Jay Agarwal (B.S., Li, 2010) completed a Ph.D. degree under the supervision of Dr. Henry Schaefer and has visited the dept. twice to give excellent research seminars. Karelle Aiken (Ph.D., Zercher 2005) has been named as a 2016 ACS Women Chemists Committee Rising Star award winner. Karelle will be given the award at the 2016 Spring ACS meeting in San Diego. Aida Ajaz (M.S., Johnson, 2011) is a synthetic chemist at PCI Synthesis. Andreas (Drew) Athans (B.S. 2001; Ph.D. 2006, Miller) was a Postdoctoral Fellow with Luis Echegoyen at Clemson University and then worked at Nano-C, Inc. and Xtalic Corporation. He is now a Senior Scientist at TE Connectivity. Alexis Attwood (Ph.D., Greenslade, 2012) worked as a postdoctoral associate at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science at University of Colorado, Boulder and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, CO. David Bourgeois (M.S., Amato-Wierda, 1998) is an Account Executive at Amazon Web Services. Matt Buchanan (B.S., Zercher, 2007) has been working with Johnson Matthey Pharma Services as a senior chemist. Richard Burrell (B.S., Johnson, 1995) heads a group at Bristol-Myers Squibb which is responsible for the synthesis of labeled compounds. Kate Cahill (Ph.D., Johnson, 2013) worked as a postdoctoral scholar with Chris Hadad at Ohio State. Robert Caret (Ph.D., Andersen, 1974) is President of the University of Massachusetts. Regina Cebula (M.S., Zercher, 2000) and her husband are raising twins. Julia Chan (M.S., Miller, 2011; Ph.D. Bauer, 2014) is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of Tampa. Ryan Chartier (M.S., Greenslade, 2010) works at RTI International in NC. Kaleen Konrad Childers (M.S., Johnson, 2006) continues at Merck Research Laboratories in Cambridge. Kaleen and her husband Matt Childers (M.S., Planalp, 2007) have a son. Hee Yeon Cho (B.S., Johnson, 2007) completed her Ph.D. at Boston College and a postdoctoral at UCBerkeley and is now an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Loyola of Chicago. Dan Comins (Ph.D., Lyle, 1977) is serving as President of the International Society of Heterocyclic Chemistry. Katrina Woodin Copeland (B.S., Weisman-Wong, 2004) completed graduate studies at MIT and began working at Amgen where she is a Senior Associate. Brian Coppola (B.S., Lyle and Weisman, 1978), the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Chemistry at the University of Michigan, was named as the 2012 recipient of the Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching. Brian is also a leading member of the UNH Chemistry Advisory Board. Kellie (Cordeiro) Faulkner (B.A., Miller, 2002) is now a Quality Assurance Manager with Nye Lubricants. Adam Csakai (B.S., Zercher, 2006) joined a Ph.D. program at Colorado University. Kim Daoust (M.S., Johnson, 1996) continues at Pfizer in Groton, CT. Julie Demeritt (MS, Miller, 2000) worked at AstraZeneca Boston and then AstraZeneca England. In 2014, she finished the Bar Professional Training Course at Manchester Metropolitan University and is now a Policy Analyst for the General Council of the Bar of England and Wales. Kevin Dubois (M.S., Li, 2013) is employed with Instrumentation Laboratory in Bedford MA. Kaitlyn Dugan (BS, Weisman, 2011) graduated medical school at New York University in May, 2015. Joe Dunn (MS, Miller, 2010) was a Sports Marketing and National Race Coordinator for Technica Group. He is now a U16 Ski Coach for the Park City Ski Team in Utah. Michelle Garnsey (B.S., Miller, 2007) finished her Ph.D. at Duke in 2012 and then a Postdoctoral Fellowship at UC Irvine and is now a senior scientist at Pfizer in Groton, CN. Davis Gerstenhaber (B.S., Zercher, 1997) completed his Ph.D. at the University of Delaware and returned to Hercules (now called Ashland). Moran Hanna (B.S., Zercher, 1993) is enjoying his career as a high school chemistry teacher in Berlin, CT. He He (M.S., Li, 2013) went back to China to join her family and continue graduate studies at Wuhan University. Ramona Hilgenkamp (M.S., Zercher, 2002) has retired from her work at Roche. Alex Jacobine (Ph.D., Zercher, 2010) completed postdoctoral studies with Gary Posner at Johns Hopkins and moved to Merck West Point for an industrial postdoctoral position. Jeremy Kintigh (Ph.D., Miller, 2011) completed a Postdoctoral at Griffith University in Australia. Ryan Kopreski (Ph.D., Miller, 2010) was a Postdoctoral Fellow at George Washington University before working at Cytec in Stamford, CN. He is now a college prep teacher at the Rye Country Day School in Rye, NY. Chistopher LeClair (B.S., Miller, 1997) completed a PhD at Un. Virginia in 2006 and is a Research Scientist at National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences in Wash. DC. Susanne Lewis (Ph.D., Johnson, 2005) continues as Associate Professor of Chemistry at Olivet College. Bill Li (M.S., Johnson, 2005) works for GlaxoSmithKline in King of Prussia, PA. It is with sadness that we learned of the passing of Mike Mangano (MS., 1983), who died unexpectedly in April 2012. Mike was employed as a research chemist and project manager at Pfizer for over 29 years. Mike and his family lived in

Westerly, RI. Matt Marcinkowski (B.S., Li, 2011) is conducting Ph.D. research at Tufts University. Stephen Mathieu (M.S., Miller, 1998) is a Senior Researcher in the Integrated Chemistry Group at Eisai Pharmaceuticals. Rob McGinness (B.S., Zercher, 2006) is a clinical pharmacist in a Boston hospital. Erin McLaughlin (M.S., Johnson, 2012) is at Braintree Laboratories. Hillary Miller (B.S., Johnson, 2013) is teaching English in Spain. Margo N. Montgomery-Richardson (MS, Wong, 2004; Research Assoc., Miller, 2005) received her PhD at the University of Miss. and is now an Assistant Professor at Alcorn State University. Peter Moran (M.S., Zercher, 2013) is employed with Oasys Water. Jerry Mullin (Ph.D., Seitz, 1983) held the Ludcke Chair of Arts and Sciences at the University of New England. Mark Norman (B.S., Morrison, 1982) was named Scientific Executive Director in the Chemistry R&D organization at Amgen Thousand Oaks. Antoinette Odendaal (Ph.D., Weisman-Wong, 2009) completed postdoctoral work at Indiana University and then took a position as Research Associate at AIBMR Life Sciences. Shannon Poges (B.S., Miller, 2013) is a graduate student at UCONN. Qinglin Pu (M.S., Zercher, 2007) moved to Merck Boston. Angela Puchlopek-Dermenci (B.S., Zercher, 2005) finished her postdoctoral at CalTech and is now working in research and development at Pfizer in CN. Jim Rainbolt (Ph.D., Miller, 2007) is a research scientist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Matt Ronsheim (Ph.D., Zercher, 2002) is currently Director of Chemical Development at Forest Laboratories. Jud Richard (B.S., Zercher, 1993) works at Merck Boston. Christina Risatti (B.S., Zercher, 2000) works at BMS Process. Ziad Shakhsher (Ph.D., Seitz, 1989) is an associate professor at Al-Quds University in East Jerusalem. Carley Spencer (Ph.D., Zercher, 2013) teaches organic chemistry at Emmanuel College in Boston. Nathan Stein (B.S., Miller, 2010) is now an Account Manager at Sigma-Aldrich. Dannon Stigers (Ph.D., Weisman-Wong, 2008) did postdoctoral work with Chris Easton at Australian National University and is now a Project Leader at Cytec Industries, Inc. in Stamford, CN. Rajesh Thamatam (Ph.D., Johnson, 2013) is employed with PCI Synthesis. Orjana Terova (M.S., Weisman-Wong, 2008) is now a Product Manager at Thermo-Fisher Scientific. Alicia Voukides (M.S., Johnson, 2009) finished dental school at UCONN and her residency at Hartford Hospital. Bethany Walls (B.A., Miller, 2006) received a M.S. in Chemistry at Clemson and is currently a Regulatory Affairs Specialist for EMD Millipore, a subsidiary of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. Brittany White (B.S., Johnson, 2013) is in graduate school at BU. Peter Widger (BS, ’06, Weisman; PhD ’11, Cornell) is a Polymer Chemist with E Ink Corporation in Billerica, MA. Chris Verbicky (Ph.D., Zercher, 1999) is Director of Business Development and Marketing for Coldstream Laboratories. Min Yang (Ph.D., Seitz, 2000) is a patent attorney. We are saddened to report that Xiaoke Yang (Ph.D., Noda, 1994) passed away in 2011.

Alumni: Please send your news & updates to glen.miller@unh.edu. We’d love to hear from you.

Karri Olefirowicz (B.S., Seitz, 1984) and Ed Olefirowicz (B.S., Weisman, 1983) are life-long supporters of UNH Chemistry. After graduating from UNH with B.S. degrees, they moved to NC where Ed received his Ph.D. (UNC Chapel Hill, 1987). In 1997, they moved to CA to work at Amgen (Karri: Research & Project Associate positions; Ed: Patent Information Specialist and

Senior Manager) before returning to NC in 2008 where they have resided since. In 2015, Karri & Ed were among the first donors to the Gary R. Weisman Scholarship fund in recognition of Gary’s many years of wonderful service to the University.

Tax deductible gifts to the UNH Chemistry Department can be made on-line

at http://ceps.unh.edu/chemistry or through the mail. Checks made out to

“UNH Chemistry Gifts” can be sent to Ms. Cindi Rohwer, Manager,

Department of Chemistry, University of New Hampshire, 23 Academic Way,

Durham, NH 03824. Each gift is acknowledged with a letter of appreciation.

http://ceps.unh.edu/chemistry

Assistant Professor Leila Deravi and her group are developing methods to identify the components of pigment granules in cuddlefish that are capable of rapid and adaptive changes in coloration by varying the local distribution of dermal pigments and proteins that reflect, absorb, and transmit light. Their work was featured in the August 31, 2015 edition of C&E News.

UNH Chemistry Highlight …

Please bookmark our new Department of Chemistry web address, effective 11/01/15: http://ceps.unh.edu/chemistry

On July 1, 2015, I began my service as Chair of our storied Department. The

Chemistry Department was a special place when you were here, and it still

is. I see excitement and enthusiasm in our hallways, in our classrooms and

in our laboratories every day. We have a highly talented and dedicated

group of faculty, staff and students that continue to make UNH Chemistry a

truly wonderful place. Our unwavering commitments to undergraduate and

graduate education, our cutting-edge research programs and our ardent

service to community, state, region and country have never been more

impressive or more central to the University’s mission. I am proud of our

Department and all of its people, past and present. Please know that this

remains your department as much as mine. I invite you to continue to

connect yourself to UNH Chemistry. Call or e-mail and tell us how you’re

doing. Even better, plan a visit and walk the storied hallways of Parsons Hall

once again! I look forward to seeing you.

Glen Miller, Chair

(603) 862-2456; glen.miller@unh.edu

The Chemistry Department is pleased to announce the hire of four

exceptional young faculty. In 2014, Dr. Leila Deravi joined the Chemistry

Department as an Assistant Professor of Analytical Chemistry. In 2015,

Drs. Christine Caputo and Marc Boudreau joined the Chemistry

Department as Assistant Professors of Inorganic and Organic Chemistry,

respectively, and Dr. John Tsavalas joined the Chemistry Department as an

Associate Professor of Materials Chemistry.

Left to right: Professors Deravi, Caputo, Boudreau and Tsavalas

After 38 years of stellar

service, Professor Gary Weisman retired from the

faculty in May, 2015, the same day that his wife Donna

retired from her nursing position. Gary has been a force

in the department for many years: a renowned expert in

areas like polyamines, supramolecular chemistry,

stereochemistry, conformational analysis and the use

of NMR in solving structural and conformational

problems, to name a few. Gary is also a great, great

teacher! He is a two-time winner of the CEPS

Excellence in Teaching Award. The Department wishes Gary and Donna

many years of a happy, healthy retirement. We are, however, in a bit of a

quandary as we wonder who will ask the 1st question at every seminar (and

lunch talk) and who will teach Gary’s advanced NMR course (a.k.a. “NMR

Bootcamp”)!? Congratulations Gary and Donna!!

The 2014-2015 academic year was a special one for the

Chemistry Department as four of its excellent faculty, Drs. Margaret (Meg) Greenslade

(physical chemistry), Sam Pazicni (chemical education and inorganic chemistry),

Gonghu Li (physical chemistry) and Erik Berda (organic/polymer chemistry), were all

promoted to Associate Professor with tenure. We are fortunate to have such strong,

young faculty who will move the Department’s and the University’s mission forward for

many years to come. Congratulations Meg, Sam, Gonghu and Erik! We are excited to

watch your continued success.

is

complete and was celebrated with a daylong symposium in 2013 that was attended by 200 alumni & friends. Activities

included reminiscences by Mark Turnbull [Professor of Chemistry at Clark University], Mary Kirchhoff [Director, Education

Division of the American Chemical Society], James Mack [Associate Professor and Assistant Head of Chemistry at the

University of Cincinnati], Tim Pifer [Laboratory Director, New Hampshire State Police Forensic Laboratory], and Simon North

[Professor and Associate Head of Chemistry, Texas A&M University], who related stories of Parsons Hall and the training they

received while students here. The history of the Parsons Hall renovation project was related by then Chairman [now

Associate Dean of CEPS] Chuck Zercher. Professor Emeritus Tiny Grant wrapped up the program with a historical

perspective on the role that Parsons Hall played in the development and growth of the Chemistry Department. The newly

renovated building is spectacular. The exterior of the building is largely unchanged, but the interior was completely gutted

and rebuilt. Visitors may not recognize the same Parsons Hall that they once attended. Come see it for yourselves. Please

plan a visit soon!

As UNH enrollments have grown in recent years, the number of chemistry majors and the demand for

chemistry courses for non-majors has increased at an even greater rate. In 2015, the Department of Chemistry serves as an instructional home

for >1500 UNH undergraduate students including ~85 undergraduate chemistry majors and ~50 chemistry graduate students. The centrality of

the Chemistry Department in advancing the University’s mission has never been more evident.

Professor Richard Johnson is currently serving a 2nd year as Program Director in both the

Chemical Synthesis Program and also the Chemical Structure, Dynamics and Mechanism Program of the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Arlington, VA, all while continuing to run his research group at UNH. We miss Richard’s wisdom and humor and look forward to welcoming him back to UNH in the Fall of 2016.

In July 2015, Professor Arthur Greenberg completed 18 months as interim-Chair for

the Department of Chemistry, an 18 month period was one of the most productive in the history of the Department. Art

gracefully shepherded the Department through 4 successful promotion & tenure

cases in one year (a record). He also conceived, planned and skillfully executed

a highly productive External Review/Audit in which the Department’s strengths,

weaknesses and opportunities were identified. Thank you Art!

In 2015, our youngest faculty

launched a fundraising effort specifically designed to support Chemistry graduate students. Professors Greenslade,

Deravi, Berda, Li and Pazicni sought to improve the recruitment and retention of graduate students by donating to one

of two existing endowed funds aimed at increasing merit-based stipends for graduate students: The Clarence L. and

Helen M. Garland Grant Fellowship Fund and The Mary Zoukis Papastavros ’60 Chemistry Fund. To support our

graduate students through these or other tax deductible funds, visit our giving page at http://ceps.unh.edu/chemistry .

Emeritus Professors Clarence L.

"Tiny" Grant and Jim Weber both passed in 2013. Tiny taught for 36

years at UNH and served as Chair from 1976-1979. He was a valued

consultant for industry and the US Army Corps of engineers, and a great

friend to the department even after retirement. Jim taught at UNH for 35

years. His research developed methods for distinguishing bound and free metals in the presence of humic matter, a

product of both animal and vegetable biodegradation. Jim had over 100 publications and regularly gave invited talks in

the US and abroad. Beloved research scientist and NMR expert Kathy Gallagher passed in 2015. Kathy was as much a

fixture in the Chemistry Department as the walls themselves. She trained hundreds of graduate students in the use of

NMR spectroscopy utilizing a uniquely Kathy combination of skill, intimidation, humor and love. Tiny, Jim and Kathy are

all fondly remembered and sorely missed.

Left to Right: Professors Greenslade, Pazicni, Li and Berda

Profs. Johnson and Greenberg

Clockwise from top left: Profs. Berda,

Deravi, Li, Greenslade and Pazicni

Tiny Grant, Jim Weber and Kathy Gallagher