ndsu forensic dna facility awarded international … forensic dna facility awarded international iso...

Department of Chemistry& Molecular Biology

North Dakota State University Biochemistry - IACC Building (3rd fl oor)

Volume 5 Number 1

Chemistry - Ladd Hall

Summer 2009

NDSU Forensic DNA Facility Awarded International ISO 17025 Accreditation

By Berch Henry

The North Dakota State Uni-versity Forensic DNA Facility (NDSU FDF) was awarded International ISO 17025 Ac-creditation from the Forensic Quality Services-Interna-tional Division of Forensic Quality Services (FQS) Inc.

on September 24, 2008. FQS is one of two agencies in the country that is authorized to provide ISO accreditation to crime laboratories but, at present, it is the only one that can award international ISO accreditation status. In addi-tion to satisfying the international ISO 17025 standards, the NDSU FDF was also certifi ed to have completed all of the requirements outlined in the “Quality Assurance Audit for Forensic DNA and Convicted Offender DNA Databas-ing Laboratories” issued by the Federal Bureau of Investi-gation (FBI).

The path to accreditation covered a period of twenty-six (26) months dating from the establishment of the labo-ratory in July of 2006 to the present which, due to the comprehensive nature of the process, is a very short time as these things go. This combined ISO 17025/FBI ac-creditation encompasses all aspects of forensic laboratory operations under an overall Quality Management system. This includes areas such as personnel training, evidence

handling procedures, security, case reporting guidelines, general quality control, and extensive validation of all laboratory instruments, procedures and techniques used for analysis. As a result of the successful completion of this process, the NDSU FDF was required to write and formally adopt fi ve (5) quality manuals and forty-one (41) additional technical and procedural manuals. The accredi-tation is valid for two years after which it will be necessary for the laboratory to successfully complete a re-inspection in order to retain ISO 17025/FBI status.

The primary importance of this achievement is that the NDSU FDF can now begin to accept evidence from criminal cases for DNA analysis since essentially all law enforcement agencies require accreditation before they will utilize the services of a specifi c Forensic Laboratory. Additionally, courtroom testimony relating to DNA analysis in criminal cases is accepted more readily and given more weight by the jury when the results are provided through an accredited forensic laboratory. A second benefi t of ob-taining ISO accreditation is that the NDSU FDF will be in a much better position to compete for grants related to fo-rensic DNA analysis such as those offered by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ). A positive accreditation status will also benefi t students that complete training through the NDSU FDF should they decide to pursue a career in forensic DNA analysis. In short, this achievement has catapulted the NDSU FDF into an exclusive club consist-ing of a very limited number of government and private forensic laboratories that have attained international ISO 17025 accreditation. Tentatively, a fall 2009 open house is planned.

This achievement has catapulted the NDSU FDF into an exclusive club consisting of a very limited number of government and private forensic laboratories that have attained international ISO 17025 accreditation.

The Department of Chemistry & Molecular Biology 2 Summer 2009

Angel UgrinovA native of Bulgaria, I graduated (M.S.) from Sofi a University in 1995 with a major in Chemi-cal Physics and Theoretical Chemistry. After one (1) year of military service and three (3) years as a research scientist in The Bulgar-ian Academy of Science, I came to the States for graduate studies. In January 2000, I joined

Prof. Slavi Sevov’s group at the University of Notre Dame (South Bend, IN) and earned my Ph.D. degree (major: Solid State Chemistry) in the end of 2004. In Slavi’s lab, I discov-ered the X-ray Crystallography as a powerful tool and most important as my passion and future. Crystallography science is a complicated combination of Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry, which is a perfect fi t for my M.S. and Ph.D. de-grees.

Before coming to NDSU, I completed my postdoc trainings at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI) and The Pennsyl-vania State University (State College, PA). I accepted the staff scientist position at NDSU in the Materials Characterization Lab, where I relocated my family in January 2008.

I loved South Bend, IN and State College, PA not only because I had my most fruitful scientifi c work there, but also because I had started two much more important and extremely diffi cult projects: my son Alexander and my daughter Anna-Maria were born in South Bend (2003) and State College (2005) respectively. Here I would like to thank my wife Vesela for our wonderful kids, and all of the support she’s given me. I cannot even imagine how diffi cult it was for her to take care of our children and ME, and to earn her Ph.D. at the same time from the University of Notre Dame (2007).

Beside science, I also love to watch soccer, basketball, volleyball and actually all kind of sports, to read historical, biographical and fantasy books, and to play computer games or cards (poker is my least favorite) with friends. I love new technologies and electronics. I can’t imagine myself living in the beginning of the 20th century or earlier. Probably this is an-other reason for me to love crystallography. I really hope that our department soon will have a state-of-the-art diffractometer in our materials characterization lab, which will allow me to serve the entire University even better.

New Faculty & Staff

Rajesh S. MurthyDr. Murthy received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. de-grees in Chemistry from University of Mumbai, India. He completed his Ph.D. (Chemistry) work at the University of Cincinnati in 2006. Dr. Mur-thy then pursued his post-doctoral research in medicinal chemistry with Prof. Youngjae You at South Dakota State University, Brookings. His

research involved synthesis of anti-cancer compounds and design and development of a drug delivery model system. He joined the department as a staff scientist in April 2008 to man-age the newly developed Core Synthesis Facility. In his free time, Dr. Murthy enjoys playing tennis, biking and listening to music.

The Core Synthesis Facility (CSF) was established as a part of the Center for Protease Research at NDSU in April 2008 with funding from an NCRR-NIH-COBRE grant. The primary objective of the CSF is to act as a strong in-house support system to facilitate biomedical researchers in accomplish-ing their research goals. The CSF is equipped with modern synthetic technologies and state of the art instrumentation. The research in the CSF is focused on organic synthesis of small molecules for biomedical applications and analytical characterization of substrates of interest. The current research projects involve synthesis of enzyme inhibitors and activators, fl uorescent labeling of peptides and amino acids and qualita-tive analysis of natural products by LC-MS/HRMS. The CSF also offers scientifi c consultation and provides student train-ing. On a whole, the research in the CSF is dedicated towards the treatment of a variety of diseases and the future goal is to establish a nationwide clientele.

Core Synthesis Facility (CSF)


Erika OfferdahlAssistant Professor of Biochemistry with a joint appointment in the School of Education, Erika Offerdahl joined the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology in August 2008. Prior to her arrival in Fargo, Erika had been living in Tucson, AZ where she completed her Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the University of Arizona. Dur-

ing her time at UA, Erika was a National Science Foundation GK-12 fellow (2004) and served as the Education & Public Outreach Liaison for the Life and Planets Astrobiology Center (LAPLACE, 2003-2008). She was also the recipient of two teaching awards in the College of Science (2006 & 2008).

Erika arrived in Fargo with her husband Sam Jenkins and cattle dog Ginny in May 2008. They have found their fi rst year to be nothing short of an adventure, with multiple school closures due to blizzards and record fl ooding in the Red River

New Faculty & Staff

Valley. A native of Montana, Erika quickly grew re-accustomed to winter weather while watching her Australian husband learn how to avoid frost bite on his morning walk to NDSU. With summer quickly approaching, Erika and Sam are excited to take their sailboat for a spin on one of Minnesota’s lakes and continue to compete in area agility events with Ginny.

NDSU has proved to be a supportive place for starting a re-search group. While busily setting up her research space, Er-ika has established collaborations within the department and college, submitted several grant proposals, and completed a successful semester of teaching. Fall of 2009 promises to kick off an even more prosperous year, as the Offerdahl Group will expand further to include two students (one graduate and one undergraduate) and a cross-campus research collaboration.

Stuart and Jodie HaringStuart and Jodie Haring are both originally from the Fargo area and graduated from West Fargo High School. Stuart attended the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks and received his B.S. in Biology in 1997. Jodie at-tended Concordia College in Moorhead, MN and fi nished her B.A. in Biology also in 1997.

After their undergraduate work, the Harings moved to Iowa City, IA to attend the University of Iowa for their graduate and post-doctoral training. For his thesis work on meiotic recombination in yeast, Stuart was mentored in the Biological Sciences Department by Dr. Robert Malone. He completed his Ph.D. in 2004 and moved on to do a post-doc in Dr. Marc Wold’s lab in the Biochemistry Department. In Dr. Wold’s lab, Stuart began a series of experiments on an important protein involved in controlling DNA replication, which he is continuing in his lab as an Assistant Professor here at NDSU. Jodie’s thesis work on a viral model of Multiple Sclerosis was done in Dr. Stanley Perlman’s lab. After completing her Ph.D. in 2002, Jodie began a post-doc in Dr. John Harty’s lab studying T cell memory and vaccine design. Jodie is currently a Research Assistant Professor and manages the Core Biology Facility, which is part of the Center for Protease Research.

The Harings currently live in West Fargo with their two dogs, Layla and Hrbek, and are very happy to have the opportunity to continue their careers here at home.

Jodie and Layla

Stuart and Hrbek


Robert B. SparksThe Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology announces the retirement of associate professor of bio-chemistry, Dr. Robert B. Sparks. On Friday, January 18, 2008, a reception in his honor was held to express our gratitude to Bob for his dedicated years of service to the department and NDSU.

In March 1985, Dr. Sparks joined the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department at NDSU. Prior to joining NDSU, Dr. Sparks worked in the Department of Molecular Biology at the Research Institute of Scripps Clinic, La Jolla, California from 1981-1985 and in the Department of Genetics at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven from 1976-1981.

While at NDSU, Bob served as director of the undergradu-ate Biotechnology Interdisciplinary Program as well as

director of the graduate level Cellular and Molecular Biology (CMB) Interdisciplinary Program. In 2003, the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology department merged with the Chemistry department and became known as the Chemistry and Molecular Biology department. Bob’s wife, Laurel, retired from the Department of Modern Languages a couple years before his retirement. The Sparks look forward to enjoying their retirement and will do some traveling.

Harlan Isensee

On January 23, 2008, the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology held a retirement reception in honor of Harlan Isensee.

Over 16 years ago (October 1991), Harlan responded to an advertisement placed by the Chemistry Department for a temporary three (3) month Research Specialist position. Harlan thought the position was perfect as it would give him something to do over the winter months. At the time, Harlan was retired after work-ing 34 years for Burroughs Corp (com-puter equipment company), now known as Unisys. The department was searching for a full-time Research Specialist but the right individual hadn’t applied (until Harlan came along). After the three (3) month period ended, Harlan was asked to stay on full-time. Harlan decided to come out of retirement. Eventually, Harlan tried to retire again but he was persuaded to stay on. However, he did reduce his hours to 80% time and eventually he was suc-cessful in reducing his hours to 50% time. Harlan fi nally decided to hang it up for good. As of January 31, 2008, he returned to full-time retirement status.

All along, Harlan has enjoyed his golf game, fi shing, and hobby of clock repair. The current plan is that he‘ll have more time to devout to traveling with his lovely wife, Kathleen. In fact, right after his retire-ment, they left for Texas and were gone for two months. Upon his return home, the department once again convinced Harlan to come back to work. However, now he acts as a consultant and cur-rently contracts his services on special projects. The department truly recognizes Harlan’s talents and greatly appreciates that he shares them with us and others on campus. Enjoy retirement!

Michael PageOn May 18, 2009, the Chemistry and Molecular Biology Department held a farewell reception for Michael Page, associate professor of quantum chemistry. There was a billiard and Schrödinger Equation theme used as party decorations.

Mike earned his bachelor and doctoral degrees at State University of New York at Buffalo in 1979 and 1982. He was a National Academy of Sciences postdoctoral as-sociate with the U.S. Army Ballistic Research Laboratory, Aberdeen, Maryland from 1982–1984. Then he was a research chemist in the Laboratory for Computational Physics at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC from 1984–1992. Mike joined the NDSU Chemistry Department in 1992.

From a service standpoint, Mike was very active. He held the Secretary/Treasurer posi-tion for American Chemical Society, Theoretical Chemistry Subdivision, from August 1995–1998. He was a Referee for the following: Journal of the American Chemical Society, Journal of Physical Chemistry, Journal of Chemical Physics, Chemical Physics Letters, Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, Theoretica Chimica Acta, and International Journal of Chemical Kinetics. In March 1994, he was a Panel Reviewer for the National Science Foundation Young Investigator Awards. He was also a Proposal Reviewer for National Sci-ence Foundation, Air Force Offi ce of Scientifi c Research, and Petroleum Research Fund.

In January 2009, Mike resigned from his faculty position at NDSU to focus his attention full-time to the start of a new business as a billiard hall and pub owner in Fargo. The next time you are in the area, look up Fargo Billiards & Gastropub at 3234 43rd Street South, Fargo. Once his new business is off the ground and Mike has more free time, rumor has it that he might even consider teaching a course or two. We wish Mike lots of success in this new chapter of his life.

Retirements and Farewell

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Just Married!Associate professor, Uwe Burghaus is excited to announce his recent marriage to Amy Erickson at a private ceremony on May 28, 2009. Uwe, Amy and her 11-year-old son, Quinn, are making their home in Moorhead, MN. Congratulations and best wishes to Uwe and Amy!

The Department of Chemistry & Molecular Biology

North Dakota State UniversityDept. 2735 • PO Box 6050

Fargo, ND 58108

Phone (701) 231-8694 FAX (701) 231-8831

Wendy Leach, Editor Dr. John Hershberger, Chair

To obtain a copy or submit comments, e-mail: [email protected]

HistoryHistoryEvolution of Chemistry at NDSUBy Linda Stoetzer and Dennis Tallman

Forty years ago the Chemistry Department was much different than it is today. There was no such thing as a computer in the department and the photocopier had not even been invented. We had an electric typewriter for our typing needs. Exams, research papers and proposals were typed on stencils and run off on a mimeograph machine while fi gures for these documents were usually drawn in ink by hand. Making changes and/or corrections to these documents was very tedious.

Laboratory calculations were often performed on an electro-mechanical calcula-tor or perhaps submitted to the computer center (the program and data were encoded on punched cards) for retrieval the following day. In the early 1970’s, a used PDP-8I minicomputer was purchased and is believed to have been the fi rst computer in the state of North Dakota not located in a “Computer Center.” This computer had 4 kilobytes of magnetic core memory and a paper tape reader for program input. Dennis Tallman’s group used this computer for on-line data collec-tion and analysis. It was also used in the inaugural version of the Instrumentation Electronics course. In the mid to late 1970’s the personal computer (PC) became available and made its way to the Chemistry Department. Dennis Tallman’s group had the fi rst desktop PC in the department, a Leading Edge computer. By this time his group had also built and purchased a number of single board microcom-puters for use in the laboratory.

Initially the College of Science and Mathematics was called the College of Chem-istry and Physics. Dr. James Sugihara was the Dean of this College (as well as the Head of the Chemistry Department) for many years. His offi ce and his Admin-istrative Assistant’s Offi ce were located in Dunbar 150 – now Mike Page’s Lab. Dr. Sugihara moved to Stevens Hall where the Dean’s Offi ce is now housed. With his move, the Department began using an elected rotating Chair as head of the department. Dr. Robert Koob was the fi rst Chair of the Chemistry Department. We have had a total of seven Chairs in the department since the l970’s.

There also have been numerous changes in space utilization over the years. As noted above, the Dean’s Offi ce was located in Dunbar 150. There were also offi ces in what is now Uwe Burghaus’ Lab, including a secretary’s offi ce and four faculty member offi ces. Dunbar 254 (the NMR facility) and Ladd 209 (the library) were classrooms. The Chemistry offi ce complex in Ladd 104 was a general chemistry lab. Dunbar 152 housed the Chemistry Library. The Coatings and Polymeric Materials Department (then Polymers and Coatings) was located in the basement of Dunbar Hall for many years. The Biochemistry Department was located on the third fl oor of Dunbar Hall, after which they moved to Loftsgard Hall before fi nally relocating to IACC.

There were research dollars but not anything like we have now. Today we have over ten million dollars in grant funds. We also have an energetic faculty that keeps coming up with new ideas for research. Importantly, our department could not function without the graduate students as they are an integral part of the teaching and research programs.

(On a side note, Linda Stoetzer was recognized recently for 40 years of service to NDSU with all of those years being spent in the chemistry department. Con-gratulations Linda and thank you for your dedicated years of service.)

DEPARTMENT NEWS


Special Awards and Recognition

Block Receives College Award

Recent PhD chemistry graduate, Darci Block, received the 2009 Col-lege of Science and Mathematics Gradu-ate Student Research Award. After graduation,

she will relocate to the Rochester MN area where she accepted a Clinical Chemistry Fellowship at Mayo Clinic.

Governor’s School 2008During the summer 2008 NDSU Governor’s School, three of our chemistry labs hosted students. Meredith Foster (left) of Fargo worked with Dr. Sivaguru Jayaraman. Her project was entitled “Manipulating Molecular Chirality in the 6ϖ-Photocyclization of Acrylanilides in Solution”. Jordan Hjelle (right) of Hillsboro worked with Dr. Uwe Burghaus.

His project was entitled “Fuel Cell Challenge: Methanol vs Hy-drogen”. Kaci Schaper (center) of Taylor worked with Guodong Liu. Her project was entitled “Development of Lateral Flow Nucleic Acid Test Strips”. The program ends with a poster ses-sion where the students present their research.

Chemistry Faculty Member Receives College Award

Dr. Uwe Burghaus, Associate Professor, has been awarded the 2009 College Award for Excellence in Re-search. Dr. Burghaus works in the area of

surface chemistry. While at NDSU, he has received the following grants: NSF Career, NSF EPSCoR, DOE EPS-CoR and DOE. He was also recently tenured.

Chemistry Department Hosts a Career Workshop for Graduate Students and Post-DocsWritten by Darci Block

What career options are available to chemistry graduates? How do I prepare myself for a career following graduate school? These are questions that were answered for NDSU chemistry and biochemistry graduate students and post-docs on June 13-15, 2008. A career workshop entitled “Preparing for Life After Graduate School” or PfLAGS was sponsored by the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology and the American Chemical Society. Ms Valerie Kuck was the lead presenter for the workshop. She retired after 34 years at Bell Labs and now volunteers for the ACS.

Nearly 20 graduate students and several post-docs attended PfLAGS. During the fi rst day attendees learned about job expectations and security of positions in in-dustry, academia, and government. Dr. Kenton Rodgers, NDSU, presented advice on seeking and obtaining an academic job at a research intensive institution. Dr. Pinjing Zhao, NDSU, presented advice on being successful as a post-doctoral researcher and fi nding your fi rst academic position. Dr. Joseph Provost, MSUM, presented advice on what his job is really like at a primarily undergraduate institu-tion. Attendees also learned about preparing resumes, CVs, cover letters, and

what to expect during an interview. The fi nal day gave students an opportunity to spend an hour having their CV or resume critiqued and answering mock interview questions with career advisors from the ACS.

Overall, the workshop was deemed a huge suc-cess by attendees. As a follow-up to the work-shop, a Chemistry Graduate Student group has assembled to meet monthly to discuss and prac-tice what was learned at the workshop. Meeting notices will be posted on the bulletin board by the mailboxes or contact Barry Pemberton if you are interested in attending the next meeting.


Special Awards and Recognition

NDSU Faculty Member Receives NSF CAREER Award(Newswise, January 25, 2008)

Sivaguru Jayaraman, (Siva) Ph.D., assistant professor of chemistry and molecular biol-ogy at North Dakota State University, Fargo, has been named a recipient of the Faculty Early Career Development award (CAREER) by the National Science Foundation. Dr. Siva will receive a fi ve-year, $575,000 award from

the National Science Foundation (NSF) to conduct research outlined in his proposal titled “Imprinting Molecular Chirality in Solution During Photo-Transformations.” This was Dr. Siva’s fi rst CAREER submission to NSF.

The goal of Dr. Siva’s research is to use environmentally-benign ways to synthesize chiral molecules and to understand the interaction of light with matter leading to stereoselective photo-transformations. The research program in Dr. Siva’s group focuses on using light to transfer molecular chirality in photochemical reactions to produce molecules that are chiral (have two non-superimposable mirror images) and make only one of the two possible forms (a single enantiomer). Develop-ing a family of stereoselective photoreactions is one of the most important problems faced by chemists, as controlling photo-reactivity leading to stereoselectivity has been tradition-ally a challenging task, according to Nicholas Turro, Ph.D., the William P. Schweitzer Professor of Chemistry at Columbia University, New York, N.Y. When developed, Dr. Siva’s work could be applied to various light-induced transformations to the synthesis of a number of chiral molecules. Students trained during the course of this research will gain skills needed by the pharmaceutical industry, which now produces a number of single enantiomer compounds, according to Dr. Siva.

Dr. Siva’s research plan integrates scientifi c research, edu-cational training and public outreach. The research program will help train graduate and undergraduate students. As part of the outreach program, Dr. Siva has developed a program called PICNICS (Parents’ Involvement in Children, Nurturing Intellectual Curiosity In Science). In a previous seminar, he brought together parents and high school students to learn about recent scientifi c advancements and their impact on everyday life. The PICNICS program is an excellent way to inform students and parents about science and technology, according to V. Ramamurthy, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Chemistry, University of Miami, Miami, Fla. The program also has an excellent chance to encourage and nurture young students to consider science as a career path, says Dr. Rama-murthy.

Reprinted excerpts with permission – refer to this link for com-plete article: www.newswise.com/articles/view/537212/

Uwe Burghaus Receives NSFCareer Award (May 12, 2008)

Uwe Burghaus, Assistant Professor of Chem-istry, has received a $426,000 CAREER grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program recognizes and sup-ports the early career development of faculty who show remarkable potential to become

academic leaders. The CAREER awardees are selected on the basis of creative, integrative, and effective research and education development plans. Dr. Burghaus plans to use the award to characterize the adsorption dynamics of small mol-ecules on copper and gold catalysts which are pertinent for the petroleum industry and the cleaning of exhaust pollution. His educational plans include the development of a hands-on course that will be taught at a Native American community college as well as developing the physical chemistry labora-tory course to include cutting edge research topics in nano-science. For more information about Dr. Burghaus’ research interests, visit www.ndsu.edu/chemistry/people/faculty/burghaus.html.

Distinguished Alumnus receives award and presents talk at NDSUBy Wendy Leach

Allen Bieber earned a bach-elor’s and master’s degree from NDSU in 1956 and 1958 and a doctorate from Oregon State University in 1962. He is a senior investigator with Intrinsic Bioprobes, Inc. and professor emeritus from Ari-zona State University. While

a research professor, Bieber used the toxins from rattlesnake venom to study the human body. By looking at how venom affected the body’s normal functions, he got a better under-standing of how those functions occurred.

On April 15, 2008, Dr. Bieber was presented with a NDSU Distinguished Alumnus Award by Kevin McCaul, Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics. During his visit to NDSU, the Chemistry and Molecular Biology department was honored to host a seminar given by Dr. Bieber to our faculty, students and NDSU community. His seminar title was “Tools for Population Proteomic Studies: Mass Spectrometry, Affi nity Capture and Bioreactive Probes”.


Department GraduatesMay 2008–May 2009

Alumni News

Ph.D. graduates - Chemistry

Chad Amb (Dec. 2008)Darci Block (May 2009)Shamus Funk (May 2008)Ryuji Hayashi (May 2008) Zhiqiang Ji (May 2009)Robert Kargbo (May 2008)Iswarya Mathew (May 2009)Levi Stanley (May 2008) Li Wen (Dec. 2008)

Master of Science graduates - Chemistry

Wilfredo Cruz, Jr. (May 2008)John Goering (July 2008)Brandon Gustafson (Dec. 2008)Tian Lu (May 2008)Joel Lischefski (May 2008)Jon Nietfeld (May 2009)XiXi Song (May 2008)

Bachelor of Science – ChemistryAnoklase Ayitou (May 2008)Travis Bjordahl (May 2008)Curtis Engelhart (May 2009)Miho Kaneko (May 2009)Kristen Keller (May 2009)Elizabeth Lee (May 2008)

Danielle Pinnick (May 2009)Nicholas Richter (May 2008)Erin Saville (Dec. 2008)Kelli Syltie (May 2009)Benjamin Wymore (May 2008)

Bachelor of Science – Biochemistry/Molecular BiologyJennifer Brottlund (May 2008)Christopher Chapman (May 2008)Anthony Christenson (May 2008)Andrea Hanson (May 2009)Laura Haselhorst (May 2008)Ryne Hendrickson (May 2009)Kelsey Hohol (Dec. 2008)Jaime Jensen (May 2009)Thomas Meyer (May 2008)Sarah Perius (May 2008)

Chris Shing (Dec. 2008)Ryan Unruh (May 2009)Erich Wilkerson (May 2009)

Chad Amb

Shamus Funk

Dr. Cook and Ryuji Hayashi

Zhiqiang Ji

Robert Kargbo

Levi Stanley

Darci Block and Dr. Rogers Iswarya Mathew and Dr. Sun

Wilfredo Cruz, Jr.

John Goering

Brandon Gustafson

Tian Lu

Jon Nietfeld

XiXi Song

Li Wen

Front (L to R): Kristen Keller, Miho Kaneko, Jaime Jensen

Back (L to R): Erich Wilkerson, Danielle Pinnick, Curtis Engelhart and Kelli Syltie.


Li Wen UG09 Group

Memorial scholarship honors NDSU alumnusArticle submitted by Monika R. Smith

James D. Geerdes passed away December 14, 2007, at the Virginia Veterans Care Center in Roanoke, Va. He was born April 13, 1924 In Davenport, ND, the son of William and Martha Buchholz Geerdes. After briefl y attending Concordia College in Morehead, MN he joined

the Army to serve in WWII. He landed in Normandy D+1 (Utah Beach) and bravely fought his way through the Battle of the Bulge where he received a fi eld commission. Among the troops liberating Dachau Concentration Camp, he was eventually appointed supply offi cer for American Troops in Austria and stationed in Salzburg.

Thanks to the GI Bill, he earned his bachelor and master degrees from NDSU in 1949 and 1950 and went on to pursue a PhD in chemistry at the University of Minnesota. Subsequently, Jim joined DuPont where he holds several patents and participated in the development of Tyvek and Kevlar before joining Entoleter Corporation and becoming its president. Approached by Allied Chemical in New York City, he accepted their appointment as president of its Fiber Divi-sion. He stayed with Allied till he opened his own consult-ing fi rm, Geerdes International, in the late 1970’s which he operated until his retirement in 2003.

Dr. Geerdes was a world renowned expert in fi bers and textiles and circled the globe repeatedly. Among the high-lights of his career are the establishment of China’s Textile Academy in Beijing, the expansion of Indonesia’s rayon industry, the restructuring of Bangladesh’s jute industry and his extensive work with major corporations both here and abroad including Amoco, Sonoco, DuPont, Allied, Romatex of South Africa, Lenzing of Austria, IndiRayon of Indonesia, and Reliance Industries of India.

A popular speaker at symposia and trade association shows, Dr. Geerdes was a frequent contributor to and on the editorial board of the International Fiber Journal. As a consultant, he served Arthur D. Little and KSA, as well as UNDP, UNIDO, USAID, IMF and the World Bank along with the increasing number of multinationals.

Alumni News

James Geerdes in his younger years.

Family and friends gathered for a Memorial Service at the Davenport ND Lutheran Church on Saturday, May 24th, 2008.

Contributions to the James D Geerdes Memorial Scholarship Fund for Graduate Studies in Bio-chemistry can be sent directly to NDSU and are tax deductible.

New ArrivalsBiochemistry graduate student, Sumathra Manokaran and husband, Rajesh Nagarajan, announce the birth of their son, Srijeev Rangaswamy Rajesh on May 14, 2008 at 11:05 pm. He weighed in at six pounds, fi ve ounces and was 19 inches long.

Core Biology lab technician, John R. Smith Jr and wife, Leah Rae, are proud to present their son, Gabriel Quentin, who was born on July 27, 2008 at 5:36 pm. He weighed in at eight pounds, two ounces and was 21¼ inches long. At nine months, Gabe weighed in at 20.5 pounds and was already 29.25 inches long.

Julia Kate Foster, daughter of DNA Forensics analyst, Justin “Jack” Foster and his wife, Maggie, arrived on August 11, 2008. She weighed in at about six and a half pounds and was 19 inches long. Her two and a half year old sister, Ava, welcomes Julia to the family.

Assistant Professor of Inorganic Chemistry, Pinjing Zhao, and his wife, Pan, are excited to announce the arrival of their daughter, Selena, around 12:40 pm on October 2, 2008. Pinjing describes her as a healthy, loud, pinkish small lady weighing seven pounds, 13 ounces. He states that his wife, Pan, did a wonderful job during childbirth.

It’s a Girl! Ava Elyse Dorsam was born at 11:46 am on March 18, 2009 to the proud parents of Glenn Dorsam, Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology, and wife, Sheri, Research Assistant in Glenn’s lab. Her almost three year old brother, Joshua, welcomes Ava to the family. Ava weighed in at eight pounds, four ounces and was 21 inches long. Mom was happy to report that Ava is sleeping through the night and is doing just great.


Scholarship Information

■ Donald Bolin MemorialAwarded to outstanding student majors in chemistry or biochemistry.

2008-09 RecipientsTarik Nurkic Curtis EngelhartJarett Failing

■ Chemistry Department Honor ScholarshipScholarship presented to chemistry or biochemistry majors on the basis of scholastic achievement.

2008-09 RecipientsKatrina Gellerman Erich Wilkerson

■ Ralph Dunbar Memorial ScholarshipScholarships awarded to chemistry majors on the basis of scholastic achievement and character as exemplifi ed by Ralph E. Dunbar, Dean of the College of Chemistry and Physics, 1945-1960.

2008-09 RecipientsJoshua Swoyer Rylan WolfeBridget Kilen Derek Miller

■ Roy Milde Fellowship AwardA scholarship presented to an outstanding graduate student who has been enrolled in the chemistry program for more than one year. Preference is given to graduates of high schools and colleges in ND and the upper Midwest.

2008-09 RecipientsChris Heth

■ James & May Sugihara ScholarshipA scholarship presented to outstanding students majoring in chemistry.

2008-09 RecipientsKelli Syltie Robert HaalandAndrew Sand

■ Richard Glenn Wedel Memorial ScholarshipA scholarship presented to an outstanding student majoring in chemistry.

2008-09 RecipientsKristin Keller

■ Undergraduate Research Fellowships in ChemistryThese mentorships are awarded to freshmen majoring in chemistry who demonstrate strong potential for chemical research. The award includes a research position in a faculty research laboratory and a $1,200 stipend.

2007-08 Recipients 2008-09 Recipients(these names were missed Matthew Bengstonon the last newsletter) Alisa FairweatherBrett Erpelding Cortney Feickert Robert Haaland Tajae Viaene Bridget Kilen Ashley Nelson

■ Dr. Harold and Mary Ann Klosterman Merit ScholarshipThis fund was created in 2007 and is awarded to incoming freshman enrolled in the College of Science and Mathematics based on scholastic achievement. Preference is given to biochemistry or biotechnology majors.

2008-09 RecipientsDarrin Koubsky

■ Lawrence M. Debing Memorial ScholarshipScholarship presented to students in chemistry and biochemistry. (Given to undergrad and graduate students)

2008-09 RecipientsJoshua Lechner

■ Graduate Student Fellowship FundThis fellowship helps to support graduate students in synthetic chemistry.

2008-09 RecipientsDigamber Rane Yoko Takahashi

■ James D. Geerdes Memorial ScholarshipA newly created fund in (May) 2008 that will award academic scholarships with preference given to graduate students from North Dakota or Minnesota enrolled in the biochemistry and molecular biology program.

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ORGANIZATIONS

3M Company Abbott LaboratoriesAlcoa FoundationChevron Texaco CorpGeneral Electric CompanyHSBC - North AmericaSC Johnson Fund IncMedtronic FoundationPfi zer Foundation Matching Gifts

ProgramSanofi -Aventis

INDIVIDUALS

Jill Armbrust and Jonathan Holtzman

Helen and James BastianJamie and Holly BaxterJames and Debra BilligmeierPhilip and Gertrude BoudjoukJan BranthaverCharles and Elizabeth BuckJames and Janice BucknerMarvin and June CaineManny and Maria CarneriBenjamin and Chun Lin ChanArmin and Juanita ClobesEileen H. Conway BestDowney and Verna CunninghamDaniel DeChaineLandis and Janet DonerJulian and Nijole FossenRon and Pauline FredricksonJohn GilmoreDixie and Richard GrossmanElnore and Ronald GrowRobert GutowskiHarold HaagBruce and Connie HammondJennifer HarvesterJohn HershbergerLoren and Norma HillClarence and Jeanette HottmanFu and Fung-Hwei HuangEleanor and Frank HungEarl and Jane HutchinsMichael and Kara JohnsonJens and Anne JorgensenScott and Pamela JungCraig and Debra KapferMichael and Elizabeth Kaytor

Charles and Maxine KeefeMichael and Anne KlinkhammerSteven KloosBruce KlostermanJulie Klosterman and Donald

BolgreanLawrence and Sandra KlostermanChad and Laura KnutsonFrancis and Kay KochCulver LaddP. R. and Ooma LakshmananOreste and Beulah LanteroWendy J. LeachPaul and Susan LemkeVictor and Betty LindelowJianliang Lu and Hongjia FanWayne and Barbara Lunsetter

Todd D. MaybonGregory and Denise McCarthyLynn McHarnessKenneth and Darlene MeathRoxane F. MeidingerAmelia R. NashGrant Olson and Gabrielle

Vencel-OlsonStephen OlsonStephen PengSteven PetersenDaniel and Cindy RichterRaymond and Sally SalkeldUpasiri and Indrani SamaraweeraGundu and Nirmala SastryJoe and Cheryl SchmitLarry and Gail Schultz

Mukund P. SibiMonika R. SmithSusan M. SnyderTracy and Mark StarnesGary and Rosa StolzenbergLara K. TebeliusFrederick and Helen TurnerGary VanDeStreekDavid and Teresa VaskeBrady and Julie VickIrvin WangsnessJoseph and Greta WegnerDuane WeisshaarRoyce WingeWillard and Jean WittemanMark and Joan WoltersWayne and Kathie Worner

✩✩✩ Thanks to our Donors! ✩✩✩Donors make important contributions to scholarship programs and other activities that enhance the student experience in our department. We’d like to recognize the organizations and individuals listed below for making a contribution to our various Chemistry–Biochemistry funds, which the NDSU Development Foundation manages, between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2008. We applaud you for your support. Thank you for making a difference!

Please consider making a tax deductible donation to the Chemistry and Molecular Biology Department - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

CHEMISTRY, BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

DEVELOPMENT FUND

Included is my gift of $__________ Please apply my gift to: (pick from the following selections)

Payment Options: Check enclosed (please make check payable to NDSU Development Foundation). Credit card:

Card No _________________________________________Expiration Date ________

Name ________________________________________________________________

Billing Address ________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Phone: ( _____ ) _____________ Signature __________________________________ (required)

Visa Mastercard Discover

Donald Bolin Memorial Scholarship

Chemistry Department Honor Scholarship Lawrence Debing Memorial Scholarship

Ralph Dunbar Memorial Scholarship

James & May Sugihara Scholarship

Richard Glenn Wedel Memorial Scholarship

Roy Milde Fellowship Award

General Chemistry Department Fund (any unspecified gifts will be applied to this fund)

Dr. Harold and Mary Ann Klosterman Merit Scholarship

Detach th is form and send with your g if t to:

NDSU Development Foundation

PO Box 5144 Fargo, ND 58105-5144

Graduate Student Fellowship Fund

James D. Geerdes Memorial Scholarship

Tax Deductible Donations

North Dakota State University Department of Chemistry & Molecular Biology NDSU Dept. 2735, P. O. Box 6050 Fargo, ND 58108-6050

Non-Profi t OrgU. S. Postage Paid

Permit No. 818Fargo, ND 58105

Greetings from the ChairIt has been a busy year in the depart-ment, with several new personnel arriv-ing, as well as multiple ongoing faculty searches.

In August 2008, we welcomed two new faculty members: Dr. Erika Offerdahl and Dr. Stuart Haring. Dr. Offerdahl’s research is in biochemistry education, and Dr. Haring’s research is in DNA

We had one faculty member retire this year. Mike Page, after 16 years of service to NDSU, resigned his position in spring 2009 in order to devote his efforts full time towards the development of a business venture in Fargo. We wish Mike the best in his endeavors.

Ongoing facility improvements include a complete renova-tion of one of our general teaching laboratories, Ladd 309. In summer 2008, this room was completely renovated, with new fl ooring and benchwork. Opened for business in Fall 2008, this room offers a much enhanced learning environ-ment for general chemistry laboratory courses. Because of a more effi cient layout involving island benches similar to that used in Ladd 307, it also increases our enrollment capacity for these courses, improving our ability to cope with recent and future enrollment increases.

This represents my fi nal installment for this newsletter as Department Chair. I have greatly enjoyed my term as chair over the past eight years, but believe that it is time to move on. In April, 2009, the department elected Gregory Cook to the position of Chair, to start July 1. Congratulations Greg!

Dr. John Hershberger, Chair

biochemistry. After conducting two faculty searches in 2008-2009, we have hired several additional faculty mem-bers: Dr. Muhammet Erkan Kose, materials chemistry, and Dr. Sangita Sinha, biochemistry, will join NDSU in August 2009, and Dr. Christopher Colbert, biochemistry, will join in August 2010.

These faculty searches are part of a long-range effort by the department to increase our research presence in materials science as well as biomedically-relevant areas of biochemistry and molecular biology. This will allow us to of-fer numerous new research opportunities for both graduate and undergraduate students.

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