Department
of Chemistry
Undergraduate
Advising Office
Orbitals
104 Chemistry
Building
Issue 143
What’s Happening in Chemistry Circles
September 4, 2009
Congratulations Chemistry Graduates!
979-845-0520
Need Advice?
Please call 979-8450520 to schedule an
appointment with Dr.
Gaede or Dr. Tiner
to talk about course
schedules, undergraduate research,
and career plans.
It is especially important to check in with
us if you plan to
graduate in or December.
Forty chemistry majors graduated in the May 16, 2009
graduation ceremony. Students
receiving a BA degree were
Brittney Amos, Hiren
Bhakta, Brian Bowers (cum
laude), Margarita Cavazos,
Karissa Cryer, James
Delfeld (magna cum laude),
Lucille Dewitt, Shyreen Dulanya, Shaelyn French, Corbin Gatlin (magna cum
laude), Kelly Glass, Grant
Helmreich, Seth Hunnicutt,
Marisa Jones, Christopher
Labrie, David Moore, Shinyoung (Jeena) Park, Anna
Plemons, Jessica Rago (cum
laude), Arpan Satsangi,
Caroline Scherrer, Leslie
Shaw, Lauren Smith, Jordan
Thiem, Madeline Tarrillion
(magna cum laude)Sara
Tilford, and Kelly Wagner
(summa cum laude). Students receiving a BS degree
included Aydee Alvarado,
Catherine Baxter (summa
cum laude), Jacob Dean
(cum laude), Virginia Funderbunk, Matthew Jungman,
James Maxwell, Matthew
Raiford, Codi Sanders,
Wayne Scott (cum laude),
Jennifer Sonne, Darryl
Stepien, Randall Suders, and
Erin West.
Six chemistry majors received
degrees at August 14, 2009
graduation ceremony. Four graduates received B.A. degrees: Mason Kovar, Nasha Pollard,
Aaron Gobert, and Brandon
Jakes. Two students graduated
with BS degrees: Trevor Davis
and Gregory Fritz.
This brings the total number of
chemistry graduates from the
2008-9 academic year to 68 — a
record!
Senior autobiographies can be
found starting on page 7.
Dr. K Receives Presidential Professor for Teaching Excellence Nod
Inside this
issue:
Undergraduate
Awards
2
Scholarship
Awardees
3
Old Ags
4
Faculty Good
News
5
Senior Autobiographies
7
Welcome New 13
Chemistry Majors and Faculty
Dr. Wendy L. KeeneyKennicutt was surprised in her
8 a.m. CHEM101 lecture on
Monday, April 27 by former
President Elsa Murano, former
Provost Jeffrey Vitter, and
Dean Joseph Newton with the
announcement that she had
been selected as a recipient of
the Presidential Professor for
Teaching Excellence Award at
Texas A&M University.
This award is the highest honor
bestowed by the university for
teaching excellence. The
$25,000 stipend is believed to
be the largest in the nation to
recognize teaching. Additionally,
Dr. Keeney-Kennicutt will maintain the title of Presidential Professor for Teaching Excellence
for the rest of her career at the
University.
Keeney-Kennicutt is the first
lecturer to receive the award
since it was created in 2003 to
underscore the importance of
teaching at a major research
university. She is third faculty
member in Chemistry to receive the award. Dr. Bergbreiter
received the award in 2006, and
Dr. Hogg received the award in
2007. Keeney-Kennicutt is
associate director of Texas A&M's
First Year Chemistry Program and a
longtime member of the Texas
A&M's popular Chemistry Road
Show. For the past 10 years, she also
has served as primary organizer of
Texas A&M's Chemistry Open House
and Science Exploration Gallery,
hosted each fall by the Texas A&M
Local Section of the American
Chemical Society in conjunction with
the Texas A&M Department of
Chemistry as part of National Chemistry Week.
Dr. K teaches the off-sequence
CHEM101 and CHEM102 courses.
(Portions of this article were taken
from the College of Science website
article by Shana K. Hutchins http://
www.science.tamu.edu/articles/
TOP+TEACHER:+Chemistry's+Keeney
-Kennicutt+Earns+Presidential+Profess
or+Award)
Page 2
Orbitals
Undergraduate Awards Ceremony Held April 17, 2009
The Chemistry Department held an
Awards Ceremony on April 17 to recognize recipients of the 2008-9 Undergraduate Achievement Awards.
The CRC Outstanding First Year Chemistry Course Award, given to the most
outstanding students in CHEM103/104
or CHEM101H/102H, was presented by
Dr. Don Darensbourg and Dr. Oleg
Ozerov to Jonathan Banke and Viviana Salom.
The Outstanding Students in Organic
Chemistry Award, given to the most
outstanding students in majors or honors organic chemistry, was presented by
Dr. Brian Connell and Dr. Dave
Bergbreiter to Merid Haile, Alex Mijalis, and Abby Sisco.
The Award for the Outstanding Analytical Chemistry Student, given to the student who has the strongest performance in CHEM415/434, was presented
by Dr. Manuel Soriaga to Justin Law.
The ACS Leadership Award, given to
the student who has shown the most
service to the student affiliates, was presented by Dr. Tammy Tiner to Corbin
Gatlin.
The Hypercube Scholar Award, presented to the an outstanding student
planning to attend graduate school in
chemistry, was presented to Jacob
Dean by his research advisor, Dr.
Simon North .
The Chemistry Department Achievement Awards, given to our most outstanding junior and senior chemistry
majors, were presented by Dr. David
Russell to Kaitlin Burke, Amanda
Cooke, James Delfeld, Corbin
Gatlin, Masato Hirai, Justin Law,
Katherine Popelka, Jessica Rago,
and Jennifer Wallace.
The Merck Index Award, for the most
outstanding chemistry major planning to
attend dental, medical, or veterinary
school, was presented by Dr. Holly
Gaede to Kelly G. Wagner.
The Hugh McLean Jr. Award, bestowed
upon the graduating senior who has
displayed unusual perservance in pursuit of the degree, was presented by
Dr. Timothy Scott to Kelly Glass.
The Chemistry Department Outstanding Undergraduate Award, given
to the most outstanding chemistry major, was presented by Dr. David Russell to Catherine Baxter.
The 2008-9 Scholarship winners were
also recognized. They are Scott
Johnsgard, Bradley Nolen, Shaelyn
French, Daniel Sanders, Crystal
Penaloza, Helen Hamilton, Jessica
Hemann, Kelli Pearce, Marissa
Proske, Christopher Jones, Jacob
Dean, James Delfeld, Corbin
Gatlin, Ivey Royall , Abby Sisco,
Sallie Finklea, Megan Stussi,
Whitney Becker, Randall Suders,
Hannah Cook, Katherine Popelka,
Kathy Webb, Clayton Mercer,
Kevin Arendt, Chiu (Felix) Yu,
Sean Lau, Jessica Rago, and Stacey Lehne.
The ceremony was followed by a cookies and punch reception. Congratulation to all award and scholarship recipients! We are proud of your achievements.
Residency
Requirement
The residency requirement states
that you must take
36 hours at the 300
& 400 level here at
TAMU. At least 12
hours must be taken
in your major.
This sneaks up on
some of our BA majors, so pay attention to your elective
course selection.
Welcome to Recently
Declared Chemistry
Majors
Zachary Beal
Doan Bui
Jeffrey DePue
Matthew Freeman
Stephen Gentry
Whitney Graham
Lindsey Shehan
Sean Springer
Justine Sustiata
Page 3
Orbitals
Chemistry Departmental Scholarships Awarded
Several scholarships were awarded by the Undergraduate
Awards Committee after May grades were received.
Twenty-seven students received nearly $70,000 in scholarship support!
Four Dow Aggies Scholarships were awarded to outstanding junior or senior chemistry majors. The awardees
are Kevin Arendt, Alice Cole, Scott Johnsgard., and Ian Kissell.
The George C. Bauer Scholarship, offered in honor of
a former outstanding teacher in the department, was
awarded to Allison Williams.
Sharon Merritt Birtcher Scholarship is awarded to
students planning to become teachers. The recipient is
Jamie Felps.
Dr. Minoru Tsutsui Memorial Scholarship is a recently endowed scholarship in honor of a former chemistry
faculty member. Given to a chemistry major who is a
Texas resident and plans a career in industry, the awardees
are James Hemmer and Christopher Jones .
Dr. Herman A. Liebhafsky Scholarship is a recently
endowed scholarship in honor of a former faculty member.
Given to a chemistry major based on financial need and
achievement; preference for someone from a “rural” Texas
area. The awardees are Ryan Fort, Katherine Popelka, and
Daniel Sanders.
Eileen and Harry Lewis Scholarship is an endowed
scholarship in honor of Eileen Lewis ‘65 and Harry (Hank)
Lewis ‘65. Preference given to a female chemistry major
based on financial need and not primarily academic achievement; application required. The awardees are Ivey Royall
and Abby Sisco.
•
Hach Scientific Foundation Scholarships for students planning to become teachers. The awardees are
Whitney Becker, Jessica Hemann, and Kelli Pearce.
The Dr. David W. Lipp ’66 Memorial Endowed
Scholarship in Chemistry. Established in November
2005 by the Lipp Family Foundation in memory of Dr.
David W. Lipp ’66, the scholarship provides support for
full time students in good standing pursuing an undergraduate degree in chemistry. The awardees are Auburn
James, Michael Moulder, Katherine Richards, and Louis
Robinett.
The Emile A. Schweikert Endowed Scholarship
was established in 2005 in honor of former Chemistry
Department Head Dr. Schweikert. The scholarship
provides support for a full time student in good standing pursuing an undergraduate degree in chemistry. The
awardees are Andrew Tindall and Kathy Webb .
The Connie G. and Otto F. (Pete) Schumm Endowed Scholarship in Chemistry. Is awarded to
Masato Hirai, Sean Lau, Allen Lunsford, and Felix Yu.
The Dr. John L. Hogg Endowed Scholarship in
Chemistry was established in memory of long-time
undergraduate advisor Dr. Hogg. The scholarship provides support for a full time student in good standing
pursuing an undergraduate degree in chemistry. The
awardee is Nicole Reusser.
The Dawn and David Mason Scholarship is
awarded to a chemistry major on the basis of academic
achievement. Preference is given to a member of the
corps of cadets. The recipient is Cullan Lucas.
All currently enrolled undergraduate chemistry majors are
routinely considered for the chemistry scholarships at the end of
each semester.
•
Our policy is to try to spread the scholarship money to as many
deserving students as possible.
•
Do not hesitate to inquire about any of these scholarships.
•
Some scholarships require applications, so please stop by Room 104 Chemistry to
pick up the application for us to keep on file.
Page 4
what was "alive" and what
was "not alive" and blew my
students minds when I taught
Tess Adams (B.A. 2008)
ability, consciousness, and
them that an apple, just
has begun an MS Program in
community at http://
plucked from a tree, is still
Kinesiology at the University savvysuccess.blogspot.com.
of the Incarnate Word in San Lorraine may be reached at considered to be living! It's
Antonio. She plans to apply
lorraine@savvysuccessunlimit hard work but it's good. I've
started to learn about my
for physical therapy school.
ed.com
students backgrounds
Kelly Martinez (B.S. 2008) (academically and nonacademically) and i'm starting to
Jessica Cuccio (B.A. 2008) wrote in: “I just wanted to
pass along the news that I had feel the burden of responsiwrote in with an update,
bility for getting them caught
“Since graduation I received
the opportunity to present
up and getting them to pass
several tempting job offers
at the IADR/AADR joint
the End-Of-Course exam
but, more importantly my
meeting this year in Miami
acceptances from physician
(International Association of which is required to graduate
high school in North Caroassistant schools. After lots
Dental Research/American
lina.” Friends may contact
of debate, I made the decision Association of Dental ReBrad at bnoof whose offer to take. In
search). I just got back and
len08@gmail.com
March, I decided to accept
was so glad that I got the
the offer from Mercy in New opportunity to experience
York City. Today, I finished
presenting at a major remy first semester in the pro- search meeting. My presen- Clayton Mercer (B.S.
gram! Two years from today, tation was on my research of 2008) had an exciting
I will graduate yet again and
titanium alloys in the Depart- July. “After an exhausting job
get to start practicing mediment of Biomaterials Science search I finally got on with
Alcon Labs in Fort Worth. I
cine! I'm so excited. It's
at Baylor College of Denamazing what we've learned
tistry: Grindability of Ti-6Al-4V am working as a formulation
chemist in the pharmaceutical
so far; even at this early stage Fabricated by Electron Beam
research department. On my
we have already begun diagMelting."
first day of work I got the call
nosing patients, etc. Anyway,
my wife was on the way to
I just wanted to thank you for Bret Macha (B.S. 2008)
Labor and Delivery and 7
all your help, working with
wrote in with an update. “I
my schedule that last semes- am currently starting my Mas- hours later I met my daughter
Lillian Olivia. So all in all
ter so that I was able to make ters project at Universite
it to my interview dates all
Laval in Quebec, Canada. My probably the most exciting
over the country.” Friends
professor is Dr. Fontaine and day I've ever had.” Clayton
may reach Jessica at aggiemy project is concentrated in later added some details
about his job: As a formulaborabenzene chemistry.”
jessc84@yahoo.com.
tion chemist at Alcon we
seek to find the best way to
Lorraine Lyman (B.A.
Brad Nolen (B.S. 2008)
deliver ophthalmic drugs into
1997) recently touched base wrote back from his Teach
the eyes. To do this we must
with news. “I have taken my
for America assignment, “I
problem solving and analytical just survived my 1st week of find the best condition to
carry the drug in an eye drop
thinking skills from Chemistry teaching honors biology at
form. Taking into considerabeyond the lab to start Savvy Harding University High
Success Unlimited, (http://
School. I love my school, it's tion the solubility of the drug
we prepare a solution, suswww.savvysuccessunlimited.c an IB magnet school on the
om/), a business and life
west side of Charlotte. It's a pension or emulsion. We
coaching company, curgood group of kids but they must make sure we meet a
rently specializing in corpoare underachieving because of variety of physical traits such
as pH, viscosity, and osmorate America's embodiment
the inequitable education
of the green movement. In
they've recieved before being lality to name a few. We also
addition, people can find me
accepted to the magnet pro- assess the stability of the drug
overtime. My particular
blogging about global sustain- gram. I taught a lesson on
Old Ags
Orbitals
group focuses on evaluation
new technologies and finding
new delivery systems.
Nathan Young (B.A.
2008) recently started the
Material Science Engineering
program at the University of
Texas in Austin. “This is my
last week at SAS and classes
are set to start on August
26th. I am very excited to be
teaching a TEM lab and working towards my masters. As
of right now I would like to
move to Silicon Valley after
graduation to further pursue
my career in semiconductors.” Nathan had been a
Material Technology Engineer
at Samsung Austin Semiconductor in Austin.
Charles Hamilton (B.S.
2001) sent in a quick update
recently. Charles’ younger
sister Helen is currently a
chemistry major here. “After
graduate school, I went to
work on a great project for
the Chemical Hydrogen Storage Center of Excellence with
R. Tom Baker and John
Gordon at Los Alamos National Laboratory. During my
time there, I met my wonderful wife Heather at a festival
in Denver. I then returned to
Boston to accept a senior
chemist position at a nanomaterial startup called QD
Vision. I'm still working in
synthetic chemistry, which I
love to do. Heather and I got
married in June and we currently reside in Watertown,
Ma. If anyone finds themselves around Boston, feel
free to look me up. My email address is chawhamilton@gmail.com.”
Page 5
Orbitals
First Class of ACS Fellows Includes
Five TAMU Chemistry Professors
Five faculty members in
our department have
been selected to become part of the first class
of American Chemical Society (ACS) Fellows. The
ACS Fellows Program was
created by the ACS Board
of Directors in December
2008 “to recognize members of the American
Chemical Society for outstanding achievements in
and contributions to Science, the Profession, and
the Society.”
John A. Gladysz, distinguished professor of
chemistry and holder of
the Dow Chair in Chemical
Invention; and Dr. D.
Wayne Goodman, distinguished professor of chemistry and holder of the
Robert A. Welch Foundation Chair. They were
honored at an Aug. 17 ceremony at the fall ACS national meeting in Washington, D.C., where each receive a lapel pin and a certificate.
The new ACS fellows are
Dr. Paul S. Cremer, professor of chemistry and
holder of the Arthur E.
Martell Chair of Chemistry;
Dr. Marcetta Y. Darensbourg, professor of chemistry; Dr. John P. Fackler
Jr., distinguished professor
emeritus of chemistry; Dr.
Only University of California at Berkeley had more
fellows elected. Ten fellows
were elected in all of Texas,
so TAMU contributed half!
Parts of this article were adapted
from
www.science.tamu.edu/articles/676
by Shana Hutchins.
Sigma Xi Honors Dr. Goodman
D. Wayne Goodman was honored as
the 2009 Sigma Xi Distinguished Scientist. Dr. Goodman is the holder of the
Robert A. Welch Foundation Chair and
Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at
Texas A&M. For more than 30 years he
has been a pioneering catalysis investigator, and his areas of interest include interfacial structures and interfacial reactivities in pure metals and metal oxides.
Sigma Xi is a diverse chapter-based organization dedicated
to the advancement of science and engineering through
outstanding programs and services delivered in a collegial
and supportive environment. The Society’s mission is to
recognize, encourage and promote scientific research at
Texas A&M University and to honor the community of
science scholars.
Bergbreiter Fish Camp Namesake
Dr. David Bergbreiter was selected as a 2009 Fish
Camp namesake. Fish Camp is divided into seven sessions
and within each session there are six camps. Each camp is
named after an individual that has contributed to Texas
A&M in a positive way. Fish Camp receives several hundred
nominations for potential Namesakes every year. Being
selected as a Fish Camp Namesake is considered an honor
because Namesakes have the opportunity to interact with
and impact not only 24 counselors, but also up to 150
freshmen in their camp. Nominations for Namesakes are
accepted during the fall semester and are announced the
following February.
Yennello’s REU Student Wins
Nuclear Chemistry Award
Robin Dienhoffer, Dr. Sherry Yennello’s REU student
in the Cyclotron Institute last summer from SUNY
Oswego, received the 2009 Charles D. Coryell Award in
Nuclear Chemistry based on her research on fragment
isoscaling. Contributions are judged on the basis of ingenuity, novelty, and potential usefulness. She was presented with the award certificate and $1000 check at the
August ACS meeting in Washington, DC.
Hilty and Son Win 2009 NSF
CAREER Awards
Drs. Christian B. Hilty
and Dong Hee Son have
been selected as 2009 recipients of the National Science
Foundation’s Faculty Early
Career Development Award.
Dr. Hilty is an assistant
professor who joined the
department in 2006. He received his Ph.D. at the ETH
in Zurich and did postdoctoral study at UC Berkeley.
His research focuses on using
dynamic nuclear polarization
to study the structure and
dynamics of membrane proteins with enhanced NMR
sensitivity. He has frequently
taught CHEM327, and also
developed the low-field
NMR lab for CHEM325.
Dr. Son is an assistant professor who joined the department in 2005. He received his Ph.D. at University of Texas and did postdoctoral study at UC
Berkeley. His research focuses on the dynamic optical, electronic, and magnetic
properties of inorganic
nanocrystals. He also developed the nanoparticle lab
for CHEM325 and is now
coordinator of the physical
chemistry laboratories.
Issue 143
Page 6
Dr. Romo earns NIH MERIT Award
Dr. Daniel Romo has been
selected to receive the
Method to Extend Research
in Time (MERIT) award from
the National Institutes of
Health. The prestigious
MERIT award is bestowed to
less than 5% of NIH-funded
investigators! Dr. Romo’s
research centers on the synthetic and mechanistic studies
of bioactive marine agents,
and he has included several
undergraduate researchers in
his group. He shares the
credit with his students, including his undergraduates:
“This award came as a great
surprise and blessing,” Romo
said. “I must give credit to
the excellent graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and also undergraduates
whom I have had and continue to have the privilege of
working with and who contributed to this program.
They are the ones who really
made this possible.”
Dr. Romo was a TAMU undergrad with a double major
in chemistry and biology. He
went on to do his Ph.D. at
Colorado State, and then did
a postdoc at Harvard before
returning to Texas A&M as a
faculty member.
Dr. Romo is also recognized
for his teaching, and is in fact
teaching the majors section
of CHEM227 this Fall!
To learn more about Dr.
Romo’s work, see his webpage http://
www.chem.tamu.edu/rgroup/
romo/
Page 6
Orbitals
What’s Happening in Chemistry Circles
Scott Johnsgard wins ACS video contest
Scott Johnsgard, a senior
Chemistry major, was
named a winner in the
American Chemical Society's National Video Competition for his video
"Resistant to Base!" The
award-winning video can be
seen on YouTube at http://
www.youtube.com/watch?
v=sWE6uPPmgb4
gust American Chemical
Society meeting in Washington DC where the videos
was highlighted.
Chemistry graduates
Carissa Smith, Kelly
Glass, Kelly DeCock,
Megan Stussi and Megan
Stroh make up the backup
band.
Scott received an all expense paid trip to the Au-
Sciences Career Fair to be Held Thursday, September 17
Looking for a science internship or a full-time job? Investigating
graduate and professional schools?
Visit the Sciences Career Fair, to be held Thursday, September 18th from 10 a.m.—3 p.m. in Rudder Tower — 1st
floor. This is a free event, open to all students. No preregistration is required.
Some of the companies attending are Dynagene/Lab Corp,
Monsanto, USDA, Texas Department of Public Safety Crime
Laboratory and USDA. For a complete list of companies
and schools attending, visit http://HireAggies.com.
Workshops designed to help you get the most out of the
Career Fair will be offered by the Career Center, including a
resume writing workshop on Tuesday, Sept. 8 from 5:156:15 p.m. in 111 Koldus and resume reviews on Thurs.,
Sept. 10 from 10 a.m.—1 p.m. in the BioBio Building Lobby;
Fri., Sept. 11 from 10 a.m.—1 p.m. in the BioBio Builidng
Lobby; and Fri., Sept. 11 from 12– 2 p.m in Eller Building
Room 109.
A Mix & Mingle with Recruiters and Former Students will be
held Wednesday, September 16 from 5:00-6:30 p.m. in
Koldus 209. Light refreshments will be served! This is a great
opportunity to learn more about the companies attending.
If you aren’t ready to seek an internship or a full-time job,
there are also volunteer opportunities, which may allow you
some time to interact with future employers.
The success of the Career Fair depends on having a good
student turn out. Companies don’t want to come unless
they’ll have the chance to interact with students. Even though
your graduation may seem a long time away, it’s really never
too early to start looking for employment!
For more information about the Career Fair, please contact
Marylin Yeager at marilyny@careercenter.tamu.edu.
Students interested in graduate school should reserve Friday,
October 2 for Graduate & Professional School Day, which
will be held from 10 a.m.—2 p.m. on Rudder Tower, 1st
floor. You will have the chance to visit with representatives
from 100 graduate programs and professional schools from
across the nation.
Page 7
Issue 143
The New Old Ags — Senior Autobiographies
My name is Aydee Alvarado and I was born in
Pasadena, Tx. I will be
graduating with a bachelors
of science degree in chemistry. The organizations that I
was in while attending Texas
A&M University was
HOSTS, American Chemical
Society, and Classroom
Partners. I also did volunteer work at strawberry
clinic in Pasadena Tx. I am
currently looking for a job
as a forensic chemist.
Catherine Baxter was
born and raised in Eagle
Pass, TX. In addition to a
B.S. degree in chemistry, she
also earned a minor in wildlife and fisheries sciences.
Her studies in both departments led her to research in
the field of ecotoxicology.
As a result of this research,
which focused on toxicants
in birds, she anticipates coauthoring several papers
and authoring an article in
the fall 2009 inaugural issue
of the Texas A&M undergraduate research journal.
Aside from academic interests, she is also a naturalist
and birdwatcher who enjoys
drawing, painting and the
outdoors. For the future,
she will be looking for a job
or internship in wildlife and
maybe graduate school in
toxicology later on.
ety of campus organization,
and was also the Academic
Chair for the American
Chemical Society Student
Affiliate Chapter. He enjoys
spending lots of time with
family and friends, and loves
many different sports. Hiren
will begin pharmacy school at
the Texas A&M Health Science Center’s Irma Lerma
Rangel College of Pharmacy
in Kingsville, Texas in the Fall.
He greatly appreciates his
time at Texas A&M, and
thanks all of the wonderful
people there who helped
make his undergraduate years
so special. He will miss college and will cherish all of the
memories forever!
Margarita Cavazos, class
of ‘09, was born and raised in
Brownsville, TX. She initially
chose to attend Texas A&M
for the engineering school
and enrolled as a chemical
engineering major. However,
after 2 years, she found her
passion was in chemistry
alone and switched majors.
She is graduating with a B.A.
in chemistry with a minor in
math. While at A&M, Margarita was part of the Society of
Hispanic Professional Engineers (served as historian),
Society of Women Engineers,
and the Honors Invitational
Hiren Bhakta was born in Program. She was also part of
the Aggieland yearbook staff,
Liberal, Kansas, but spent
most of his childhood in El
where she was a writer and
Paso, Texas. He received his the Greeks Editor during her
B.A. in Chemistry with a
senior year. Following
Biological Chemistry track
graduation, she will return
from Texas A&M in May of
2009. While at Texas A&M, home and work towards apHiren was involved in a vari- plying to pharmacy school in
the fall.
Jacob Dean was born in
Brenham, TX, where he
also graduated from high
school. He decided to go to
TAMU for chemistry after
realizing the intrigue in
chemistry's role in our
world (*extra flavor*). He
has worked for Dr. North
since last summer doing
vibrational relaxation studies on N2 and O2 in nonthermochemical equilibrium
by CARS. He is going to
Purdue for spectroscopy
research, probably in molecular dynamics.
Karissa Cryer. I am from
Farmersville, TX...the tiny
spec on the map about 45
minutes Northeast of Dallas. I was the only one from
my high school graduating
class of 84 to come to
TAMU, so I had to make a
brand new start and I threw
myself into an unknown
world and had to make my
way with new friends and a
new way to study
(Farmersville, TX is not a
good prepping place for
study habits). I have wanted
to be a doctor since about
6th grade, so I chose the
major of Biomedical Science
and I got involved in a ton
of organizations, including
BSA, Pre-Med Society, Fish
Camp, American Medical
Society, etc. I also got a job
working for TAMU athletics
as a Student Athletic
Trainer, and I have since
worked Women's Volleyball
(2006), Football (2007), and
Equestrian (2008). I have
also had the priveledge of
going to Melbourne and
Sydney, Australia (my favorite place) in summer of
2006 for a
medical forum via the organization International
Leadership Forum on Medicine.
During my course of study
under BIMS, I took Organic
Chemistry and fell in LOVE
with it! It was so easy for
me, and I had Dr. Pennington, which I loved. I owe
him alot: he was the one
who made me love organic
chemistry, and chemistry in
general, so I decided to look
into how much extra work
it would take me to get another degree in Chemistry.
After concluding that it
would just take another
year, I said "why not?!" and I
declared my Double Degree
status. After finishing and
graduating with a BIMS degree last May (2008), I have
been currently finishing up
my second degree in Chemistry. During this time, I
also became a tutor for student athletes in Inorganic,
Organic and Biochemistries
starting Fall of 2008. Hopefully, after graduation this
weekend, I will obtain
enough versatility to find a
job in this struggling economy. Here are my plans
after graduation (still not
sure, but here's my best
guess): I am on some wait
lists for medical schools, but
it is not likely I will be getting in this year. Therefore,
I am currently searching for
research/hospital/chemistry/
biomedical jobs that will
provide me with more experience to assist me in
getting into medical school
next year. I am moving
home to Dallas, and I will
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The New Old Ags — Senior Autobiographies
reapply for next year. So,
it's not that excited, and you
can see why I've been reluctant to write this...haha.
But, hopefully, I will get a
call sometime this summer
from Rocky Vista University
in Colorado with a spot for
me, and I will move up there
and start med school in August! It's so stressful…
Anyways, If I don't get in
this year, hopefully I will
next year. I know that it is
just a matter of when, and
not if. I will keep pursuing
medical school until I obtain
matriculation. I think perseverance is a big part of what
builds character, so I will do
my best to let it shape me
into a better person.
James Delfeld, class of ’09
grew up in Austin Texas. He
will be graduating with a
B.A. is chemistry and a B.S.
in math. During his stay in
Aggieland James played basketball, made use of Evans
Library, and attended Saint
Mary's. Next fall he will return back to Austin to pursue (and hopefully catch) a
Phd in Mathematics at UT.
He can hardly wait to flunk
his first t-sipper.
Lucy DeWitt was raised in
Nacogdoches, Texas. A&M
was the only school that she
wanted to go to and the
only school for which she
applied; there were no
other worthy option. She
was highly involved in
A&M’s Resident Hall Association during her three
years on campus. Culminating in being Vice President
of Community Develop-
ment her junior year, and
heading up the large Diversitee project that year, which
raised about $15,000 to print
and distributed close to 4,000
shirts free to students. She is
earning a BA in Chemistry
with a minor in History. Lucy
plans to return to A&M for
two more years in order to
earn a Masters in Education
and to earn her teaching certificate before going to teach
Chemistry in a high school
setting.
University of Houston College of Pharmacy.
Shaelyn French grew up
in Lampasas, TX. Shaelyn
began her career at TAMU
as a math major but quickly
discovered that she preferred chemistry. She is
graduating with a B.A. in
Chemistry and with a minor
in Anthropology. As a first
generation Aggie, life at
Texas A&M has been quite
an experience. Shaelyn
worked in the First Year
Programs Stockroom before
she has took a job in the
Civil Engineering Business
Shyreen Dulyana
I grew up all over the place
Office, where she has been
so I don’t have just one
for the past two years. She
hometown. I was born in
has been nominated for
Blantyre, Malawi, Africa and
Student Worker of the Year
lived there for 7 years. I
twice. Outside of academics,
moved to the U.S and lived in Shaelyn often volunteers in
Indiana for 7 years before
different projects and
moving to Allen, TX and liv- spends most of her free
time photographing her two
ing there for 6 years.
I am graduating with my B.A. adorable cats and playing
in Chemistry with my Biologi- her guitars. After graduation
cal Chemistry Track. I was
she is joining the Navy
involved in on campus organi- where she plans to specialzations such as the Preize in Advanced Electronics
Pharmacy Society and Adand Computers.
ventist Christian Fellowship. I
also worked as a student
Virginia Funderburk was
worker for the Department
born in Waco, TX but has
of Chemistry First Year Prolived in many cities including
gram for 2.5 years and then
Temple, Bryan, Crowley,
as a Teaching Assistant for
first year chemistry labs for 3 Belton, and Burleson, TX
and even lived in Stillwater,
semesters.
After I graduate, I will be at- OK for a time. She is a second generation aggie (her
tending pharmacy school in
the Fall 2009. I will be atfather is from the class of
tending Texas A&M Health
’75) and always knew she
would attend A&M. Virginia
Science Center College of
Pharmacy in Kingsville, TX as enjoys playing tennis, watchthe class of 2013 but I am
ing old movies, and reading
waiting to hear back from the in her free time. She
started out a physics major,
but then
switched to
chemistry at the end of her
freshman year when she
realized she preferred
studying chemistry. Virginia
worked in Dr. Clearfield’s
research group her senior
year. She is searching for a
full time job right now but
still plans on going to grad
school for her M.S. in the
future.
Corbin Gatlin grew up in
Magnolia, Texas. He earned
a B. A. in Chemistry and is
the first Aggie in his family.
During his time at Texas
A&M, Corbin participated in
the Pre Dental Society, research, and was Vice President and President of the
TAMU American Chemical
Society Student Affiliate
Chapter. He worked in Dr.
Abraham Clearfield’s research group beginning the
summer after his sophomore year until he graduated in May 2009. He will
continue his education in
the Texas A&M University
System at Baylor College of
Dentistry in Dallas, Tx pursuing a Doctorate in Dental
Surgery.
Kelly Elizabeth Glass was
born and raised in Arlington, TX. After graduating
from Lamar High School,
she received a scholarship
for those pursuing a chemistry degree from the Welch
Foundation in Houston.
Kelly is graduating with a
Bachelor of Arts in chemistry. While enrolled in Texas
A&M University, she was a
Issue 143
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The New Old Ags — Senior Autobiographies
member of the Aggie Optometry Association. Kelly
also assisted the Chemistry
Department by setting up
experiments for the Chemistry Open House and was a
band member (lead bass) in
the Chemistry Departments
music video, Addicted to
Base. The Department of
Chemistry chose Kelly to be
the recipient of the Hugh
McLean Jr. Award. The
award honors a student
who has demonstrated unusual dedication and perseverance in pursuit of the
degree. Kellys plans are to
become an optometrist and
spend time doing mission
work in impoverished areas.
She will take the Optometry
Admissions Test (O.A.T.)
over the summer and hopes
to attend the University of
Houston’s College of Optometry Fall 2010. Kelly’s
favorite activities are running and playing volleyball.
Seth Austin Hunnicutt,
Class of 2008, came to
Texas A&M from the Rio
Grande Valley as a first generation Ag. Its hard to narrow his home town down
to just one locale as he
moved around quite a bit
growing up. Currently his
parents and home are located outside of Kerrville,
TX. During his freshman
and sophomore years Seth
was involved in Freshman
Leaders in Christ, first as a
member then as staff. From
this organization Seth was
introduced to the men that
would become his roommates and brothers for four
years. During his Junior year
Seth did a stint as a stock-
room worker in the Organic
Chemistry Lab. Through this
position he became an expert
and identifying glassware and
equipment based on such
thorough student descriptions as “I need the thing that
goes into the other thing that
is curved like this.” While
working this job he meet his
best friend. For the last two
years Seth has been gainfully
employed as a Certified Pharmacy Technician at CVS/
pharmacy. This job revealed
that he didn’t actually want to
go to pharmacy school or
ever work in retail again for
that matter, though the job
did provide quite a few good
stories. After graduation Seth
plans on getting a job. He
would like to do some form
of analytical work ideally
working for a law enforcement agency doing drug
analysis. Seth would love to
wind up back in San Antonio,
close to friends and family but
is open to whatever the future holds for him. (Editor’s
Update: Seth accepted the
position of Quality Assurance
Technician for HEB’s Milk and
Culture Plant in August!.)
Marisa Jones, class of 2009,
grew up in Cypress, TX. She
is graduating with a B.A. in
chemistry and is planning to
attend pharmacy school in
the near future. In July, she
will be moving back to Cypress to work as a pharmacy
technician at CVS pharmacy
to prepare her for a life
working in a pharmacy. Marisa will be getting married in
July to her fiancé, Kyle Smith,
and will then live together
with their puppy, Ruby. She
has now reached her goal of
graduating from Texas A&M,
the only college she ever
considered
attending.
While an undergraduate,
she enjoyed life and was
involved in the TAMU PrePharmacy Society and the
TAMU Cancer Society. She
is definitely sad to leave
Texas A&M and College
Station, but is really looking
forward to the future and all
of the exciting things to
come. (Editor’s update: After about a month as a
pharmacy technician at CVS,
Marisa began research with
going well.)
partment, synthesizing catalysts to copolymerize carbon dioxide and epoxides.
In my spare time, I enjoy
playing golf and the sax. The
summer will see me trying
to qualify for a national golf
tournament: the Amateur
Public Links Championship. I
plan to enter graduate
school at Southern Mississippi in the fall of 2009
studying Polymer Science.
My career goal is to work as
a research chemist, studying
polymers, surfactants, emulsions or inorganic chemistry
in the industrial workforce.
Matt Jungman. I was born
and raised in Pflugerville,
TX, which is just north of
Austin and texas university
to a family of burnt orange
affiliation. I will earn a
Bachelor of Science degree
with two majors: Chemistry
and Math. The order is very
important; chemistry is my
primary academic focus.
During my time at TAMU, I
was a four-year member of
both the Concert Band and
the Hullabaloo Band
(basketball and volleyball
spirit band), playing the alto
saxophone. I got my first
taste of research chemistry
during the summer of 2007,
where I worked as an intern
at Sasol North America in
Lake Charles, LA, studying
the physical properties of
various surfactants. The
next summer and throughout this school year, I’ve
been conducting research
with Don Darensbourg in
the inorganic chemistry de-
Chris LaBrie was born
and raised in San Antonio
Texas where he graduated
from Keystone school. He
wanted to be an aggie his
whole life and started in the
Fall of 2005. When deciding
a major he was unsure of
what he ultimately wanted
after he graduated college.
Chemistry seemed to afford
him the most options without closing as many doors
to other possible fields.
Once on campus, he never
missed a home football
game and became involved
in many on campus organizations. Freshman year he
was involved in MSC FISH,
TAMU men’s lacrosse, and
Fish Camp. Sophomore year
Chris was accepted into
MSC LEAD where he was
able to be part of the Aggies
Reaching Out program. In
addition, he was also a Fish
Camp counselor for his
second year. Around this
time Chris decided to add a
clinical trials at an asthma and
allergy clinic. She has been
working there for about 2
months now and it seems to be
Page 10
Issue 143
The New Old Ags — Senior Autobiographies
biology minor to his degree.
This would afford him even
more options in the different medical fields. This was
good because he still didn’t
know what he wanted to do
after graduation. Junior year
brought harder classes.
Quantitative analysis with
Dr. Macfarlane turned out
to be one of his best classes
that year. Chris also joined
MSC Hospitality that year in
order to continue his involvement on campus. He
would continue with Hospitality throughout his senior
year, accepting the duties of
a huddle leader for two
semesters. After somehow
finding his way through
physical chemistry, Chris
was able to graduate with
his Bachelor of Arts degree
in Chemistry and a Biology
minor in the Spring of 2009.
He is currently applying to
Veterinary school at Ross
University as well as several
pre-veterinary
graduate
programs. His time and his
degree in chemistry at
Texas A&M gave his the
skills and knowledge to pursue multiple professional
school or job opportunities.
He will always remember
his time at A&M as some of
the best years of his life.
(Editor’s Update: Chris was
accepted to Ross and begins
in the Sept. 09 term!)
ate of pharmacy degree. Outside of academics David was a
TA for the freshman chemistry department and an active
member in the Corps of Cadets Squadron 2. He would
like to thank his family for all
their support throughout his
four years at A&M.
August to attend pharmacy
school at the University of
Nebraska Medical Center.
Matthew Raiford was
born and raised in Beaumont, Texas. He is a first
generation Aggie and has
loved his time at the university. Since he toured the
campus in high school, he
knew it was the college for
him. At Texas A&M Matthew majored in Chemistry,
getting a BS degree. In his
sophomore year, he started
working as an undergraduate research assistant in Dr.
Abraham Clearfield's research group. Shortly after
joining the group, he realized that he loved research
and wished to pursue a doctorate degree in chemistry.
Matthew will begin pursuing
his doctorate in Chemistry
at the University of Texas
beginning this fall. Outside
of academics, Matt loves to
read, watch movies, and
swim. He also learned the
value of developing a relationship with God after
meeting the love of his life,
Jen.
Jeena Shinyoung Park,
class of '09, majored in
Chemistry with a minor in
Business Administration. She
was involved in various
school activities including
many of international student
affairs and eventually became
Vice president of Korean
Student Association. She also
performed at many concerts
as a cellist in Brazos Valley
Symphony Orchestra and
volunteered as a translator
and pianist at her church. She
met so many great friends
which she built priceless relationships through Texas A&M
University and she will never
be able to forget anyone.
After she graduates, she will
pursue her dream of healing
people’s body and soul as a
nurse. She would like to take
this opportunity to thank
loving God and her parents,
James and Christine Park, for Arpan Satsangi was born
all the love and support.
and raised in San Antonio,
Texas. He is a national winJessica Rago. I am originally ner of the 2003 Siemens
from Omaha, Nebraska and
Westinghouse Competition,
am a third generation aggie.
and in 2005, he was inDuring my four years at A&M ducted into the National
David Moore, Class of 09, I was a member of Best Bud- Gallery of America’s Young
was born into a military
dies and Delta Zeta. I reInventors. Arpan became
family and grew up in eight
ceived the Schumm Scholar- interested in biomedical
different states. He is gradu- ship my senior year. I will be research in high school and
ating with a BA in chemistry graduating in May with a
used to visit Texas A&M for
and will be attending pharBachelor of Arts in chemistry science competitions, where
macy school at the Univer- with a track in biological
he presented his research
sity of Texas at Austin in
chemistry. I look forward to on phospholipid-modified
the fall, to pursue a doctor- moving back to Omaha in
surfaces for bone implants.
Impressed by
the campus, he decided to
join this university for his
undergraduate studies.
While at Texas A&M, Arpan
worked under the tutelage
of Dr. Gary Kunkel to investigate eukaryotic gene transcription in human cells and
transgenic zebrafish models.
He also briefly investigated
lipoprotein properties with
Dr. Ronald Macfarlane, and
endothelial/smooth muscle
cell interactions with investigators in San Antonio. He
is graduating with a B.S. degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology and B.A. degree
in Chemistry. Arpan will
begin work towards a Ph.D.
in Biomedical Engineering
from a joint UTSA/
UTHSCSA program this fall.
Caroline Scherrer grew
up in Pearland, Texas,
where she attended Pearland High School. Following
her graduation, she chose to
attend Texas A&M University, against her Longhorn
parents’ wishes. There, she
eventually earned a B.A. in
Chemistry with a minor in
Film Studies. Caroline was
also a member of Aggies
Selflessly Serving in Shaping
Tomorrow, served as the
president of Off Campus
Aggies and taught swimming
lessons during her time at
Texas A&M. She plans on
using her chemistry degree
in the medical field.
Kevin Wayne Scott, Jr.
was born in Dallas, Texas,
but of late, hails from
Georgetown, Texas. In high
school, he determined to
obtain a double major in
Issue 143
Page 11
The New Old Ags — Senior Autobiographies
chemistry and physics.
Texas A&M proved to be
the most appealing university to achieve this goal. He
successfully obtained his
double major in addition to
a math minor in three years,
and will continue his schooling in the doctorate program at Texas A&M for
physical chemistry with the
Bevan research group. At
Texas A&M, Wayne served
as the IT chair for the ACSSAC for two years, as a
general councilmember on
Honors Student Council for
a three semesters, and on
the Honors Invitational Peer
Leaders executive council
for one year with a co-chair
position in fundraising. Recently, he was inducted into
Phi Lambda Upsilon, the
chemistry honor society.
Finally, Wayne was especially involved in Bible studies throughout his three
years at Texas A&M.
Lauren Smith, class of '08
is graduating with a B.A. in
Chemistry in May. She is
from Clear Lake, TX and
after graduation she is marrying Marcus Dunn (M.S.
Computer Engineering) and
moving to San Jose, CA for
his job with Cisco. Here,
she will continue her efforts
to become a professional
surfer while utilizing her
degree. She was greatly involved in the Outdoors
program with the Department of Recreational Sports
since 2005 working as an
outdoor trip guide for rock
climbing, surfing, and slacklining, as well as working at the
indoor climbing facility and
was named Outstanding Employee of the Year in 2008
(check out her brick in front
of the Rec Center). Lauren
and her dog are excited
about the journey ahead and
plan on visiting Aggieland at
every opportunity. All in all,
she's hoping the whole surfing thing pans out.
been working for Baker
Hughes Petrolite in Sugar
Land, Texas, as an Innovations Chemist in the Production Optimization group.
Madeline Tarrillion is
class of 2008. She is from
Houston, TX. She is receiving a double major in Chemistry
and
Philosophy.
Through my Philosophy
degree, she has learned how
to step outside hercomfort
zone of science classes and
relate well to non-scienceminded individuals. This
ability will serve her well in
Jennifer Louise Sonne,
relating to her patients
class of 2009, was born in
when she becomes a docHouston, Texas. She majored tor. Next year, she will be
in Chemistry, and pursued
attending UNT's medical
her love of History in her
school (TCOM) in Fort
minor. She was in the Corps Worth, TX. Throughout
of Cadets and Army ROTC
her time at A&M, she was a
during her time at Texas
member of CARPOOL for
A&M and eventually became 4.5 years, involved at St.
the only female company
Mary's Catholic Church in
commander in the Corps her various ministries, played
senior year. After graduation, intramural soccer every
she hopes to be commissemester, and competed in
sioned into the US Navy in
many half marathons and
the Nuclear Propulsion Pro- triathlons.
gram.
Darryl Stepien, class of
2008, was born in Southern
Ontario, Canada, but has
been calling Lake Jackson,
Texas, home for the past 8
years. He started his studies
at A&M as a Chemical Engineering student but transferred to Chemistry about
halfway through his University career. Darryl has really
enjoyed research with the
Dunbar Group for the past
two semesters, where he
helped Matt Hilfiger and
Carolina Avendano with their
work on Prussian Blue compounds. As of July, he has
Sarah Tilford, from Aledo,
TX, is graduating with a B.S.
in Biomedical Science and a
B.A. in Chemistry. She is a
University Honors Scholar
and an Honors Fellows
Graduate, and has been
actively involved in research,
as well as volunteering with
a community crisis pregnancy center throughout
her undergraduate career. While an undergraduate student, Sarah additionally spent six months in Mae
Sai, Thailand, working for
The Development and Education Program for Daugh-
ters and Communities, a non-profit
organization seeking to end
child-prostitution and human trafficking in South-East
Asia. She will be continuing
her education this fall at
Texas Tech School of Medicine in hopes of serving the
community as a women's
health physician.
Kelly Wagner was raised
in Fort Worth, TX. Having
no idea where to go to college, Kelly decided to follow
her brother and sister to
A&M. It only took a few
minutes into Fish Camp that
Kelly fell in love with the
university and became a
dedicated Aggie. Kelly is
graduating with a B.A. degree and the biological
chemistry track option. In
her free time at A&M, Kelly
developed a love of cooking
and cheap movie tickets.
She became very much involved with the campus
organizations GUIDE and
AOLP, and she worked for
a year in a molecular genetics research lab. After
graduation, Kelly will be
attending the UT Health
Science Center at San Antonio School of Medicine.
Kelly is unsure what type of
medicine she will pursue,
but knows that whatever
she picks, she'll be fine with
a great background in chemistry.
Erin West, class of 2008,
was born in Mt. Pleasant,
TX and grew up in Angleton, TX. As a first generation Aggie, she came to
Texas A&M University not
entirely aware of the wonderful choice she had made
Issue 143
Page 12
Brandon Jakes is from Tyler, TX. He was involved in Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc, where he served as president
this past year, black student advisory council (BSAC), black
or the amazing experiences she was about to have. She
student alliance (BSA). ExCEL, MEDALS, New Student Conquickly found her place at A&M through the organization Fish ference program facilitator, tutor, mentor, volunteer and at
Camp that she was involved in for the next five years. She
the Lincoln Center and Boys and Girls Club of Brazos Valley,
became a proud Fish Camp co-chair in 2008! Erin has earned Spokesperson for the Welcome to Aggieland Video for Asa Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry and has a profound sociation of Former Students, Department of Multicultural
interest in math. After realizing that her true interest is edu- Services Ambassador, Greek Student Advisory Council. He
cation, she has decided to become a middle school science
is teaching IPC at Nimitz Senior High School in Houston, Tx
teacher. She plans to teach near Houston, TX. Erin is curand has aspirations
rently a Brownie Girl Scout troop leader in Angleton, TX.
of attaining a Master's in Educational Administration, becomShe loves being a role model to the younger girls and hopes
ing a principal and founding my own youth center for disadvantaged kids of all ages. He is the proud father of Jacob
to inspire them to love science as much as she does!
Elijah Lewis Jakes, born April 21, 2009.
The New Old Ags: Senior Autobiographies
Summer Graduates
Nasha Pollard was born and raised in Houston, TX. Ever
since she was a little girl, she knew that she wanted to atAaron Gobert graduated from TAMU with a BA in chemistend Texas A&M University. She has now received a B.A. in
try with a business minor. Right now he is looking for a job
chemistry and is the first person in her family to receive a
with a chemical company and hopes to work on the business
college degree. During her time at Texas A&M University,
side of the chemical company. A few years down the line he
she participated in a few organizations including ExCEL, an
hopes to attend Texas Chiropractic College in Pasadena to
organization that helps incoming freshman with their transiget my D.C. in Chiropractic. He was homeschooled his ention into college, and SBSLC, an organization that puts totire life from pre-K to 12 grade by his mom and dad in Housgether the Southwestern Black Student Leadership Conferton where he was born and raised. While here at A&M, he
ence. In between studying and participating in school organiplayed numerous amount of intramural sports and loves to
zations, she also worked as a pharmacy technician at CVS
play golf and basketball in his spare time.
pharmacy. After graduation, she plans to move back to
Houston, where she will continue to work as a pharmacy
Greg Fritz. I was born April 19, 1987 (Easter Sunday) in the technician and prepare herself to apply to pharmacy school
distant town of Bryan, Texas. I attended Bryan schools since
for the following year.
elementary and graduated Bryan High School in 2005. I had
been accepted to A&M’s engineering school since the spring
Future Aggies
of 2005 and started my college adventure off in the following
fall. After starting the engineering program I almost immediately changed my major to chemistry. I highly enjoyed my
engineering chemistry class and was doing better in it than all
my other ones I was taking at the time! Once I made the
switch I never looked back as I continued on with my college
journey. In the chemistry program I became most interested
in the field of organic chemistry, and took as many classes
that dealt with organic studies as possible, including my student research in the field of natural product synthesis. I
earned my Aggie ring the end of my junior year and constructed a custom one that is white gold with a canary yellow
diamond. I enjoy things I own to be one of a kind from cars
Jacob Elijah Lewis Jakes, son
to computers, and consider customization a hobby of mine.
of Brandon Jakes (B.A.
Now that I am out of school I’m looking forward to starting
2009) was born on April
the work force so I can fund my rambunctious hobbies! I
21, 2009 at 11:37 pm. 5 lbs Lillian Olivia Mercer with
really enjoyed attending Texas A&M and recommend to any
her Dad, Clayton Mer14 oz and 19.5 inches in
student to take 12 hour semesters in the spring, fall and sumcer (B.S. 2008). She
length. He came about a
mer to get 36 hours a year with less class load at a given
month early, but he is doing was born July 13, 2009,
time, By doing so one can truly enjoy their time in college
great and everything is going weighing in at 6 lbs 4 oz.
and not be too stressed out to have a little fun in life!
well. For more information For more about Clayton,
See Old Ags .
on Brandon, see the Senior
Autobiographies.
Issue 143
Department Welcomes
New Students and
Faculty
We welcome the second largest
class of incoming freshman, with 93
new chemistry majors and 8 transfer
students. These undergraduates are
joined by one of the largest incoming
class of graduate students; 75 new
graduate students join us this Fall.
Two new faculty members also join
the department this Fall. Dr. Tadhg
Begley joins the department as the
D. H. R. Barton Professor of Chemistry from Cornell University where
he was a Professor. Dr. Begley’s
research interests are in the area of
vitamin biosynthetic pathways and
mechanistic enzymology. Dr. Begley
has a strong interest in the development of chemical biology and recently coauthored The organic chemistry of biological pathways with John
McMurry. He is also the editor of
the Wiley Encyclopedia of Chemical
Biology and is a member of several
editorial boards. Dr. Begley welcomes undergraduates to join his
laboratory and his classes. He is currently teaching a graduate course in
biosynthesis.
Dr. Karen Wooley joins the department as the W.T. DohertyWelch Chair in Chemistry from
Washington University-St. Louis
where she was the James S. McDon
(continued on page 15)
Page 13
Welcome New Chemistry Majors!
Stephen Adams Lake Highlands High School Dallas TX Rebecca Adeoti Alief Taylor High School Houston TX Akintayo Akinrinlola George Bush High School Houston TX Adriana Amagliani Copperas Cove High School Fort Hood TX Alaina Anderson Magnolia High School Magnolia TX Charles Arvin Fort Bend Baptist Academy Sugar Land TX Adewumi Babalola George Bush High School Richmond TX Joshua Basse Burnet High School Burnet TX Adam Bilow Ceasar Rodney High School Camden DE Eric Blackman Klein Collins High School Spring TX Dakota Brock Hayesville High School Brasstown NC Kathryn Broze Rockwall High School Rockwall TX Hector Casarez San Benito High School San Benito TX Katherine Cerrato Stephen F Austin High School Houston TX Samuel Choi McNeil High School Austin TX Candace Colbert Ozen High School Beaumont TX Macy Cotton Midland Christian School Midland TX Chance Cozart Childress High School Childress TX Katherine Cude Copperas Cove High School Killeen TX Richard Elliott Allen Academy Caldwell TX Caroline Eppler Grace Community School Tyler TX Nohely Escobedo Leo Cigarroa High School Laredo TX Megan Esteb Fort Bend Baptist Academy Stafford TX Bilal Farrakh Plano Sr. High School Plano TX Bobbie Fry Sinton High School Sinton TX Jon Fuson Clear Brook High School Houston TX Kyle Ganaway Robinson High School Robinson TX Laura Gibson Dallas Christian High School Sunnyvale TX Chizobam Ginigeme Lewisville High School Lewisville TX Omar Gonzalez‐Torres Robinson High School Robinson TX Jakalyn Gossett Central High School San Angelo TX William Jeanes Friendswood High School Houston TX Erica Jenkins Mussellman High School Bunker Hill WV Cole Jones St. Anthony Ctholic High Sch San Antonio TX Jun Ju Langham Creek High School Houston TX Colyn Jurek Robinson High School Waco TX Muhammad Khan Memorial Sr. High School Houston TX Mitra Khumbatta William P Clements High School Sugar Land TX Kelly Kilfoyle Willis High School Willis TX Paul Kim Coppell Sr. High School Coppell TX Abbey Leabo Magnolia High School Magnolia TX (continued on next page)
Issue 143
Page 14
Welcome More New Chemistry Majors!
Kristin Light Robinson High School Robinson TX Yen‐Nan Lin Texas Academy Math & Science Keller TX Robert Litwin St. Thomas Academy Mendota Heights MN Calvin Mark Robert E Lee High School Flint TX Mariza Martinez Bryan High School Bryan TX Morgan McConnell Mineral Wells High School Mineral Wells TX George McDaniel Langham Creek High School Houston TX Ethan Mcghee Mercersburg Academy Mercersburg PA Stacey Moller Alvin High School Rosharon TX Lauren Montagnino Thorndale High School Thorndale TX David Munoz Eisenhower High School Houston TX Samantha Nash Longview High School Longview TX Tung(Thomas) Nguyen Plano West Sr. High School Plano TX Dustin Payne St. Michaels Catholic Academy Austin TX April Pender Harmony Science Academy Austin TX Mark Porterfield Jersey Village High School Houston TX Anisha Prabakaran Cinco Ranch High School Katy TX Oscar Prado Lamar Consolidated High School Richmond TX Haley Quinlan Cypress Woods High School Cypress TX Ulises Rangel Liberal Arts & Science Academy Austin TX Haley Rider Cedar Park High School Austin TX Timothy Rockwell Crosby High School Crosby TX Nancy Romo Lufkin High School Lufkin TX Kayla Rother Hallettsville High School Hallettsville TX Sukhvir Sandhu Morton Ranch High School Katy TX Brennon Sessions Woodlands High School Spring TX Suji Shin St. Stephens Episcopal School Austin TX Hannah Smock Mirabeau B Lamar Sr. High School Houston TX Kyle Solomon Alamo Heights High School San Antonio TX Melanie Sprouse Randall High School Amarillo TX Garrett Steiger Friendswood High School Friendswood TX Rebecca Stewart Whitehouse High School Whitehouse TX Mary Stewart Wagner High School Converse TX Loran Termine Woodlands High School The Woodlands TX Victoria Thomas A&M Consolidated High School College Station TX Nicholas Thomeer Strake Jesuit College Prep Houston TX Andrew Tobias Robstown High School Robstown TX Kimberly Trevino Cypress Woods High School Houston TX Stephanie Troxell Seven Lakes High School Katy TX Viet Truong Central High School Fort Worth TX Ileana Umana John Marshall High School San Antonio TX Caitlen Walker A&M Consolidated High School College Station TX Hope Walkup Trinity Christian High School Shallowater TX (continued
on next
page)
Welcome More New Chemistry Majors!
DEPARTMENT OF
CHEMISTRY
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX
77843
Phone: 979-845-0520
Fax: 979-845-2338
E-mail:
hgaede@mail.chem.tamu.edu
Christopher Wilson West Brook Sr. High School Beaumont TX Tiffany Wong Colleyville Heritage High School Euless TX Sydney Wong West Brook Sr. High School Beaumont TX Andrew Wright Stephen F Austin High School Austin TX Ivan Wu Naperville Central High School Naperville IL Han Xiao Westwood High School Austin TX Zakry Zapata W B Ray High School Corpus Christi TX Welcome Transfer Chemistry Majors!
Maciel Adame LW Fox Academic & Tech High School San Antonio TX Alisha Berryhill Mansfield High School Mansfield TX Rachel Chupik Texas Home School Rogers TX Kurt Johnson Tom C Clark High School San Antonio TX Vanessa Marietta Abeka Academy Video Homeschool Needville TX Paul Rodgers Holliday High School Holliday TX Samir Shrestha High School In Nepal Nepal NP Karen Weir A&M Consolidated High School College Station TX Chemistry Department Additions
(continued from page 13)
nell Distinguished University Professor in Arts & Sciences.
Dr. Wooley’s research interests are focused on the design,
synthesis, and characterization of unique polymers. Many of
the polymers she designs have unique nanostructures, including some with biological and medical applications. In addition
to her numerous scientific publications, Dr. Wooley has four
patents related to polymers and dendrimers. One of Dr.
Wooley’s graduate students who will be coming to join her
group at TAMU is Sandani Samarajeewa, (B.S. 2008).
Check out our new
look on the web
http://
www.chem.tamu.edu/
ugrad/
Class of 2003-4 Survey
Howdy! If you graduated between December 2003 to May 2004, we invite you to
take a brief survey.
Please enter the follow url to complete the
survey:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?
sm=4F8tMxoXrtYscvjrWEPSAw_3d_3d
We are interested in your opinion in how
well your chemistry degree prepared you
for your career path now that you are a
few years out from graduation. The survey will close soon, so please hurry! Thank
you!
NASA Undergraduate
Research Opportunities
Valerie Meyers (B.A. 2000) who spoke to
CHEM100 last Fall about her career as a NASA
toxicologist recently sent Dr. Tiner a note about
a new publicly available education website.
It has information about the undergraduate student research program and the reduced gravity
student flight opportunities
http://education.jsc.nasa.gov