Department of Chemistry
Department News
Student-Faculty Research Presented at American Chemical Society National Spring Meeting (April 2008)
Assistant Professors of Chemistry Ralph Isovitsch and Amy Moskun, along with Whittier students Tenzing Doleck '08 (of Kathmandu, Nepal) and Jonathan Attard '09 (of Lakeview, CA), presented posters detailing their research into organic-inorganic polymers at the 2008 national meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), held in New Orleans during April. One of the team's posters was also selected for inclusion in an additional session, the "Sci-Mix," which showcases posters deemed to be of general interest to all divisions of the ACS.
Whittier Receives $3M Gift Toward Sciences (September 2007)
Whittier College alumni Chester '40 and Olive McCloskey '44 have donated $3 million to Whittier College, in order to enhance the existing chemistry program and establish a critical professorship. McCloskey is the founder of Norac, Inc., a leading chemical manufacturing company.
Chemistry Department Returns to Full Strength (september 2007)
The chemistry department is delighted to report we are back to "full strength," with five, full-time faculty members. A new addition this year is Dr. Amy Moskun, who will be teaching Quantitative Analysis, Environmental Chemistry, Introduction to Environmental Science, and Preparation for General Chemistry this coming year. Dr. Moskun holds a Ph.D. from USC, and she is currently a postdoctoral fellow at UC Irvine, researching heterogeneous chemistry and photochemical reactions in sea salt aerosol.
Moskun joins Drs. Iimoto, Bell, and Reeg, as well as Dr. Ralph Isovitsch, who joined Whittier last fall from Xavier University in New Orleans, and taught number of critical courses over the 2006-07 year: Organic Chemistry, Instrumental Analysis, and the Integrated Laboratory.
Science Building to be Renovated (August 2007)
Whittier College is in the initial stages of renovating the Stauffer Science Building. Last spring, several science faculty attended the PKAL conference on buildings and facilities to get ideas on modern science buildings. This summer, an architect and a laboratory planner have met with the science division faculty to get input on the needs for each department and to come back with an estimate for the square footage to accommodate those needs. Needless to say the square footage to meet those needs is larger than the existing building size and so intense negotiations ensued. The architect plans to have a proposal and cost estimate for the college by early fall. We are very excited about the prospect of a renovated building and hope that you will consider supporting this effort by designating donations for the new building!
Department Says Goodbye to Nine Chemistry and Biochemistry Grads (June 2007)
This past May, nine of our department's best crossed the stage to receive their Whittier College diplomas: two majored in chemistry with ACS certification; four majored in biochemistry; and three majored in chemistry. Seniors Marina Asiedu and Connor Tryon were awarded the Roy W. Newsom Award for outstanding graduates in chemistry, and senior Santosh Shah was awarded the Chemistry Undergraduate Research Award.
Of the nine graduates, four entered grad school this fall. Two began chemistry programs at UC Irvine and UC Riverside, respectively. One headed for the University of Arizona to start a medical pharmacology program, and one enrolled in the medical school at Creighton University.
