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 The Department of Chemistry at Illinois, with its extraordinary history and outstanding students and faculty, is widely recognized as a major force in chemical research and education. Our goal is to continue to compete with the most elite departments in the country, many of which are private and benefit from very large endowments. Read more about Vision 2020...
 Imagine a machine that, when damaged, can heal itself. This may seem like a discovery of the distant future, or a work of science fiction, but as Dr. Jeffrey Moore of the Department of Chemistry at Illinois is showing, that innovation of the future is possible today. Discover Dr. Moore's exciting new research...
 When asked about events that lead to a particular path in life, some point to the impact of a single individual. For Dr. Victor Buhrke, an Illinois graduate in chemistry whose education and talent has lead him to high-level positions within the DuPont Company, RCA, and Picker X-Ray, that person was none other than his graduate advisor, Dr. George Lindenberg Clark. Find out more about Dr. Buhrke and his gift...
 A new study of the ribosome, the cell’s protein-building machinery, sheds light on the oldest branches of the evolutionary tree of life and suggests that differences in ribosomal structure among the three main branches of that tree are "molecular fossils" of the early evolution of protein synthesis. Learn more about Dr. Luthey-Schulten's research...
 Retired chemist and University of Illinois chemistry graduate Harvey Myers has many of the memories frequently held in life: marriage, family, a long and successful career, in his case at the UpJohn Company. But in addition to these, he has some special and less common ones—the memories of his own role in the Civil Rights movement and of meeting the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
Adapted from the article in the Kalamazoo Gazette;
Photograph by Mark Bugnaski of the Kalamazoo Gazette
Read more, including an interview with Dr. Myers...
 Recently, the Department of Chemistry received a gift from one of its most accomplished, yet humble alums: Dr. Richard E. Heckert. This endowed gift allowed the department to establish a distinguished chair as well as a graduate fellowship. Learn more about Dr. Heckert and his gift...
 In 2007, Dr. Scott Denmark traveled to Zürich, Switzerland, to receive an award of special importance, not only for its significance in chemistry, but also for him personally: the Vladimir Prelog Medal, awarded by the Organic Chemistry Laboratory of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH-Zürich). For more than 20 years, the Prelog Medal has stood as a distinguished achievement in the chemical world, recognizing not only excellence in chemistry, but also an individual who has made fundamental contributions to the field of stereochemistry. Heralded as an original and innovative thinker in stereochemistry, Denmark was a clear choice for the award due to his pioneering work in the invention and study of new, stereoselective, synthetic reactions. Read more about Dr. Denmark and the Prelog Medal...
 This year, 1,070 applications were received for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigators program. Fifty-six Investigators were chosen, with only two selected from the University of Illinois: Dr. Phillip Newmark, and the Richard E. Heckert Chair in Chemistry, Dr. Wilfred A. van der Donk. Learn more about Dr. van der Donk...
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Steven C. Zimmerman
One of the great joys of being department head is getting together with Illinois chemists all across this nation. The most common sentiment they voice is how special our program is—the extraordinary faculty, the state-of-the-art facilities, and the helpful staff. Very often I hear an alumnus say "I really owe much of my success to my time at Illinois."
Read more of the Department Head's Appeal...
To read the full Department of Chemistry Newsletter, please visit us at chemistry.illinois.edu/newsletter
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