CINTACS Newsletter of the Cincinnati Section of the  American Chemical Society  Vol. 39, No. 1 - September 2001

CINTACS is published nine times a year (September through May) by the Cincinnati Section of the American Chemical Society. All changes of address should be sent to Emel Yakali at Raymond Walters College, 9555 Plainfield Road, Cincinnati, OH 45236, phone 745-5686, FAX 745-5767, or email mc.acs@uc.edu.

SUBMISSION DEADLINES

The submission deadline will be approximately October 13, for the December 2001 issue.  Electronic submission is strongly preferred, except for original photos. All materials should be sent to:

Dr. Bruce Ault
Department of Chemistry
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH 45221
Phone: 513-556-9238
FAX: 513-556-9239
E-mail: bruce.ault@uc.edu

Wow! Time flies when you’re having fun, or when you’re up to your alligators in elbows getting things arranged for a new year.

Fortunately, the first three meetings of the year have been planned -

October is the Oesper Award Banquet and Symposium - thanks to University of Cincinnati and, particularly, to Kim Carey who has been taking care of all the arrangements.  Congratulations to Harry B. Gray, California Institute of Technology upon receiving the award.  Note that there is a poster session prior to the dinner.  Let’s publicize this in your department/industry.  And, be sure to come out of Friday, October 5, to help with the celebration!

On November 1 (Thursday) we have the honor of hearing the ACS President Elect, Eli Pearce, explain his vision of the Society and what programs he plans to implement and emphasize.  As Ted Logan has said elsewhere in this issue, Dr Pearce has agreed to answer questions from our membership on any facet of interest, and will organize his presentation to include the subjects of interest.  Please send your questions to Ted Logan, email:tjlogancin@aol.com, phone 513-385-8856, or see Ted at the Oesper banquet.  Deadline is Oct. 5.

In December, we have a delightful respite from the usual chemistry fare - with a motivational speech by Margaret Ringenberg.  Who is Margaret Ringenberg, you may ask?  She is one of the first female commercial airplane pilots, who, amongst other things, ferried airplanes for the War Department during the second world war, and who has been a champion of women’s causes since the 1930’s.  She has held a commercial pilot’s license since the 30’s, and has been an active pilot since then.  One of her latest feats has been as lead pilot of a team who raced from London, England, to Sydney, Australia, in March and April, 2001.  Why do we “break” from the usual chemistry fare?  Well, it’s my personal belief that we men monopolize the program to an overwhelming degree, that a pioneer in the field of women’s advancement will provide worthwhile thoughts to women and men alike.  We can attract a wider (and perhaps different) audience if we have such a speaker and topic once during our year’s activities.  Thanks to Ted Logan for arranging the November and December speakers.

I’ve ideas for the other meetings - see the sidebar meeting schedule for topics.  If you have a topic of interest, we might be able to fit it in, so please contact me.

As I write this, I’m in the process of confirming the committee chair positions.  If you are a chair from last year, and I haven’t called you, please call me or send an e-mail.  If you’re new to the section, or would like to contribute to the leadership of the section, I’m always looking for additional help to fill vacancies in committee leadership and helpers.

Hank Greeb
Chair
Phone 513-385-8363
FAX 513-385-8888
e-mail: <hgreeb@one.net>

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Honoring Harry B. Gray
Director, Beckman Institute
Arnold O. Beckman Professor of Chemistry
Division of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering
California Institute of Technology

5:30-7:30 p.m.        Local Cincinnati ACS Poster Session/Cocktail Hour
                              (You do not have to attend the banquet to participate in the poster session)

7:30 p.m.                Oesper Banquet & Award Presentation
                              (dinner includes your choice of stuffed chicken or grilled salmon fillet; salad;
                              chef’s choice of accompaniments; dessert and one hosted drink)
                             Reservations required.  Cost $30; Students $15

                              Presentation of the 2001 Oesper Award to Professor Harry B. Gray

                             Professor Dan Nocera, Massachusetts Inst. of Technology
                              “HBG: A glow in the gray mist of chemistry ”

Dinner Reservations: Call Kim Carey at (513) 556-0293 or e-mail kim.carey@uc.edu. Include your name (complete with correct spelling), phone number and affiliation. Please specify if this is your first Cincinnati ACS meeting when making your reservation. All reservations must be received by noon, Monday, October 1.   As a reminder, if you decide you must miss a meeting after you have made reservations, please call to cancel. If you do not cancel, the Section will have to charge you because it will have been charged by the Kingsgate Conference Center. Payment will be received at the door.  Guests are always welcome; emeritus, unemployed, new, and student members are half price.

 The Kingsgate Conference Center is located between the West Campus and the Medical Center of the University of Cincinnati at 151 Goodman Drive.

From the North (I-75)
Follow I-75 South to Hopple St. exit. Take exit ramp to the top of the overpass.  Turn left at the light onto Hopple St. You will now be traveling east.  Cross over I-75, follow road up hill.  Street changes to Martin Luther King Dr. Turn left on Jefferson Ave. Turn right on Goodman Dr.  The Kingsgate Conference Center will be on the right.

From the North (I-71)
Follow I-71 South to William Howard Taft Rd. exit. Turn right on Jefferson Ave. Turn right on Goodman Dr. The Kingsgate Conference Center will be on the right.

From the South (I-75)  (from Greater Cincinnati Airport)
Travel north on I-75 to Hopple St. exit.  Note: Exit will be on your left. Take left exit ramp to light. Turn left at the light onto Hopple St. You will now be traveling east. Cross over I-75, follow road up hill. Street changes to Martin Luther King Dr. Turn left on Jefferson Ave. Turn right on Goodman Dr. Kingsgate Conference Center will be on the right.

Dan Nocera is a Professor of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  He is a physical-inorganic chemist with research interests spanning the disciplines of chemistry, engineering and biochemistry.  He began his research career in 1979, investigating electron transfer reactions of biological and inorganic systems with Professor Harry Gray at the California Institute of Technology.  After earning his Ph.D. degree in 1984, he moved to East Lansing, Michigan to take up a faculty appointment at Michigan State University.  In 1997, he joined the faculty of M.I.T.  He studies the basic mechanisms of energy conversion in biology and chemistry.  His research interests include the discovery of new excited state redox mechanisms of transition metal complexes, magnetic and optical properties of layered materials, the role of protons in mediating electron transfer, and the design of optical transduction schemes for environmental sensing applications.  Recently, he developed a new method to measure vorticity in highly three-dimensional turbulent flows.  The optical diagnostic technique has found application in solving a variety of fluid physics and engineering problems.

About the Awardee

Harry B. Gray is Arnold O. Beckman Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Beckman Institute at the California Institute of Technology. Gray began his work in inorganic chemistry at Northwestern University, where he earned a Ph.D. in 1960. After a postdoctoral year at the University of Copenhagen, he joined the chemistry faculty at Columbia University, where his main interests centered on the electronic structures and reactions of inorganic complexes. Starting in 1966, he built a group in bioinorganic chemistry at Caltech, where much of his career has been aimed at understanding electron transfer in proteins. For his contributions to chemistry, which include over 600 papers and 17 books, he has received the National Medal of Science from President Ronald Reagan (1986); the Pauling Medal (1986); the Linderstrom-Lang Prize (Copenhagen, 1991); the Gibbs Medal (1994); the Chandler Medal (1999); the Harvey Prize (Haifa, 2000); six national awards from the American Chemical Society, including the Priestley Medal (1991); and twelve honorary doctorates. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences; the American Philosophical Society; a foreign member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters; the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences; the Royal Society of Great Britain; and an honorary member of the Italian Chemical Society. He was California Scientist of the Year in 1988. During 1997-98, he was the George Eastman Professor at the University of Oxford.

Call for Posters!

The annual poster session for the Cincinnati Section of the American Chemical Society will take place prior to the Oesper Award Banquet on Friday, Oct. 5, 2001 (see page 3 for meeting details).  All members of the section are welcome to present posters at this session (within space limitations).  Members interested in presenting a poster should submit the title to Jeanette Krause-Bauer, at xtalgypsy@yahoo.com or 556-9226 no later than Monday, October 1, for inclusion in the program.  Please visit the Oesper Banquet website at:  http://www.che.uc.edu/grad_program/oesper_banquet.htm  for additional details and abstract specifications.  Questions should also be directed to Jeanette.  Please note:  you do not need to attend the banquet in order to present a poster.

9:00 - 9:10 a.m.
R. Marshall Wilson, UC, Dept. of Chemistry
Welcome and Introductory Remarks

9:10 - 9:55 a.m.
Edward Stiefel, Princeton University
“Following the Electrons in Transition Metal Sulfur Chemistry”

11:00 - 11:45 a.m.
Michael Hopkins, University of Chicago
“Extending the Functionality of Conjugated Polymers:  New Materials based on Transition-
Metal Building Blocks”

2:00 - 2:45 p.m.
Jay Winkler, California Institute of Technology
 “Proteins Fold and We Don’t Know How”

4:00 p.m.
Harry B. Gray, California Institute of Technology

OESPER AWARD LECTURE
“The Currents of Life: Electron Flow through Biological Molecules”

Kim Carey
Dept. of Chemistry
University of Cincinnati
P.O. Box 210172
Cincinnati, OH  45221-0172
(Phone) 513-556-0293; (FAX) 513-556-9239
Kim.Carey@uc.edu

Or visit our website at :
http://www.che.uc.edu

The Younger Chemists Committee would like to take this moment to welcome back all of its members to yet another exciting year within the Cincinnati ACS.  We hope that you all had a great summer!!  We would also like to give a warm welcome to our new chair, Hank Greeb.

 Looking back over the past year, we accomplished a lot both locally and nationally.  Not only did we win last year a ChemLuminary Award, but we have been nominated again this year for another.  We have seen our members get elected to positions within the local section, made progress towards recruiting new liaisons within local companies, and managed to work with both the educators group and with local high school and middle school science teachers.

 For the upcoming academic year, we will again try to work closely with UC to encourage more graduate students to attend meetings.  We also look forward to strengthening the relationships that we have built with our local teachers.  Recently there has been much talk in the media about the “quarter-life crisis.”  We strive to provide meetings and activities that are geared toward chemists that are early in their careers, when questions abound regarding tenure, job security, long-term goals, and developing a scientific network.  The YCC encourages all local section members to attend our events and share their perspectives.  Just remember, young is a frame of mind!  For more information on the YCC, contact Ron Horwitz at:

351-1300x5877,  or
rhorwitz@imperialadhesives.com

The chemical educators’ discussion group has an exciting series of meeting planned for the 2001-02 school year. Mark your calendars to attend these events:

TOPIC:     Building a Website and Using the Internet in the Chemistry Classroom
                 Tuesday, October 9 at Cincinnati Country Day School
                 Hosted by Paula Williams Butler

Paula will be joined by Mike Geyer from Deer Park High School to present several technology activities including downloading 3-D molecular models that rotate, creating a web page, and exploring useful web sites. Each participant will receive a hyperlinked handout on disc or CD to take home as well as a one-month subscription to The Chemistry Place. Paula will try to provide laptops to all participants, but bring your own if possible. Our meetings begin at 6:30 PM with light refreshments, announcements, and social time. The program begins at 7 and ends by 8:30 PM. Paula will also conduct tours of her school’s new lab facilities for all interested teachers.

DIRECTIONS: CCD is located at 6905 Given Road in Indian Hill. If you are coming from the north or west, take I275 to south I71 and exit at Montgomery Road. Turn left and at the second traffic light (Sunoco Station and Red Lobster), turn right onto Galbraith Road. Stay on Galbraith as it crosses Miami Avenue and changes its name to Kugler Mill. Continue on Kugler Mill as it crosses RR tracks and winds through the countryside. Turn right on Given Rd. and continue ½ mile to the school. There is a long blue sign on the right side of the main driveway. Turn and locate visitor parking on your left. Walk up the winding concrete stairs into the building and signs will direct you to the chemistry room. If you are coming from the south, take I71 north and exit at Montgomery Rd. Turn right onto Montgomery and follow the direction above to the school. Contact Paula at (513)561-7298 ext. 8257 with any questions.

TOPIC:         Issues in Nuclear Chemistry
                      Wednesday, January 30 at St. Ursula Academy
                      Hosted and presented by Joy Henderson
                      Joy will share a web-based teaching unit that she developed for her classes.

TOPIC:         The History of Chemistry Apparatus and a Tour of the Rare Science Book  Collection
                      Wednesday, March 6 at the University of Cincinnati
                      Presented by Dr. William Jensen
                      Bill promises a fascinating, humorous, and anecdotal tour of the rare book
                      collection and the museum of chemical apparatus. Dr. Jensen’s turn-of-the-
                      century classroom and museum will capture your hearts and imaginations.

 Let me end with two requests. (1) If you know of a chemistry teacher who is not receiving CINTACS or the e-mail announcements concerning the discussion group’s activities, please have them send a request e-mail to Linda Ford (linda.ford@7hills.org). Linda coordinates the group’s activities. (2) The discussion group would like to sponsor a demo derby in early December. Please let Linda know if you could host the derby at your school. During last year’s derby 16 teachers shared 22 demos in 90 minutes. Pretty neat!

The American Chemical Society Committee on Chemical Safety has a new look, new content, and a new URL!
Check it out at:  http://chemistry.org/committees/ccs.

On Nov. 1, 2001, we will be honored to have as our section guest and lecturer, Dr. Eli Pearce, 2002 President of the American Chemical Society.  It is rare occasion to have an ACS president visiting a local section and this presents a wonderful opportunity to have your questions answered about ACS activities, directions, policies, and programs, directly from the head person in the ACS.

If you will send your concerns, issues, and questions to me before October 5th, I will forward them to Dr. Pearce who will incorporate them in his presentation.  In addition, attendees will have the opportunity to get answers and information in a Q/A session following the lecture.

Please send your input to me on or before October 5th.

Ted J. Logan, Councilor
e-mail: TJLOGANCIN@AOL.COM
phone/fax: 513-385-8856

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2001-02 Officers

Formatted and uploaded September 20, 2001, by acs@www.che.uc.edu