CHEMISTRY DEPARTMENT

2003-04 was an exciting year for the Chemistry Department. Most notably, we hired Dr. Sarah Goh from the University of California, Berkeley as a new organic chemist. Professor Goh will join our department in the summer of 2004, and will take on the challenge of teaching organic chemistry in her first semester with us. Her research involves the design of polymeric materials for use in drug delivery systems, and will broaden the research opportunities available to students in the department. We look forward to welcoming her into our department. Other important developments in the department included the promotion of Professor Tom Smith to Associate Professor with tenure. We were very pleased to have Professor Hodge Markgraf as a visiting faculty member for the year. His contributions to the department this year were invaluable. Finally, and on a sadder note for us all, Professor Raymond Chang officially retired from the college this year. Professor Chang has been a mentor and model for us all, both in and out of the classroom, and it is only with the greatest reluctance that we would see him off. Happily, in spite of his “official” retirement, Professor Chang will continue as a part-time visiting faculty member with us next year; we’re thrilled that at least another year’s worth of students (and faculty!) will have a chance to learn from him. There have also been some curricular developments this year. Professor Markgraf taught a new course, Heterocyclic Chemistry (CHEM 346), and for the first time we offered a sophomore-level tutorial course, Applying the Scientific Method to Archaeology and Paleoanthropology (CHEM 262T), taught by Dr. Anne Skinner.

This year we continued to participate in the Class of 1960 Scholars Program. Three distinguished scientists were invited to campus to meet with our students and present a seminar. Professor F. Fleming Crim of the University of Wisconsin, Professor Steven Ley of the University of Cambridge and Professor Nathan Lewis of California Institute of Technology were the Class of 1960 Scholars speakers this year. Ten students were selected by the faculty to be Class of 1960 Scholars during 2004. They participate in the seminar program which includes: a preliminary meeting of the scholars with a chemistry department faculty member to discuss some papers by the seminar speaker; attendance at the seminar/discussion; and an opportunity for further discussion with the seminar speaker at an informal reception or dinner. The students selected for 2004-05 are:

Over the course of the year, as is our tradition, a number of awards were presented to chemistry students for outstanding scholarship. Jesse Schenendorf ’06, Julie-Erika Haydu ’07 and Devin Yagel ’07 received the CRC Press Awards as the outstanding students in CHEM 151, CHEM 153, and CHEM 155 respectively. Ashleigh Theberge ’06 and Wen-Hsin Kuo ’06 were recognized for their achievements in organic chemistry with the Polymer Chemistry Award and the Harold H. Warren Prize respectively. Brian Saar ’05 won the American Chemical Society Analytical Division Award, while the American Chemistry Society Connecticut Valley Section Award for sustained scholastic excellence went to Elaine Denny ’04. Finally, the American Institute of Chemists Student Award for outstanding scholastic achievement was awarded to Daniel Calnan ’04.

At Class Day activities before graduation, the John Sabin Adriance Prize was awarded to Victoria Bock ’04 as the senior chemistry major who maintained the highest rank in all courses offered by the department. During Class Day, Jeffrey Ishizuka ’04 was announced as the recipient of the Leverett Mears Prize in recognition of outstanding scholastic achievement. The James F. Skinner Prize, for achieving a distinguished record in chemistry and showing promise for teaching and scholarship, was presented to Steven Scroggins ’04.

During the summer of 2004, 38 Williams College chemistry majors were awarded research assistantships to work in the laboratories of departmental faculty. We gratefully acknowledge support from the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc., the College Divisional Research Funding Committee, the J. Hodge Markgraf ’52 summer research fund, the National Science Foundation, Pfizer, Inc., Summer Science Program funds, and the Wege-Markgraf fund. In addition, Grace Song ’06 was selected to participate in a summer research program established between our department and the University of Leiden in the Netherlands.

Working with John Harris ’05 and Noah Capurso ’05 during the summer, Assistant Professor Dieter Bingemann continued his research on heterogeneous dynamics in glasses. The team developed a reliable thin-film coating technique for dye-doped polymer samples, implemented a precise temperature control for the sample, automated the data acquisition, and successfully observed long-term traces of single molecule fluorescence. The work in the lab continued during the academic year with Gerry Lindo ’04 as an independent study student and Noah Capurso as a work-study student, making extensive measurements of single molecule dynamics in polymer samples close to the glass transition temperature. These results lead to the subsequent development of a new analysis technique to extract the desired slow dynamics of the glassy polymer environment from the original single molecule fluorescence data. During the summer, Bingemann also attended the Gordon Research Conference on the Chemistry and Physics of Liquids in Holderness, NH and served as a reviewer for the Journal of Chemical Physics.

In the fall semester, Bingemann taught Concepts of Chemistry: Advanced Section (CHEM 153), Science for Kids (CHEM 011) with Professor Mark Schofield during Winter Study, and in the spring, Physical Chemistry: Thermodynamics (CHEM 366), reflecting the start of the new curriculum for the upper level courses. The new “quantum mechanics first” order of the advanced physical chemistry courses allowed Bingemann to sprinkle the molecular approach to thermodynamics into the traditional course material, giving the students an alternative point of view.

Professor Raymond Chang continues to serve on the editorial board of The Chemical Educator. He team-taught Current Topics in Chemistry (CHEM 155) in the fall semester with Professor Lee Park, who was the organizer of the course. Professor Chang attended the 277th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in March. The eighth edition of his chemistry text, Chemistry, was published by McGraw-Hill Book Company. He also coauthored Understanding Chemistry, with Professor Charles Lovett. After teaching at Williams for 36 years, Professor Chang is retiring at the end of this academic year.

Assistant Professor Amy Gehring continued research into the biochemical basis of the interrelated processes of sporulation and antibiotic production by the important bacterial organism Streptomyces coelicolor. Independent study student Gina Calderon ’04, Winter Study students Candice Li ’05 and Brian Simanek ’07, and research assistant Yamnia Cortes ’06 all contributed to the lab’s ongoing characterization of several proteins required for sporulation. Gina will continue her research this summer and will be joined in the lab by Sharon Owusu-Darko ’06 and Geri Ottaviano ’06. During the year, Chris Thom ’06 also continued his work to determine the structure of a pigmented natural product produced by a S. coelicolor strain in a collaborative project with Professor Richardson in the chemistry department.

Professor Gehring published some of her research in an article in a June issue of the Journal of Bacteriology. The cover of this issue featured a scanning electron micrograph taken by Joel Schmid ’03 showing the coiling, filamentous surface of the S. coelicolor colony.

During the fall semester, Professor Gehring taught Biochemistry I – Structure and Function of Biological Molecules (CHEM 321). Because of a part-time maternity leave, Gehring enjoyed working with Professor Lawrence Kaplan who instructed the laboratory sections of this course. In the spring semester, Gehring taught Enzyme Kinetics and Reaction Mechanisms (CHEM 324).

In other professional activities, Professor Gehring attended the New England Spores Conference in May 2004 and plans to present her research at the Gordon Research Conference on Microbial Stress Response in July. She served as a reviewer for John Wiley & Sons publishing as well as the journal Archives of Microbiology.

Professor Lawrence J. Kaplan taught Biophysical Chemistry (CHEM 367) in the fall semester. This was a new version of the Physical Chemistry with Biochemical Applications (CHEM 306) course that was eliminated upon the adoption of the new curriculum. He also taught the laboratory program in Biochemistry I-Structure and Function of Biological Molecules (CHEM 321). In the spring semester, he taught Chemistry and Crime: From Sherlock Holmes to Modern Forensic Science (CHEM 113) and was the coordinator and part of the team that taught the interdisciplinary course Processes of Adjudication (LGST 101). Kaplan taught the unit on evidence and the admissibility of scientific evidence. He supervised the research of Daniel Calnan ’04, who investigated the role of linker histones in stabilizing the structure of chromatin.

Kaplan continues to administer the Center for Workshops in the Chemical Sciences (CWCS; http://chemistry.gsu.edu/CWCS/) his colleagues Professors Emelita Breyer and Jerry Smith of Georgia State University and David Collard of Georgia Institute of Technology. CWCS, established three years ago with a grant from the National Science Foundation, sponsors many workshops including those in Metals in Biology, Chemistry and Art, Environmental Chemistry, Material Science and Nanotechnology, Molecular Genetics and Protein Structure and Function, Biomolecular Crystallography, and Forensic Science. This year, Kaplan and his colleagues were awarded a new grant from NSF for $1,620,000 for the continuation of the CWCS and its programs.

The response to Kaplan’s forensic science workshop was so high that he taught two five-day workshops during the summer of 2003 at Williams (for more information, see http://www.williams.edu/Chemistry/lkaplan/cwcs.html). Bethany Cobb ’02 returned to assist him as the administrative assistant and laboratory instructor. The workshops provide an understanding of the application of forensic science to all aspects of undergraduate chemistry instruction. Sixteen participants from colleges and universities as well as community colleges became criminalists for each week. They processed crime scenes and analyzed evidence such as glass and soil, fibers and fingerprints, drugs and alcohol, blood and bullets, and, of course, DNA.

He participated in the 29th Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Association of Forensic Scientists held in Pittsfield, MA, in November. During the meeting, he was a facilitator of the “Forensic Educators Workshop” designed to disseminate information about the ways colleagues in the northeast are using forensic science as a tool to teach many aspects of the biological, physical, and chemical sciences.

Kaplan was an adjunct faculty member of the District Court Committee on Continuing Education during their conference on the Williams College campus in June. During the conference, entitled “Williamstown XIV: The District Court... Past, Present, and Future,” he conducted a workshop for the judges on the basics and changing methodologies of DNA profiling.

Professor Charles Lovett continued to serve as Director of the Science Center, Chair of the Science Executive Committee, Chair of the Divisional Research Funding Committee, and Director of the Summer Science Program for traditionally underrepresented groups in the sciences.

Professor Lovett continued his research on the mechanism of ComK-mediated regulation of the recA gene in the bacterium Bacillus subtilis supported by a $330,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. Last summer Williams College students James Enterkin ’05, Drees Griffin ’06, Paul Obeng-Okyere ’06, Esa Seegulam ’06, Emily Wasserman ’06, and Emily Welsh ’05, worked on this research as full-time research assistants. Nora Au ’03, who began working as a research technician in June 2003, and Thomas O’Gara, now in his sixteenth year as research technician in the Lovett lab, also participated in this research. During the academic year, Professor Lovett directed Jenica Chambers ’04 as a senior honor student working on the ComK project. Professor Lovett also directed Tomoki Kurihara ’07, Regine Lim ’07, Andrew Platt ’07, and Rob Tartaglione ’05 in a Winter Study research project aimed at cloning novel DNA repair genes.

Last summer, Professor Lovett taught the chemistry lecture component of the Williams College Summer Science Program. Together with Professor David Richardson, he also supervised the fifth year of science camp for elementary school students and teachers.

Together with Professor Raymond Chang, Professor Lovett published a textbook entitled Understanding Chemistry, a user-friendly guide to introductory chemistry designed for first-time chemistry students in high school and college.

During the past year, Professor Lovett served as a reviewer for Molecular Microbiology and the Journal of Bacteriology. He also served as a reviewer for the National Science Foundation Biological Sciences Division, as a reviewer for the Beckman Scholars Program, and as a consultant for the Sherman Fairchild Foundation’s Scientific Equipment Grant Program.

Professor Emeritus J. Hodge Markgraf served as a visiting professor for the year. His teaching responsibilities included Organic Chemistry: Intermediate Level (CHEM 251) in the fall semester, and Heterocyclic Chemistry (CHEM 346) in the spring semester. He developed a twelve-week laboratory program focused on the synthesis of alkaloids for the latter course. Markgraf supervised the honors thesis of Charles E. Jakobsche ’04. Chuck’s work completed a four-year study of new routes to isomeric benzocanthinones, which are pentacyclic alkaloids with potential antibacterial properties. In January, Markgraf supervised Winter Study research projects of Renee Kontnik ’05 and Salem Fevrier ’06. Renee’s work explored an alternate route to benzocanthinone via a Suzuki coupling process and Salem’s work involved a new Friedel-Crafts alkylation methodology. This summer Ryan Manalansan ’06 will continue his project from last summer on a novel route to arylisoxazoles and a correlation of substituent effects on NMR chemical shifts. In addition, this summer Surekha Gajria ’06 will follow up some of the results from the CHEM 346 experiments on new pathways to carbazole alkaloids. In January, Markgraf received a $20,000 two-year Senior Scientist Mentor Initiative award from the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation for the synthesis of sampangine alkaloids. Markgraf served as a reviewer for the Journal of Heterocyclic Chemistry, and he joined the advisory board of the Malawi Journal of Science and Technology.

Professor Lee Park continued in her second year as Chair of the chemistry department. In the fall, she team taught Current Topics in Chemistry (CHEM 155) with Raymond Chang, and in the spring, team-taught Instrumental Methods of Analysis (CHEM 364) with Jay Thoman, as well as Chemistry and Physics of Materials (CHEM/PHYS 332) with Daniel Aalberts of the Physics Department.

Park has enjoyed a productive year in terms of progress on a variety of research projects; she had a number of students involved in her lab over the year. Her research has been supported since 2000 through an on-going $161,000 NSF-RUI grant, which has been renewed for $137,000, beginning in June 2004. During the summer of 2003, Teddy McGehee ’05 worked on developing a synthetic route to a new group of catecholate ligands for use as ligands in platinum (II) complexes; the route Teddy outlined provided an important part of the overall research plan described in the NSF research grant. In addition, Noah Bell ’05 worked in Professor Chang Ryu’s lab at RPI in a continuation of the collaborative summer research efforts that were begun the previous year; his work focused on using variable temperature AFM as a means of probing liquid crystalline phase transitions. During the academic year, Steve Scroggins ’04 returned to Park’s lab as a thesis student, having spent the summer at the University of Minnesota. His work over the year involved exploratory work, looking for means of tuning donor-acceptor properties in a liquid crystalline system that the Park lab has been investigating recently, as well as learning to characterize the resulting new materials. In addition, Salem Fevrier ’05 worked on troubleshooting a micellar preparation of nanorods and nanoparticles. During Winter Study, Michelle Lee ’06, and Nathan Hodas ’04 joined the group and worked on characterizing porous anodized alumina discs that the group hopes to use in alignment of the columnar liquid crystalline materials that they’ve been preparing. In addition to the recently renewed NSF grant, a manuscript stemming from a collaborative effort with Darren Hamilton’s group at Mt. Holyoke College was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, and another manuscript has been submitted for publication in Liquid Crystals. The various collaborative relationships that have been established with Mt Holyoke and RPI will continue, with Beth Landis ’05 being funded through RPI in the summer of 2004.

Park has also kept busy with other professional activities this year. She attended (and presented posters on her on-going work) the Gordon conference on Electronic Materials, the Gordon Conference on Liquid Crystals, and a Workshop on the Physical Chemistry of Nanoscale Materials. She has continued to serve as a reviewer and panelist for NSF, ACS-PRF, Journal of the American Chemical Society, and Chemistry of Materials and she participated in the NEBHE (New England Board of Higher Education) science networking event in the fall of 2003. She has also been involved in an outreach program in which she has been teamed up with two teachers (Bill Dodd and Paul Jebb) from Ticonderoga High School in Fort Ticonderoga, New York. In the summer of 2003, Paul Jebb came to Williams with a group of four of his chemistry students; the group spent a week working in the Park lab, getting an introduction to materials science and the synthesis of nanostructures. She is also involved in organizing the upcoming International Metallomesogen Conference in Lake Arrowhead, CA, which will take place in May 2005.

During the 2003-04 academic year, Professor Peacock-López taught Quantum Chemistry and Molecular Spectroscopy (CHEM 368) and two lab sections of Introduction to Physical and Inorganic Chemistry (CHEM 256). Professor Peacock-López and instructors Scott Burdick (Mount Greylock Regional High School) and Simmi Narula (Hoosac Valley High School) also organized and taught chemistry labs at Williams College. The AP and honors chemistry students came several times during the year to perform some of the experiments from the Williams Introductory Chemistry Lab Program. Lastly, Professor Peacock-López gave demonstrations to Hoosac Valley students. This outreach chemistry effort has been supported in part by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Professor Enrique Peacock-López extended his research in complex dynamical chemical and biochemical mechanisms to include population dynamics. Last fall, Professor Peacock-López used his sabbatical leave to study food chains with and without competition. This work will be the foundation for a collaborative study with Biology Professor Morales on mutualism. Honors student Jeff Ishizuka ’04, in collaboration with Chemistry Professor Chip Lovett, initiated work in HIV dynamics by considering some of the most relevant features of HIV1-Rev protein. The known mechanism suggests that HIV1-Rev protein plays an important role regulating the transport of incompletely spliced mRNSs into the cytoplasm. Therefore, Jeff, in his honors thesis, postulates a minimal model of nuclear transport based on the latest reports on the HIV-1 mechanism. This minimal model shows complex dynamics.

Finally, he has served as reviewer for the National Science Foundation, The Chemical Educator, the Journal of Chemical Education, and the Journal of Theoretical Biology.

During the 2003-04 academic year, Professor David Richardson enjoyed a full year sabbatical, remaining on campus. Despite being “away,” he supervised the research work of several students throughout the year. In the summer of 2003, Elaine Denny ’04 began a yearlong senior honors research project directed at measuring PCB levels in the sediments and wildlife (fish and crayfish) of the Hoosic River in Vermont, Massachusetts, and New York. Providing invaluable assistance with this research was Analia Sorribas ’07. Chris Thom ’06 also worked in the Richardson lab in collaboration with Professor Amy Gehring’s lab throughout the year. His project involved the isolation and structure determination of colored pigments that are produced by the bacterium Streptomyces coelicolor. Professor Richardson spent much of his sabbatical writing manuscripts detailing research recently conducted by his students. He also devoted the majority of his time to laboratory research working on a collaborative project with Professor Dan Lynch’s lab. This project involves the development of a simple, efficient, and sensitive method for the identification and quantification of ceramide samples isolated from plant or animal cell membranes.

Professor Richardson continued his supervision and maintenance of the Department’s new 500 MHz nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer. He attended weeklong advanced-level training courses for the new instrument last fall in California and this spring in Boston. Finally, Professor Richardson also served as a reviewer for the Journal of Organic Chemistry and for The Chemical Educator.

Naturally, Professor Richardson did not have any teaching responsibilities for the year. However, in the month of July he taught the chemistry laboratory portion of the Williams College Summer Science Program for traditionally underrepresented groups in the sciences and, together with Professor Chip Lovett, he hosted the department’s Summer Science Camp program for local 4th and 5th graders.

Assistant Professor Mark Schofield continued his research on the synthesis of novel chiral platinum complexes which may serve as new anti-cancer drugs to supplement the widely used platinum complex, Cisplatin. During the summer of 2003, he was joined in the lab by Ned Wydysh ’04 and Erwin van der Geer, a visitor from the Netherlands through the Williams/Leiden University exchange program. During the spring, Andrew Lee ’06 joined the lab to expand the range of chiral targets and, together, Erwin, Ned and Andrew made significant progress toward the synthesis of this new family of chiral platinum complexes. Joining the lab this summer to continue this work are Kate Larabee ’07, Andrew Lee ’06, and Jim Enterkin ’05 who will conduct his thesis work in Professor Schofield’s lab. Together the Schofield lab’s research activities span a broad range of techniques and goals including the synthesis and physical characterization of platinum-DNA adducts as well as fundamental coordination chemistry of platinum complexes assessed by Pt-195 NMR spectroscopy (a job made considerably simpler thanks to the new 500 MHz NMR recently obtained by the department). Some of this work will be presented in August at the upcoming American Chemical Society National Meeting in Philadelphia.

During the fall semester, Professor Schofield taught Inorganic and Organometallic Chemistry (CHEM 335) as well as the laboratory section of Organic Chemistry – Intermediate Level: Special Lab Section (CHEM 255). During the spring, he taught Introduction to Physical and Inorganic Chemistry (CHEM 256), the last introductory course in the “sandwich” model of the new chemistry curriculum.

In addition to these on-campus activities, Professor Schofield continued his professional activities outside Williamstown. In July 2003, he attended the Gordon Research Conference on Cobalamin Chemistry at Colby College, Waterville, Maine, and the 11th International Conference on Biological Inorganic Chemistry in Cairns, Australia. Professor Schofield also served as a reviewer for Chemical Communications, Inorganic Chemistry, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Science Foundation.

This spring Dr. Skinner introduced Applying the Scientific Method to Archaeology and Paleoanthropology (CHEM 262T) a sophomore-level tutorial on scientific methods in archaeology and paleontology. The course was an expanded version of a Winter Study course she has taught in the past. Dr. Skinner also taught labs for Introduction to Physical and Inorganic Chemistry (CHEM 256) in the spring, following teaching in Concepts of Chemistry (CHEM 151) in the fall.

In January, Dr. Skinner took a group of students to India, to assist in excavations at the site of Attirampakkam, about 40 miles west of Chennai (Madras). Dr. Shanti Pappu, the site archaeologist, has been working with Dr. Skinner and Dr. Bonnie Blackwell to try to date the site. Although no new datable material was found, the group excavated what appears to be a tool-making workshop along a streambed.

Dr. Skinner’s research uses electron spin resonance (ESR) to date fossils. In the summer of 2003, she had three Williams students in the lab, Catherine Mercado ’06, Joanna Lloyd ’05 and LaVonna Bowen ’06. She also sponsored an internship by Drew Thompson at the Williamstown Art Conservation Lab.

In October 2003, Dr. Skinner was Program Chairman for the 6th International Symposium on ESR Dosimetry, held outside of Saõ Paulo, Brazil. She also presented final results for the Neanderthal site of Mezmaiskaya, and for the earlier site of Treug’nolaya in the Russian Caucasus. She is currently editing the proceedings for publication late in 2004.

Joanna Lloyd’s summer project was the study of some burnt bones from Swartkrans, South Africa, which are believed to indicate the earliest controlled use of fire. Dr. Skinner presented this material at the Paleoanthropology Society Meeting in Montreal in March. It attracted a great deal of interest – the BBC interviewed Dr. Skinner and media in Canada and South Africa picked up the story. Subsequently she was asked by CNN to comment on a similar study (of more recent material) from Israel.

In April, Dr. Skinner delivered the spring Sigma Xi lectures. The first was entitled “Dating in the 21st Century: The Greater the Date, the Greater the Damage” and introduced the physical basis of her research technique. The second, “Out of Africa: Tracing the Footsteps of Our Ancestors”, showed how this technique and others have contributed to the understanding of human evolution.

Dr. Skinner continues as News and Features editor of the Council on Undergraduate Research Quarterly.

Professor Tom Smith spent his sixth year at Williams pursuing his research in organic synthesis and methods development. In June 2003, Professor Smith served on the medicinal chemistry review panel at the National Institutes of Health. In October, the Smith group traveled to Indiana University where Professor Smith was presented with an award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research.

Honors student Vicky Bock ’04 continued a project on the asymmetric total synthesis of hennoxazole A, an antiviral natural product isolated from a marine sponge. Hennoxazole A has been shown to be highly active against the herpes simplex virus (HSV-1, IC50 = 0.6 g/ML). Vicky completed the synthesis of the C16–C25 side chain of the natural product and demonstrated that it can be coupled to a model system for the C1–C15 bisoxazole fragment. Vicky was the recipient of a competitive Pfizer Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship and traveled to the Pfizer campus in Ann Arbor, MI to present the results of her summer work on this project. Summer research student Wen-Hsin Kuo ’06 will put the finishing touches on this project for publication. After Williams, Vicky will enter the International Masters Program in Molecular Design, Synthesis and Catalysis at University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, before pursuing her Ph.D.

Summer student Kathleen Carroll ’05 wrapped up several years work toward the general asymmetric synthesis of the kavalactones. These natural products, including kavain, are the active constituents of the kava plant that has been used for centuries in South Pacific cultures for its sedative and muscle relaxing effects. Modern interest in the compounds from this herbal tonic stems from their reported ability to relieve anxiety. This work was recently published in Organic Letters.

Honors student Adrian Dowst ’04 continued a project toward the asymmetric total synthesis of jerangolid D, an antifungal natural product isolated from myxobacteria, in which the methods developed for kavalactone synthesis were extended to the assembly of both the -lactone and cis-dihydropyran portions of this molecule. Adrian will be working as a chemist at Merck for two years before attending graduate school.

In the 2004-2005 year, Professor Smith will be joined by honors students Pam Choi ’05 and Salem Fevrier ’05. Also joining the Smith group for the next two years is postdoctoral fellow Jennifer Green. Jen completed her Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill under the guidance of Michael Crimmins and did postdoctoral work at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities with Tom Hoye.

In the classroom this fall, Professor Smith taught Fighting Disease: The Evolution and Operation of Human Medicine (CHEM 111) to 30 eager non-chemistry majors. This course provided an introduction to concepts in medicinal chemistry, biochemistry, and pharmacology. In the spring semester, Professor Smith taught Organic Chemistry, Introductory Level (CHEM 156), to 115 potential chemistry majors and premedical students.

In summer 2003, Jen Linnan ’06 and Dan Weintraub ’05 joined Professor Jay Thoman in the laser lab to investigate the vibrational overtone spectroscopy of small hydrofluorocarbon molecules of atmospheric significance. They modified the experimental apparatus to make cavity ringdown spectroscopy measurements in the red and near infrared to probe previously inaccessible vibrational levels. Work study students Brian Saar ’05 and Mariana Uribe ’07 continued the project during the academic year. Saar is spending June and July 2004 in New Zealand, working with Professor Henrik Kjaergaard to model the overtone spectra collected in recent years. In the spring, Thoman participated in the American Chemical Society National Meeting and the Leermakers Symposium.

In the fall semester, Thoman taught the first offering of Physical Chemistry: Structure and Dynamics (CHEM 361). With the introduction of the new chemistry curriculum, the physical chemistry sequence is reversed from a phenomenological approach (thermodynamics first) to a molecular approach (quantum mechanics first). During Winter Study, Thoman taught Glass and Glassblowing (CHEM 016) to a talented and creative group of students. Thoman also sponsored Geoff O’Donoghue ’06 in Introduction to Environmental Science Research (CHEM 026). O’Donoghue made preliminary investigations into the concentrations of lead in soils Pittsfield, MA, sites that have been proposed for use as urban gardens. In the spring, Thoman co-taught two classes; Instrumental Methods of Analysis (CHEM 364) with Professor Lee Park, and Introduction to Environmental Science (ENVI 102) with Geosciences Professor Heather Stoll and Biology Professor Hank Art.