CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Four faculty members of the University of Illinois are among the first class of fellows to be honored by the American Chemical Society: Scott E. Denmark, Deborah E. Leckband, Thomas B. Rauchfuss and Steven C. Zimmerman.
Election as a fellow is an honor bestowed upon members by their peers. In this inaugural year, 162 members were elevated to this rank because of their contributions to the chemical enterprise coupled with distinctive service to the society or to the broader world of chemistry. The fellows will be recognized at a ceremony Aug. 17, during the society’s fall national meeting in Washington, D.C.
Denmark, the Reynold C. Fuson Professor of Chemistry, focuses on the invention of new synthetic reactions, on the origin of stereocontrol in fundamental carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bond forming reactions, and in the application of these developments to the synthesis of complex molecular structures and in catalysis.
Leckband, the Reid T. Milner Professor of Chemistry, studies the interface between biology and surface science. Her work determines how the physical chemical properties of surfaces impacts fundamental biological functions and material performance in biological environments, including how cells communicate with their environment.
Rauchfuss, a William H. and Janet G. Lycan Professor of Chemistry, is interested in the synthesis and reactivity of inorganic, organo-metallic, and main-group compounds and materials.
These interests include environmentally motivated organometallic chemistry, the role of metals in nitrogen fixation, carbonylation enzymes, and methanogenesis.
Zimmerman, the head of the department of chemistry and the Roger Adams Professor of Chemistry, focuses on the understanding, development, and application of molecular recognition processes. Applications of his work are in the areas of drug discovery and delivery, chemical sensors and medical diagnostics, and novel polymeric materials.
With more than 154,000 members, the ACS is the world’s largest scientific society. A nonprofit organization chartered by Congress, ACS is at the forefront of the evolving worldwide chemical enterprise and the premier professional home for chemists, chemical engineers and related professions around the globe.
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