Chemistry-Physics Interdisciplinary Research

For several years, Professor Feighery and chemistry students have been working with physics professor, Ilan Levine, in the search for WIMPs - weakly interacting massive particles - that are hypothesized to be a component of the mysterious and  hypothetical dark matter.  Most recently Josh Benkhe (2011 chemistry graduate) and Adam Grandison (chemistry senior) were acknowledged for their technical support in an article just accepted, and soon to be published, in the Journal of Physics B.  

Tina Shepherd (2008 chemistry graduate) and Cynthia Muthusi (2006 chemistry graduate) have also contributed.  While Levine and his group of physicists have taught our students much that we could not, the exchange of knowledge has been two-way.    The physicists have come to depend on our students in certain areas of the research, such as operating and maintaining the GC-MS.  The following is a list of articles to which our students have contributed.  Josh Benkhe is also associated with another paper that is in preparation.

2012   Benkhe and Grandison, Physics Letters B, accepted

2011   Benkhe, New Journal of Physics, 13, 043006

2011   Benkhe and Shepherd, Physical Review Letters, 106, 021303 

2009   Shepherd, Physics Letters B, 682, 185-192 

2008   Shepherd, New Journal of Physics, 10, 103017

2005   Muthusi and Feighery, Physics Letters B, 624, 186-194

2005   Feighery, Physics Research A, 555, 184-204

Faculty Milestone Service

The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry relies heavily on its adjunct faculty to teach many of our high-enrollment service courses. Their continued service and quality teaching is vital to our department. On Thursday, April 19, three of our adjunct faculty will be honored for their milestone service in the annual Associate Faculty Reception. This event will take place at 4:00 in the Alumni Room of the Administration Building.

Clark Hartford (M.S. University of Notre Dame, 1967) and Pete McCasland (Ph.D. University of Notre Dame, 1971) have been teaching with us for a full decade. Rita Harnish (M.S. University of Maine, 1983) has taught for five years, often at our Elkhart campus. Thank you for your dedication to IU South Bend.

Talk about Graduate School

The Biology-Chemistry Club has arranged for two speakers to discuss their experiences regarding graduate school. Kara Primmer, an IU South Bend adjunct faculty, represents the biologists, while Notre Dame graduate student, Kasey Clear, represents the chemists.  Kasey graduated as a chemistry major from our department in 2011 receiving a Student Excellence Award in Chemistry.


Kasey is now pursuing a Ph.D. in organic chemistry. Get a preview of Kasey Clear in this advertisement for Southwestern Michigan College, from which he received an associates degree (while in high school!) before transferring to IU South Bend.  The talk is at noon on Tuesday, April 10, in NS 036.  Juniors: Come to hear about the application process and what the interviews are like. Seniors: Come to hear what to expect immediately after summer vacation.

Retirement

Dr. Catherine Rakowski has been teaching for our department ever since she earned her Ph.D. from St. Louis University in 1971. This Spring semester will be her last as she has decided to retire.  In her forty years of service to IU South Bend she has taught chemistry to non-science majors, science majors, nursing majors - as well as biochemistry to upper-level chemistry majors.  

In recent years she is known best for teaching the C102 lecture which combines the fundamentals of organic chemistry and biochemistry for pre-nursing majors.   Rakowski enjoys encountering her previous students in the workforce and has met several of her pre-nursing students in later years. She is looking forward to using the time that retirement will offer to share with her new and growing grandchildren.  Without Rakowski, and other adjunct instructors like her, our department simply would not function.  Thank you for your years of excellent service!

Chemistry and Math Students Publish Together

Math major Doan Le and Chemistry majors Abdullah Almayouf and Tyler Krause finally see their work from last Summer appear in print as Optimization of the Temple Lower Bound in the 2012 April issue of the Journal of Mathematical Chemistry. This article reports their work on the first of two projects with Professor Marmorino.


The final part of their second project was finished by Marmorino late last year and has just been submitted for publication.  Congratulations on your work and your upcoming graduation.  Perhaps we'll see more of you at our campus's Undergraduate Research Conference next month.

Brian A. Zeider Excellence in Biochemistry Scholarship

Brian Zeider was a chemistry and biology double major from IU South Bend. He received his PhD in biochemistry from Western Michigan University in metalloprotein biochemistry and started his post-doctoral studies before his untimely passing. At IU South Bend, Brian is remembered for his willingness to help others, his penchant for travel, and his diligence and perseverance. Brian engaged in undergraduate research at IU South Bend and summer research at the Ohio State University before applying for PhD programs.  

Scholarships will be a minimum of $1,000 per recipient, for one year. Scholarship recipients may reapply.  The number, amount, and recipient(s) of the Scholarship will be determined by The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. The Scholarship may be applied toward tuition in the upcoming academic year.  To apply, please send an email to Dr. Gretchen Anderson (ganderso@iusb.edu), and include your name, student number, and description in 500 words or less that describes your interest and accomplishments in biochemistry. Talking points might include a description of your research in biochemistry, biochemistry topics of interest to you, outreach efforts, how you’ve helped others reach their goals, and/or your career plans.  

· Recipients must have a minimum GPA of a 2.5 on a 4.0 scale.

· Recipients may be attending IU South Bend on a part-time or full-time basis, but must be taking at least 6 credit hours per semester.

· Recipients must be working toward a degree.

· Recipients must have completed one semester of a 2 semester organic chemistry course. 

· Preference will be given to biochemistry majors.

Scholarships

If you need money for tuition, then consider applying for scholarships.  IU South Bend offers many scholarships for students based on a wide variety of factors.  A listing of these can be found here.  The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers some of its own scholarships.  The following two are of interest to chemistry and biochemistry majors. 

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(1)  Lynn R. Williams Dean's Scholarship ($500)

(2)  Gerkin Scholarship ($1,000)

There are even scholarships within the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.  This year the department is pleased to announce the Brian A. Zeider Excellence in Biochemistry Scholarship ($1,000) which was spearheaded by 2003 alumnus Mark Royer.  Details about this scholarship will be announced soon.