The Department of Chemistry Times
An Electronic Newsletter of the Department of Chemistry
State University of New York
College at Brockport
Volume 2, No. 3
Brockport, NY 14420
June 2003
of Chemists Award. His research was
supported during the 2002 summer sessions
by Hoffmann’s Dreyfus Foundation grant.
Meet our Graduates,
The Class of 2003
By Thomas W. Kallen
Carr will be attending SUNY at Buffalo this
fall as a graduate student in their PhD
program in Chemistry. He has received a
teaching assistantship and scholarship to
support his graduate studies.
The department will report a total of ten
graduates to the American Chemical Society
Committee on Professional Training this year.
Nine SUNY Brockport seniors graduated with
majors in chemistry in May 2003, while one
graduated with a major in chemistry last
August. Four students earned American
Chemical Society certification of their major
programs. A brief description of each of our
May graduates follows:
Darren R. Fry, a resident of Brockport NY,
and member of Delta College, completed a
major in chemistry.
Michael J. Potter, a Buffalo NY resident and
transfer student from the SUNY College of
Technology at Alfred, completed a American
Chemical Society certified major in chemistry.
Gordon H. Brown, a Rochester NY resident
and transfer student from SUNY Cortland,
completed an earth sciences water resources
major and geology minor in addition to his
chemistry major.
Brown, the 2003
Departmental Scholar of the Department of
Earth Science and recipient of the 2003 Sigma
Xi Award for Undergraduate Research in
Earth Science, participated in research in
geochemistry with Professor Mark R. Noll of
the Department of Earth Sciences. He will be
attending the University of Florida this fall
as a graduate student in their MS program in
Environmental Engineering and has received
a research assistantship to support his
graduate studies.
Shawn P. Powers, a resident of Rochester
NY, transferred from SUNY College of
Technology at Alfred to complete an
American Chemical Society certified major in
chemistry while being employed full time at
Eastman Kodak Company. Powers earned
the 2003 Sigma Xi Award for Undergraduate
Research for his research as an independent
study student under Professor Thomas W.
Kallen and Mr. John O. Young of Eastman
Kodak. Powers returned to being “just” a
full-time employee of Eastman Kodak
Company, but is considering, rumor has it,
part-time graduate studies at the Rochester
Institute of Technology
Jason B. Carr, a Rochester resident, earned a
major in chemistry and minor in meteorology.
Carr received the 2003 Sigma Xi Award for
Undergraduate Research in Chemistry, based
on his research under Professor Markus M.
Hoffmann, and was selected by the faculty as
the recipient of the 2003 American Institute
Amanda B. Sturdevant, a resident of
Clockville NY, completed an American
Chemical Society certified major in chemistry
and a second major in criminal justice.
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Sturdevant, who was a President’s Scholar
throughout her four years at SUNY
Brockport, was also the recipient of the 2003
Paul J. Kronthaler Memorial Prize in
Chemistry, the 2003 Chemistry Achievement
Award of the Rochester Section of the
American Chemical Society, the 2003 Sigma
Xi Award for Research in Chemistry for her
research under Professor Mark P. Heitz, and
the 2003 SUNY Chancellor’s Award for
Student Excellence. She was also the 20012002 vice president and 2002-2003 president
of the Chemistry Club, a student affiliate
chapter of the American Chemical Society.
Topolnycky will enter the DDS program of
the SUNY at Buffalo School of Dental
Medicine this fall.
Christopher M. Woods, a resident of
Rochester NY, completed a major in
chemistry. Woods received the 2003 Sigma
Xi Award for Undergraduate Research for his
research under Professor Markus M.
Hoffmann and Mr. Jack Fox of Rochester
Midland Corporation. His research activity
under Hoffmann and Fox was supported by
the award of the Chemistry Alumni
Fellowship by the Brockport Foundation
during the 2002 summer sessions and by a
small grant from the Rochester Academy of
Science during the 2002-2003 academic year.
Sturdevant’s research with Professor Heitz,
supported by the Morris Fellowship for
Undergraduate Research in Chemistry in the
Summer 2002, led to production of a thesis
entitled “Spectroscopic Studies of DCM as a
Molecular
Probe
for
Solute-Solvent
Interactions” and the award of Honors in
Chemistry, as well as Honors Program
Honors.
David J. Wesley, a resident of Fairport NY
and transfer student from Monroe
Community College, completed a major in
chemistry.
Our lone August 2002 graduate was Larry A.
Ducady Jr., a Brockport resident and transfer
student from SUNY Oneonta and Texas
Tech, completed both a major in biology and
an ACS-certified major in chemistry. Ducady
received the Susan S. Collier Fellowship for
undergraduate research in 2001, was president
of the Chemistry Club in 2002, was selected as
the recipient of the 2002 Kronthaler Award,
and earned the 2002 Sigma Xi Award for
Undergraduate Research for his work under
Professor Mark P. Heitz. Ducady was
accepted into the Chemistry PhD program at
Syracuse University with the offer a teaching
assistantship last year. However, he decided
to defer admission for at least a year until he is
sure graduate studies are the right thing for
him. He is currently employed as a laboratory
technician by Tyco Healthcare in Hobart NY.
Sturdevant will be attending Michigan State
University as a graduate student in their
Forensic Chemistry MS program.
Andrea N. Topolnycky, a resident of
Kenmore NY, completed majors in both
chemistry and biology. Topolnycky received
the Outstanding Student Award of the
Department of Political Science in 2000, the
Freshman Chemistry Award in 2001, and the
Organic Chemistry Award in 2002. She was
the recipient of the Collier Fellowship for
Undergraduate Research in Chemistry in
2002, which supported her summer research
under Professor Margaret E. Logan. She
was the 2003 Departmental Scholar of the
Department of Biological Sciences, the 2003
Departmental Scholar of the Department of
Chemistry, recipient of the 2003 Sigma Xi
Award for Research in Chemistry, the 2003
President’s Citation Award, and the 2003
SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student
Excellence. She was also the 2001-2002 and
2002-2003 treasurer of the Chemistry Club, a
student affiliate chapter of the American
Chemical Society.
We wish each of our new graduates success,
happiness, and good luck in the future. We
hope they “phone home” to report their
accomplishments regularly!
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 Jason Carr (Mentor, Markus M.
Hoffmann, “CO2 Thermodynamic Phase
Behavior Studies and Evidence for the
Formation
of
CO2/Ionic
Liquid
Microemulsions”) supported by a Camille
and
Henry
Dreyfus
Foundation
Fellowship.
Professor J. E. Morris Receives
Fulbright to Teach in Kenya
By Thomas w. Kallen
Professor J. Emory Morris has been awarded
a William J. Fulbright Scholarship for
2003-2004 to teach biochemistry in Kenya,
Africa. Morris will be affiliated with the
Department of Biochemistry of Kenyatta
University in Nairobi, Kenya.
 Amanda Sturdevant (Mentor, Mark P.
Heitz, “Spectroscopic Study of DCM Laser
Dye as Fluorescent Probe of Solute-Solvent
Interactions”) supported by the Morris
Fellowship from the Brockport Foundation.
This will be Morris’ second tour abroad,
having taught at Pahlavi University (now
Shiraz University) in Shiraz, Iran as a member
of the Peace Corps in 1965-1967. Morris
reports that SUNY Brockport hired him, sight
unseen, without an interview, while he was
teaching in Iran.
 Andrea Topolnycky (Mentor, Margaret
E. Logan, “Synthesis and Evaluation of
Novel Diaryl Tellurides”) supported by the
Collier Fellowship from the Brockport
Foundation.
Greg Garvey of the Department of SUNY
Brockport’s Department of English also
received a Fulbright Scholarship, to teach at
Moscow University during 2003-2004. In all,
15 SUNY Brockport faculty have received
Fulbright Awards since 1984. Morris is the
first member of the Department of Chemistry
to receive this award.
 Jason Tubbs (Mentor, Markus M.
Hoffmann, “NMR Relaxation Measurements
of Ionic Liquid Systems”) supported by a
Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation
Fellowship.
 Christopher Woods (Mentors Markus M.
Hoffmann and Jack D. Fox (Rochester
Midland Corporation), “Surfactant Studies
Using Electron Paramagnetic Resonance”)
supported by a Chemistry Alumni
Fellowship from the Brockport Foundation.
Six Chemistry Majors and Two
Faculty Present Papers at 2003
Brockport Scholars’ Day
By Thomas W. Kallen
The entire Physical Methods Laboratory class,
CHM/PHS409, presented posters, each
describing one of the experiments that they
had done during the year, at a special,
extremely well-attended, afternoon poster
session. Student presenters were Gordon
Brown, Jason Carr, Allen Harvey,
Cameron McKinley, Mike Potter, Eric
Sharpsteen, Jason Tubbs, David Wesley,
and Jennifer Woodworth.
Six chemistry majors presented oral research
papers at Brockport Scholars’ Day 2003,
held at the SUNY College at Brockport on
April 2, 2003. The research of each of these
students had been supported by award of a
Summer Research Fellowship for 2002. The
name of each student presenter, her/his
research advisor, the title of her/his paper,
and the source of her/his research support
follow:
Professor Carolyn J. Greene presented
Professor Richard V. Mancuso’s annual
“physics toys” show, “Toys and Physics XI,”
with the assistance of undergraduate Physics
major, Eli Banta, while Professor Kenneth
D. Schlecht presented his annual chemistry
“magic show,” “The Excitement of
 Gordon Brown (Mentor, Mark R. Noll
(Department of Earth Sciences), “The
Geochemistry of New York Finger Lakes
Benthic Sediments.”
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Chemistry.” Both presentations have been
regular, well-attended features of Brockport
Scholars’ Day for many years.
Kenneth D. Schlecht of the SUNY College
at Brockport.
Research Students Co-Author
Two Publications
48th Annual ACS Undergraduate
Research Symposium Held at
SUNY Brockport
By Thomas W. Kallen
Three SUNY Brockport undergraduates and
one Brockport High School student, working
under the direction of Professor Markus M.
Hoffmann, are now co-authors of scientific
journal articles!
By K. D. Schlecht and M. E. Logan
The 48th Annual Undergraduate Research
Symposium of the Rochester Section of
the American Chemical Society was held in
the Seymour College Union at SUNY
Brockport on Saturday, April 26, 2003. The
Symposium featured 18 poster papers and 19
oral
presentations
by undergraduates
participating in research at Rochester area
colleges.
Last summer, SUNY Brockport chemistry
major Chris Woods and Brockport High
School Junior Nicole Bushie worked to
synthesize several ionic liquid compounds;
and, as part of their work, developed a novel
synthesis involving an ordinary household
microwave oven. Their results are described
in the article, “Microwave-Assisted Synthesis
of 1-Ethyl-3-Methylimidazoleum Bromide”
(Woods, C. M., Bushie, N. T.; Hoffmann, M.
M.; Journal of Undergraduate Chemistry
Research, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 1-4.).
Student presenters represented ten different
private and public, up-state colleges and
universities, including Hobart and William
Smith College, Nazareth College, St. John
Fisher College, SUNY College at Brockport,
SUNY College of Environmental Science and
Forestry (ESF), SUNY College at Fredonia,
SUNY College at Geneseo, SUNY College at
Potsdam, Syracuse University, and the
University of Rochester.
Jason Carr subsequently used Woods’ and
Bushie’s ionic liquid to study its phase
behavior in supercritical carbon dioxide in the
presence of surfactants.
Jason Tubbs
analyzed Carr’s samples using NMR
spectroscopy. The preliminary results of this
study indicated partial dissolution of the ionic
liquid into the carbon dioxide phase,
something that had not been observed before.
Carr and Tubbs’ findings appeared in the
review article, “Surfactants in Green Solvent
Systems–Current and Possible Future
Research Directions” (Hoffmann, M. M.;
Heitz, M. P.; Carr, J. B.; Tubbs, J. D., Journal
of Dispersion Science and Technology,
Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 155-171.).
Five SUNY Brockport chemistry majors,
Gordon Brown, Jason Carr, Amanda
Sturdevant, Jason Tubbs and Chris
Woods, presented oral papers on the research
they had conducted in the past year.
Douglas Robello of the Eastman Kodak
Company Research Laboratories was the
keynote speaker, offering hope for the role of
chemistry in the age of modern electronic
photography in his seminar, "Imaging
Chemistry for the New Millennium.”
Woods, our 2002 Chemistry Alumni Fellow,
received support for his summer research
from the Brockport Foundation and also
received a $100 student research grant for
chemicals and supplies from the Rochester
Academy of Science. Bushie’s research was
funded by a grant from the SEED Program
The Rochester Section of the American
Chemical Society provided a lunch for the
student presenters and their faculty advisors
following the symposium.
The organizers of this year’s symposium were
Professor Margaret E. Logan and Professor
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of the American Chemical Society,
administered by its Rochester Section. Carr
and Tubbs have been working under
Hoffmann, for academic credit during the
academic year and for pay during the summer,
for the past two years. Their summer
research efforts were funded through
Hoffmann’s Camille and Henry Dreyfus
Foundation start-up grant for faculty at
undergraduate institutions.
The Brockport Foundation, thanks largely
to the generosity of this year’s faculty and
alumni donors and with the assistance of the
Rochester Midland Corporation, was just
able to fund two fellowships. Alicia Penna,
this year’s Chemistry Alumni Fellow, will be
working with Professor Margaret E. Logan
on the “evaluation of antioxidant efficiency as
measured by inhibition of linoleic acid
oxidation.”
Kristina Fuller, this year’s
Morris Fellow, will be working with Professor
Mark P. Heitz on a project entitled “Probing
Solvation and Reaction in Supercritical;
Fluids.”
It is indeed rare that undergraduate
researchers manage to get their name on a
published scientific paper before they have
earned their BS. It is even more rare that a
student has done so before they have
graduated from high school! Congratulations
go out to all who were involved in these
projects!
Two undergraduate research fellowships were
funded by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus
Foundation grant of Professor Markus M.
Hoffmann.
Jason Tubbs and Jim
Hutchings will be working with Professor
Hoffmann on projects entitled “NMR Studies
of Solvated Ionic Liquids” and “Binary Phase
Behavior Studies of CO2 and Ionic Liquids,”
respectively.
Logan Presents Poster Paper at
National Organic Symposium
By Thomas w. Kallen
Professor Margaret E. Logan traveled to
Indianapolis IN June 8-12 to present a poster
at the 2003 National Organic Symposium.
The poster, entitled “An Improved Synthesis
of Electron-Rich Diaryl Ditellurides and
Diaryl Tellurides,” summarized the results
obtained by members of her research group
over the last two years.
One undergraduate research fellowship was
funded by a grant from the Rochester
Midland Corporation, administered by
Professor Hoffmann. Megan Bennett will
be working with Professor Hoffmann and Mr.
Jack Fox of Rochester Midland on a project
entitled “NMR and ESR Studies on Aqueous
Surfactant s.”.
Three SUNY Brockport undergraduates,
Elizabeth A. Gregory (’02), Stacy A. Morrill
(’02), and Andrea N. Topolnycky (’03), were
listed as co-authors of this poster.
One student, Ahmed Yimam Nuriye, is
technically on the payroll of the College’s VP
for Information Technology Services.
Ahmed is working with Professor Margaret
E. Logan on “the efficient synthesis of novel,
electron-rich diaryl ditellurides and diaryl
tellurides.”
Summer 2003 Research of Six
Students Supported by Grants
and Summer Fellowships
Alumni News
By Thomas w. Kallen
By Thomas W. Kallen
Six SUNY Brockport undergraduates will
each be working full-time for eight weeks this
summer on the research projects of our junior
faculty.
Stephen and Jacquelyne Ognibene (’99)
report the birth of their second child, a girl,
Alyssa Stephanie Lucia Ognibene, born at
9:57 AM on June 8, 2003. Alyssa weighed 6
lbs. 5 oz. and was 18.5 inches long ( For all
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you fishermen, she’s a “keeper!”). Mom and
Baby O. are doing fine!!
his research, while actively recruiting the best
and the brightest for the PhD program at
Penn State.
Doug Smith (’99) is a fourth-year graduate
student, working with Professor Troy Wood
in analytical mass spectrometry, at SUNY
Buffalo. Smith is working in the area of
electro-spray ionization and has designed a
new source using nano electro-spray
technology. He expects to finish his doctoral
studies this December.
Renee Becker (Earl) (’01) will complete an
MS in Chemistry at SUNY Albany this
August. She has accepted a job offer from
Manatee Community College in Bradenton,
FL and will be teaching Introduction to
Chemistry and General Chemistry this fall.
Earl married former SUNY Brockport
chemistry major Tony Becker, who is working
as an analytical chemist, in December 2002.
Smith married Stephanie Reynolds, a 1997
SUNY Geneseo graduate in Geology, in 2000.
Stephanie earned an MS in Geology from The
Ohio State University following graduation
from Geneseo.
Zach Henneman (’01) is in his second year
of a PhD program in Physical Chemistry at
SUNY Buffalo. Henneman is working with
Professor George Nancollas on the
dissolution kinetics of apatite and bone,
studying, in particular, in vitro bone resorption
inhibitors developed by Proctor and Gamble.
He plans to complete his synopsis proposal
for PhD candidacy this fall and will complete
his doctoral degree in two- or two-and-onehalf years.
Roderick Fry ('00), now a graduate student at
The Pennsylvania State University, hopes
to finish work toward a PhD by the
summer of 2004. During his tenure at Penn
State, Rod has been very active in presenting
and publishing his research. You can check
out a sample of what he has been doing in
"19F MAS NMR Quantification of Accessible
Hydroxyl Sites on Fiberglass Surfaces," R. A.
Fry, N. Tsomaia, C. G. Pantano, K. T.
Mueller, Journal of the American Chemical
Society, 125 (9), 2378-2379.
Henneman has just become engaged to
Sabrina Thoms, a University of Rochester
graduate in English and Art History who is
currently a graduate student in Museum
Studies at SUNY Oneonta.
Fry will be presenting his research at the 226th
National Meeting of the American Chemical
Society in NewYork city this September. His
presentation is entitled "Investigation of
Hydroxyl Sites in Fiberglass Materials Using
Solid-State 19F MAS NMR Spectroscopy".
Brian Peppers (’01) is also in his second year
of a PhD program in Synthetic Organic
Chemistry at SUNY Buffalo. Peppers is
working with Professor Stephen Driver in the
area of natural product synthesis, in particular
on E-9 ring closing and olefin metathesis
using a ruthenium catalyst. He plans to
complete his synopsis proposal for PhD
candidacy this fall and will complete his
doctoral degree in two- or two-and-one-half
years.
Fry started a paid internship at Air Products
and Chemicals Inc. this May. This internship
is part of a Penn State-APCI graduate
fellowship that Rod competed for and won.
He will be at APCI in Allentown, PA for the
summer studying supercritical inverse gas
chromatography. Upon completion of the
internship, Rod's stipend, research expenses
and tuition will be covered by APCI for one
full year while he continues his studies at
Penn State.
Peppers, who rooms with Zach Henneman,
will be seeking a new roommate for next year
for obvious reasons. Peppers, at least, has no
girlfriend. He claims to be too busy (“the
only curves (he) sees are on the sides of
glassware!”)! He also claims that he “has an
Fry hopes to return to SUNY Brockport this
coming fall to give a departmental seminar on
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implant in the back of his neck that heats-up
when he should be in lab!”
Peppers was this year’s graduate Chemistry
Club coordinator for National Chemistry
Week at SUNY Buffalo and has also done
chemistry demonstrations at the Buffalo
Museum of Science. Hey, move over Prof.
Schlecht! You have competition!
If you have news about yourself that you wish
to have included in the “Alumni News”
section of The Department of Chemistry
Times, please send it by e-mail to the editor,
Tom Kallen, at tkallen@brockport.edu.
The Department of Chemistry Times is
posted on the Department of Chemistry Web
site at irregular intervals by Professor,
Chairman and Editor Dr. Thomas W. Kallen,
Department of Chemistry, SUNY College at
Brockport, 350 New Campus Drive,
Brockport NY 14420-2971. You may visit the
Department of Chemistry Web site at
www.brockport.edu/~chemistry/.
E-mail
messages to the Times should be addressed
to Professor Kallen at tkallen@brockport.edu.
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