Chemistry News

Mark James Martinez Angeles ’15 graduated in chemistry barely 2 weeks ago. His thesis title: “Synthesis of Cobalt, Rhodium, and Iridium Acetyl(imino)pyridine Compounds for the Reductive Dehalogenation of Chlorinated Ethylenes” (advisor Prof. Sarah Kliegman).

Just yesterday, while riding his bicycle westbound through the intersection of SE Gladstone and SE Cesar Chavez, Mark was struck by an eastbound tow truck that was making a left turn on Cesar Chavez. He was wearing a bike helmet, but he died of head injuries from his collision with the larger vehicle. More information about Mark and the collision can be found at Sallyportal blog of the Reed magazine.

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There’s a familiar Chinese curse (although Wikipedia says it is only known to speakers of the English language): “may you live in interesting times.” Reed College found itself in interesting times indeed about two weeks ago as stories about the so-called ‘barring’ of a first-year student from Hum 110 rolled across the internet.

Among the commentators was one with first-hand knowledge of Hum 110: Ryan Cooper. Ryan earned his Reed degree in chemistry in 2008, but like all first-year Reedies, he completed the two-semester Hum sequence. It’s nice to see a Reed scientist putting his humanities training (and, dare I say, his chemistry training?) to good use as a commentator on national issues (Ryan writes for The Week and other periodicals: Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post).

Here is what Ryan had to say about the Hum 110 story: Jeremiah True, Reed College, and the limits of free speech (The Week, Opinion, March 23, 2015)

A month ago (Jan 8) this happy email from Peter Jordan ’03 and Rachael Relph ’03 appeared in my Inbox:

Dear Reed Friends,

Rachael and I are delighted to announce the birth of our son Kai Jordan.  In utero he was dubbed “sir-kicks-a-lot” and he did not disappoint during labor.  We are still working out a middle name for our boy, which we have until tomorrow to decide.  The three of us are feeling great, albeit tired, and we are looking forward to taking Kai home tomorrow.

Please see the attached photos.

Happy New Year,

Peter, Rachael and Kai

I’m sure a lot has happened in the past month. I know Kai’s name grew a lot longer, I’m also guessing that Peter and Rachael discovered that sleep was something they could do without, and that one part of this crazy world has steadily become more joyful and wonderful with each passing day. See below for photos from the hospital room.

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Arlene Blum ’66 came back to campus last Thursday to deliver a speech, “A Life of Mountains and Molecules,” and to receive this year’s Thomas Lamb award which recognizes distinguished and sustained achievement by a Reed College graduate. For those who might not know, Arlene is a visiting scholar in chemistry at UC Berkeley and executive director of the Green Science Policy Institute, and she is also a long-time member of the elite international mountaineering community and has been elected to the Hall of Mountaineering Excellence. Interested in the title of Arlene’s senior thesis or an interview that she gave to C&E News a few years back? Check out the News blog’s Dec 17, 2008 post, “Arlene Blum ’66 talks to C&E News.”

Nicole returned to Reed recently to deliver a seminar on her research so recent graduates may be familiar with her journey. First, there was graduate school at UC Berkeley (MS 2010, PhD 2012). Since then there has been postdoctoral research. Nicole has been investigating materials in silico (that’s Latin for ‘high-level DFT calculation’) as a member of the Quantum Simulations Group at Lawrence Livermore National Lab (LLNL).

Nicole informed us today that her SF odyssey continues. In fall 2015 she will join the inorganic/physical chemistry teaching cohort at San Francisco State University as their newest assistant professor of chemistry. The SFSU program offers BS, BA, and MS degrees so Nicole should have her hands full.

Nicole added this in her email, “It’s going to work out great for my two-body problem.  I’ve been thinking that Maggie must be my academic guardian angel.”