Nov. 3 Convocation to Honor Nobel-Winning Chemist, Install Creegan Chair in Green Chemistry

CHESTERTOWN, MD—A Nobel-Prize winning chemist who was one of the first researchers to discover the threat that chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, pose to the earth’s ozone layer will speak at a special convocation at Washington College Thursday, November 3. Mario J. Molina will also receive an honorary doctor of science degree at the event, which culminates the College’s celebration of the International Year of Chemistry. The convocation is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. in Decker Theatre, inside the Gibson Center for the Arts on campus, 300 Washington Avenue. It also will include the installation of the first faculty member to hold the Frank J. Creegan Chair in Green Chemistry.

Mario Molina shared the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his role in discovering the detrimental effect of CFCs on the stratosphere, especially the formation of the Antarctic Ozone Hole. The research he conducted with colleagues in the mid-1970s led the United States to ban the use of CFCs in aerosol cans and prompted a global initiative called the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, an international treaty now signed by 196 countries that are legally obligated to phase out ozone depleting substances by agreed-upon dates. His Nov. 3 address is titled “Chemistry and Climate Change.”

After a successful career at the University of California, Irvine, The Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Cal-Tech, and MIT, Molina returned to his native Mexico City in 2004 to establish the Mario Molina Center for Strategic Studies in Energy and the Environment, which focuses on issues where public policy and environmental health intersect. In addition to serving as the Molina Center’s director, he holds joint appointments in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego and the Center for Atmospheric Sciences at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. He also serves on President Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

In a profile for the journal Nature last fall, writer Jeff Tollefson described Molina as an influential celebrity in his native country. “Cab drivers have heard of him. Political leaders seek his advice. Strangers often shake his hand in a mixture of congratulations and thanks,” Tollefson wrote. “Such is the fame of Mario Molina, the 67-year-old chemist who has become something of a national icon in his hometown of Mexico City.”

While at Washington College, Molina will join students from the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program at Kent County High School for a luncheon sponsored by LaMotte Company, the Chestertown-based manufacturer of tools and test kits for analyzing water, soil and air. The Director of the Education Division of the American Chemical Society will serve as emcee at the luncheon.

At the Convocation where Molina will speak, Washington College will officially invest associate professor of chemistry Anne E. Marteel-Parrish as the first holder of the Frank J. Creegan Chair in Green Chemistry. The second such chair to be established in the United States, it was endowed last spring with a $2 million gift from an anonymous donor in recognition of Professor Creegan’s 40-year service to the College and his longstanding development and oversight of the chemistry program.

Photos: Top, Mario Molina will receive an honorary degree and deliver a talk on Chemistry and Climate Change. Middle, Anne Marteel-Parrish will be installed as the first holder of the Frank J. Creegan Chair in Green Chemistry, established in honor of the man who taught at the College for 40 years, bottom.

Prominent Voices on Climate Change to Conclude WC’s “Year of Chemistry” Celebration

CHESTERTOWN, MD — A leading American journalist and a Nobel Laureate chemist from Mexico will come to Chestertown to speak this fall as Washington College concludes its special programming for the 2011 International Year of Chemistry.

On Thursday, October 27, veteran magazine writer Ryan Lizza, who covers the 2012 Presidential campaign and national politics as Washington Correspondent for The New Yorker, will share his insights into how and why Congress and the White House failed to reach agreement on breakthrough energy legislation designed to be both business- and consumer-friendly.

The free public lecture, “The Politics of Climate Change,” is based largely on a major feature article Lizza published in the October 2011 issue of The New Yorker. His talk will be held at 5 p.m. in The Prince Theatre of the Garfield Center for the Arts, 210 High Street, Chestertown, MD.

A week later, on Thursday, Nov. 3, the fifth and final event in the year-long celebration of chemists and chemistry will bring Mario J. Molina, Ph.D., one of the chemists who first discovered the threat that chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, pose to the earth’s ozone layer. Molina will receive an honorary degree of science from the College and deliver his remarks at a special convocation beginning at 5 p.m. in Decker Theatre, inside the Gibson Center for the Arts. The event is free and open to the public.

Molina and two colleagues shared the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work on the atmospheric chemistry of CFCs and their detrimental effect on the stratosphere, especially the formation of the Antarctic Ozone Hole. After a successful career at the University of California, Irvine and at MIT, Molina returned to his native Mexico City in 2004 to establish the Mario Molina Center for Strategic Studies in Energy and the Environment, which focuses on issues where public policy and environmental health intersect. He also serves on the faculty of the University of California, San Diego.

More information on both events will be available at www.washcoll.edu

Symposium Brings Top Chemists to WC to Focus on the Role of Metal Ions in Health

CHESTERTOWN—Washington College continues its celebration of the 2011 International Year of Chemistry Tuesday, April 5 with a symposium on the effects of metal ions on human health. Titled “Why Copper and Iron? Metal Ions We Need for Good Health,” the panel features presentations by a trio of award-winning chemists: Valeria C. Culotta, Caryn E. Outten, and Rosette Roat-Malone. The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place at 5 p.m. in Decker Theatre, the Daniel Z. Gibson Center for the Arts, on the College campus, 300 Washington Avenue.

Culotta, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology in the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, studies the role of metal ions and oxygen radicals in biology and disease. Metal ions such as copper, iron and manganese are not only trace nutrients but can be quite toxic. One mechanism of toxicity is the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which have been implicated not only in aging but also in numerous human disorders from neurodegeneration to cancer. Culotta has shown that cells in higher organisms have evolved with “metal-trafficking pathways” that guide each metal to its proper destination in the cell. She also has discovered numerous genes and proteins for metal trafficking.

Outten, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of South Carolina, works in the complementary fields of biochemistry and bioinorganic chemistry with a focus on the role of iron in biological systems. She worked with Culotta at Johns Hopkins as a post-doctoral fellow (2001-2005) and began her career at USC with a Transition to Independent Position (TIP) Award from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. TIP awards recognize talented new investigators who have demonstrated an ability to improve the scientific community’s understanding of the problems and mechanisms associated with exposure to environmental agents. In 2010, she received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECAS), the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers.

Roat-Malone, adjunct professor of chemistry at Washington College, has written two editions of the textbook Bioinorganic Chemistry: A Short Course ( 2^nd edition, John Wiley & Sons, 2007). The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Petroleum Research Fund (PRF) of the American Chemical Society have supported her research in the development and testing of platinum coordination compounds as anticancer agents. She serves as a reviewer for NSF research grant applications and for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship program. Through an NSF-funded Visiting Professorship for Women Award, she taught at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond and completed research at Leiden University, the Netherlands. She will serve as moderator for the symposium and provide a “Primer on Metal Ions.”

The April 5 symposium is sponsored by the William James Forum and the Washington College Chapter of Sigma Xi. Following the presentations, the Washington College Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, Theta of Maryland will host a reception in the Underwood Lobby.

The William James Forum was founded in 1963 by the late Washington College professor of philosophy and religion Peter F. Tapke to honor the multitalented nineteenth century philosopher William James, who was also an artist, explorer, medical doctor, psychologist, and theologian. The Forum considers issues from any field of inquiry that have practical relevance to life and decision-making.

Sigma Xi, the international honor society of science and engineering, was founded in 1886 at Cornell University to reward excellence in scientific research and to encourage a sense of companionship and cooperation among scientists in all fields. Sigma Xi has nearly 60,000 members in more than 500 chapters worldwide. The Washington College Chapter was founded in 2001.

DuPont Executive’s Talk on Innovation Launches WC’s Celebration of Chemistry

CHESTERTOWN—A senior executive at chemical giant DuPont will deliver the J. C. Jones Seminar in American Business on Friday, February 18 as Washington College opens its year-long celebration of the 2011 International Year of Chemistry. Thomas M. Connelly, Jr., Ph.D., Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer of E. I. duPont de Nemours and Company, will lecture on “Hard Facts and Soft Skills for the Innovator of Tomorrow,” beginning at 5 p.m. in the Decker Theatre of Daniel Z. Gibson Center for the Arts on the College campus, 300 Washington Avenue.

Dr. Connelly graduated with highest honors from Princeton University with degrees in chemical engineering and economics. As a Winston Churchill Scholar, he received his doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Cambridge.

At DuPont, Connelly has responsibility for Applied BioSciences, Nutrition & Health, Performance Polymers, Packaging & Industrial Polymers businesses, and Science & Technology. He also oversees the company’s business in geographic regions outside the United States and serves in advisory roles to the U.S. Government and the Republic of Singapore.

The International Year of Chemistry (IYC-2011) was proclaimed by the United Nations to increase public appreciation of chemistry and chemical engineering in meeting the world’s needs; to encourage interest in chemistry and chemical engineering among young people; to generate enthusiasm for the creative future of chemistry and chemical engineering; and to celebrate the achievements of Marie Curie and the contributions of women to chemistry and chemical engineering. Washington College IYC-2011 events will focus on the interactions, integration, and involvement of chemistry with business, medicine, energy needs, and the environment. It will conclude with a special ceremony on November 3, 2011 at which 1995 Chemistry Nobel Prize winner Mario Molina will receive an honorary doctor of science degree and deliver an address on “The Science and Policy of Climate Change.”

The J. C. Jones Seminar in American Business was established in honor of the late James C. Jones, Jr., a Baltimore businessman and 1947 graduate of Washington College who remained active in alumni affairs and served on the Board of Visitors and Governors of the College.

Admission to the February 18 Jones Seminar, cosponsored by the Departments of Business Management and Chemistry and SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) is free and open to the public. A reception will follow in the Underwood Gallery.