked in various higher education and non-profit sector positions since graduating with her master's degree in Counselor Education from WMU in 2007, including serving as part-time faculty at KVCC and WMU since 2008. She brings many years of experience as a counselor, teacher and helping professional to working with college students. Welcome, Kylie!
- June 2018 - Please join us Tuesday, June 26 as we joyfully wish Pamela McCartney, Dr. Robert Sutton and Tami Yonkers of the Chemistry department all the best as they begin their journey into retirement. Light appetizers and refreshments will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Brown and Gold Room (Room 242) of the Bernhard Center.
- June 2018 - The second edition of Special Elements in Excellence newsletter was distributed by email and print.
- April 2018 - Dr. Robert Sutton has received the 2017-18 College of Arts and Sciences Dean's Appreciation Award. The award recognizes Dr. Sutton's outstanding commitment to student learning over the course of his career. The College will honor Dr. Sutton with an award presentation at 1 p.m. on April 3, 2018 in room 1260 of the Chemistry Building.
- March 2018 - If it wasn’t for Mohammad Hossein Yassaman (B.A. '77, Economics; M.A. '78, Operations Research), Dr. Hashem Akhavan-Tafti’s (M.A. '88, Chemistry) years as a student in the United States would have been profoundly different. Without Yassaman, Akhavan-Tafti would have never ended up at Western Michigan University, a move that he says “saved his life.” So to honor his friend and mentor, Akhavan-Tafti and wife SuzAnne recently established an endowed scholarship in Yassaman’s name.
- July 2016 - Dr. Yirong Mo and colleagues proposed and validated a new concept termed intramolecular multi-bond strain, which refers to the repulsion among pi bonds.
- June 2016 - Dr. Gary Blackmer will be recognized for 18 years of service to WMU during a retirement reception from 2 to 4 p.m. on Thursday, June 9 in 3880 Chemistry Building.
- February 2015 - Dr. Sherine Obare was appointed interim associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
- January 2015 - Dr. Lydia Hines was re-elected as Councilor representing the Local Section to the American Chemical Society.
- September 2014 - Dr. Megan Grunert, along with co-investigators Dr. Sue Stapleton (dean of the Graduate College), Dr. Jocelyn Steinke (School of Communication) and Renee Swartz (Georgia State University), was awarded a $1,246,037 grant from the National Science Foundation for her project titled "Understanding URM STEM graduate students identity integration and assimilation into a community of practice."
- September 2014 - Dr. Ramakrishna Guda received a $100,000 grant from the American Chemical Society for his project "Electron-Phonon Interactions in Atomically Monodispersed Gold Cluster/Graphene Oxide Nanocatalysts."
- June 2014 - Dr. Gellert Mezei received a grant in the amount of $284,833 from the National Science Foundation titled "Selective, high efficiency anion encapsulation by neutral nanojars."
- Winter 2014 newsletter