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THE ACS GEORGIA Section pulled out all the stops last month in Atlanta while hosting a two-day festival commemorating the 75th awarding of the Charles Holmes Herty Medal. Events drew more than 600 participants and 12 prior medalists in addi-tion to this year’s winner—Craig L. Hill, a chemistry professor at Emory University. The medal, which is given annually by the section, honors outstanding research and service in the southeastern U.S. and is the section’s most important and oldest award. Georgia Institute of Technology chemis-try professor Rigoberto Hernandez and dozens of section members organized the festival’s multiple activities, which aimed to bring chemistry to the community—particularly to Atlanta-area high school and college students—under the theme “Chemistry for Life in the Southeast.”

Endlessly energetic, Hernandez emceed most of the activi-ties, which started the morning of Sept. 16 with a luncheon hosted by Atlanta-based Coca-Cola. The activities continued through a formal

award banquet that evening and finished late in the afternoon of Sept. 17 as chemis-try professors and students, teachers and enthusiasts, section members, and families and friends left the festivities happy but exhausted.

Since joining Emory’s faculty in 1983, Hill, who is Goodrich C. White Professor of Chemistry, has collaborated with scien-tists internationally on innovative green chemistry solutions. His recent work on processes needed to convert solar energy into hydrogen, which was the subject of his award address at the banquet, laid the groundwork for Emory’s Renewable En-ergy Center, which was established this fall.

The Herty Medal went to Hill for his con-tributions in catalytic oxidation, C–H func-tionalization, self-repairing and buffering catalysts, oxygen-transfer reactions, and multifunctional nanomaterials. Of particu-lar note to the award jury was his develop-ment of the most reactive known catalysts for removal of environmental pollutants, odors, and toxics from air; preparation of terminal noble-metal oxo compounds; and creation of the only stable and soluble catalysts for oxidation of water—crucial compounds for achieving green, sustain-able production of hydrogen fuel.

Following the lunch-eon at Coca-Cola, former medalists and 110 college students and chemistry faculty convened at Georgia Tech for an afternoon of chemistry talks and

posters illustrating chemistry’s contribu-tions to human health and energy. Gary B. Schuster, who is the 2006 Herty medalist and provost and vice president of academic affairs at Georgia Tech, welcomed attend-ees. Isiah Warner, 1992 medalist and vice chancellor at Louisiana State University; James Powers, 2000 medalist and chemis-try of professor at Georgia Tech; and 2001 medalist F. Ivy Carroll, Distinguished Fel-low in Medicinal Chemistry at RTI Interna-tional, each discussed their work applying chemistry to human health.

AFTER THE SPEAKERS answered ques-tions from the audience, attendees and medalists circulated through a research poster session involving graduate students from local universities and lined up for finger sandwiches and sweet iced tea, that ubiquitous southern staple, before recon-vening for the next session.

AWARDS

PRESENTATION Hernandez (left) and Hill at the podium for presentation of the 75th Herty Medal.

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RESEARCH Morehouse College hosted an undergraduate research poster session that featured talks by Hill and local professors along with prizes.

GEORGIA SECTION CELEBRATES 75TH

HERTY MEDALAwardee CRAIG HILL discusses catalyst for

hydrogen fuel at awards banquet LINDA R. RABER , C&EN WASHINGTON

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Chemistry’s contribu-tions to the environment and sustainability were the topic of the second afternoon session, which featured talks by Luis Echegoyen, 2007 medal-ist and director of the Chemistry Division at the National Science Foundation; Gregory H. Robinson, 2008 medalist and chemistry professor at the University of Georgia; Mary L. Good, 1975 medalist and the dean of engineering and information technology at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock; and Gordon L. Nelson, 1998 medalist and dean of the College of Science at Florida Institute of Technology.

The next day, programs for high school students were held simultaneously at Emory, Georgia Gwinnett College, Geor-gia State University, and Kennesaw State University. Medalists split up to make pre-sentations at these events, some of which featured student-run chemistry magic shows. Nearly 400 high school students from Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, and Gwinnett Counties, and Atlanta, Decatur, and Marietta city school districts went away with a better understanding of chem-istry’s role in their lives and a bag of gifts that included stickers, magnets, a periodic table, and other goodies.

The 4th Annual Herty Medal Under-graduate Research Symposium was held on the afternoon of Sept. 18 at Morehouse College. This event promotes undergradu-ate research in the Atlanta area, and this year it attracted more than 50 students,

19 of whom presented posters. Georgia Tech professor Hernandez and Morehouse profes-sor Brian Lawrence cochaired the event,

which began with invited talks by Emory professor Hill; Wendy Kelly, pro-fessor at Georgia Tech; Leyte Winfield, professor at Spelman College; and

Dabney Dixon, professor at Georgia State. A poster session for undergraduates fol-lowed. To sweeten the pot, presenters of the winning posters each received a $500 travel grant to attend a future ACS meet-ing, and several presenters won one-year ACS memberships.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, sometime in September 2034, the ACS Georgia Section will present the 100th Herty Medal. If the Georgia Section of the future wants to have a centennial event bigger than last month’s 75th, some very forward-thinking high schooler, perhaps one whose interest was captured by chem-istry demos and engaging lectures, should start figuring out how to do it—and start soon. It’s going to be tough to beat the semisesquicentennial. ■

NUCKOLLS SELECTED FOR BAEKELAND AWARD

THE ACS NORTH Jersey Section will present the 2009 Leo Hendrik Baekeland Award to Colin Nuckolls of Columbia University. The award is given in recogni-tion of accomplishments in pure or ap-plied chemistry by a U.S. chemist as characterized by the initiative, creativeness, leadership, and persever-ance of an individual under the age of 40. Nuckolls has made outstanding contribu-tions to both fundamental and applied research in nanoscience. Two of his most striking accomplishments are the use of molecular strain to promote the formation of important new materials and the use of a cutting, reconnecting technique applied to single-walled carbon nanotubes to gen-erate single-molecule electrical devices. According to the award jury, Nuckolls’ abil-

ity to imagine and synthesize significant organic structures and then create the understanding of their electrical properties distinguishes him from others in this inter-disciplinary field.

In the five years that he has been an inde-pendent investigator, Nuckolls has initiated a remarkable number of research programs. His innovative research is redefining molec-ular nanotechnology. An award symposium will be held in his honor at Rutgers Univer-sity, in Piscataway, N.J., on Nov. 13, at which time the Baekeland Medal will be presented. Online registration and more information can be found at www.njacs.org. Address further questions to Michael M. Miller, chair of the Baekeland Award Committee, at dmi-chael.miller@bms.com.

EXXONMOBIL SOLID-STATE FELLOWSHIP

AVAILABLE

NOMINATIONS ARE being sought for the ExxonMobil Solid-State Chemistry Faculty Fellowship, sponsored by the ExxonMobil Foundation and administered by the ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry’s Solid State & Materials Chemistry Subdivision. The award consists of an unrestricted grant of $10,000.

The fellowship is awarded to young sci-entists who have made substantial contri-butions to solid-state chemistry and have the potential to emerge as leaders in the field. The recipient of the fellowship must hold a tenure-track faculty position at a U.S. institution, must not yet have received tenure, and, preferably, is not currently in the final stage of tenure review.

Nominations must include a nomina-tion letter, a one-page summary of current

research interests, a brief curricu-lum vitae, a publication list, two additional supporting letters, and copies of no more than three recent publications. E-mail nomination packages and letters of support, in the order noted above, as a single PDF document to Stephanie Brock, Solid State & Materials Chemistry Subdivision chair, at exxonmobil@

acsdic.org. The deadline for nominations is Jan. 15, 2010.

AWARDS

LINDA WANG compiles this section. Announcements of awards may be sent to l_wang@acs.org.

SPECIAL EFFECTS Undergrads entertain with demonstrations.

‘THAT’S A FIRM HANDSHAKE’ So says a smiling high school student as she is greeted by 2008 medalist Robinson at an Emory University event.

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