Seen at the Reunion

Reunions 2016 (and maybe thoughts of a rainy Rose Parade) have brought lots of alumni back to campus. You can see who’s coming to the Reunion here. Among the visiting chemists …

Harry Traulsen ’11 and Grant Trenary ’11 made their way up the Woodstock hill to relive the joys of Otto’s fine food. Harry is working for Google in New York, and Grant is a nurse at Good Samaritan Hospital in NW Portland … Joe Kliegman ’06 stopped by to say he’s taking his Ph.D. to a new coast this summer (look for him to pop up in D.C. around August) … I bumped into Claire Remington ’11 near the Bookstore and learned that she’s working with another Reedie, Sasha Kramer ’99, on SOIL in Haiti … Paul Whittredge ’12 took a short break from his job at Novartis to say hi and discuss life as a married man … Arlene Blum ’66 stopped by the Chemistry building on Saturday and told us about her hiking plans for Alaska later this month (“I’m going to visit the Brooks Range with my bad knees. Then I’m giving a lecture at the regional ACS meeting, ‘Chemistry Under the Midnight Sun.’“). She also said that the Green Science Policy Institute that she directs in Berkeley is on a solid financial footing and she’s looking for expert help. If you’re a mid-career (or even an early career) chemist with an interest in the crossroads of environmental science and policy, give Arlene a call.

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Grants Support New Faculty Research

All three of the new chemistry faculty who have been hired in recent years have successfully garnered financial support from outside the college for their research projects. If you missed it, here’s a rundown:

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Another happy law school graduate: Prof. Juliane Fry

The fact that the hallway outside Julie Fry‘s office is festooned with research posters might lead one to think of her as a one-dimensional research scientist, but that has never been the case.  Continue reading

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Becky Phillips ’10 Receives Teaching Award

Becky is currently pursuing her graduate studies in IPiB (integrated program in biochemistry) in Ivan Rayment’s laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A few days ago she learned that she had received the program’s 2016 Denton Award for Graduate Student Excellence in Teaching and Mentoring. The award is given each year to a student who has “consistently demonstrated commitment to quality, innovative classroom teaching and mentoring in a laboratory setting,” and is made possible through the generosity of Arnold E. and Catherine M. Denton.

Congratulations, Becky!

Want to learn more about Becky’s life in graduate school? Go here.

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Periodic Table 103, Bulletin Board 0

Late one night several seniors entered the student lounge intent upon some long-unfinished business: to replace the seldom used bulletin boards with a hand-painted Periodic Table of the Elements.

L to R: Erin McConnell '16, Sam Underwood '16, Catherine Neshyba '16, Jazz Weisman '16, Jonathan Perkins '16, Makoto Kelp '16, Nick Till '16

L to R: Erin McConnell ’16, Sam Underwood ’16, Catherine Neshyba ’16, Jazz Weisman ’16, Jonathan Perkins ’16, Makoto Kelp ’16, Nick Till ’16

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Support Our Seniors

An anonymous member of the Class of 2016 taking a much needed break. (photo by A. Glasfeld)

An anonymous member of the Class of 2016 takes a much needed break. (photo by A. Glasfeld)

It’s the last week of classes for Spring 2016. Senior theses are due on Friday after which the campus will celebrate, as it does every year, with a raucous Thesis Parade, and a not-to-be-missed Renn Fayre.

But… until then, seniors crouch over their laptops chasing down spectra, gel photos, and literature citations, writing figure captions, and make the final edits that will earn them that most coveted of Reed College prizes: the laurels of a completed thesis.

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Rockin’ the House with Virginia Hancock ’62

54 years ago, in the spring of 1962, a Reed chemistry student named Virginia Oglesby submitted a senior thesis titled, “The Synthesis of Heterocyclic Imidochlorides.” This week marks the end of yet another thesis season, but for Virginia (now Hancock), it celebrated the end of a completely different kind of project: three decades spent leading the choral program at Reed as a Professor of Music. Last night in Kaul Auditorium she conducted her last spring choral concert as a Professor of Music. From now on, each time she lifts a baton it will be as Reed College Professor Emerita. Thank you, Ginny, for all these years of beautiful, thoughtful music.

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D is for Dog

The number of pooches in the chemistry building is booming once again which raises a perennial pet question: do chemists show their affection differently than other dog owners?

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Jeff Koplow ’90 Returns as Division Speaker

Jeff will visit Reed on Tuesday and Wednesday this week (Apr 5-6) as the 2015-16 guest speaker for the Division of Mathematics & Natural Sciences. Jeff, who is a Research Scientist/Engineer at the Sandia National Laboratories (Livermore, CA), received the Dept. of Energy’s inaugural Innovator in Residence Fellowship. He will be presenting two talks:

  • “Multidisciplinary Innovation in Action: 5 Inventions From the Research Group of Jeff Koplow”, 4:30 pm, Tu, Apr 5, Bio 19
  • “A Reproducible Methodology for Serial Innovation: Good luck not required”, 7:30 pm, W, Psych 105

Students will also have a chance to join Jeff for lunch on Tuesday. Interested students should come to the foyer of the Chemistry Building a few minutes before noon to join the lunch party.

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The Quilting Legacy of Prof. Maggie Geselbracht

Prof. Maggie Geselbracht lecturing on crystal field theory in Vollum Lecture Hall, and 9 quilts that Maggie made between 2007-2014 (framed and mounted by Prof. Gerri Ondrizek & Reed art students).

Prof. Maggie Geselbracht lecturing on crystal field theory in Vollum Lecture Hall, and 9 quilts that Maggie made between 2007-2014 (framed and mounted by Prof. Gerri Ondrizek & Reed art students).

The middle of spring break, a time to pause, and take a deep breath before the dash to Thesis Parade. One year ago, during Spring Break 2015, our building underwent a quiet, but profound, change. Just a few months earlier we had said good-bye to the best of friends and colleagues, Prof. Maggie Geselbracht [chemistry 1993-2014], but when we returned from Break we discovered that her Quilt Project 2007-2014 had appeared along the main staircase of the chemistry building, much like the cherry blossoms that greet visitors to Eliot Circle each spring.

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