By Caroline Cole
Department Communications
It was a busy year for awards, despite the constraints of a pandemic. In May, the Department of Chemistry celebrated students, faculty and staff with an online awards and graduation event called Celebrating Student Success. Because of generous donors, the department was able to give almost $500,000 in student support. See the winners of department and other awards below.
The College of Letters and Science also announced scholarship winners in 2020 and honor society Phi Beta Kappa announced new members.
The Wisconsin Scholarship Hub (WiSH) provides information about awards and funding for high-achieving students. The review teams look for creativity, community service, leadership, strength of character, and more, WiSH stated.
Lydia Hoffman, the recipient of the 2020 Jane Goddard Scholarship award from L&S, is a rising senior studying chemistry and French. The scholarship supports exceptional juniors or seniors studying in the humanities field.
“I am truly humbled and honored to have been selected as a recipient of the Jane Goddard Scholarship,” Hoffman said. “I am moved by the donor’s and UW–Madison’s support and commitment to my education reflected by this award. Knowing that I have the support and encouragement of the University behind me, I can persevere through this unprecedented time and finish strongly in my final year here at UW–Madison.”
Hoffman plans to apply to graduate programs this fall, in hopes of teaching on the collegiate level.
Matthew McGill is a junior majoring in chemistry, and he was awarded the Ralph B. Abrams Scholarship from L&S. This award is given to exceptional students in the College of Letters and Sciences (L&S).
“Aside from the generous financial aid, the award carries more meaning to me,” McGill said. “It shows that the UW–Madison chemistry department believes in me as a student and fledgling scientist. In my time in the chemistry building, I have seen firsthand the care and dedication that the lecturers, advisors, graduate students, and support staff have for student success. The Herculean efforts that were put forth this past spring to finish the semester online are one of many examples of this dedication.”
McGill was involved in research for a semester with the Buller lab with his mentor, Meghan Campbell. McGill’s lab work is centered around engineering enzymatic catalysts to make new amino acids. After college, he plans to go to graduate school so he can work in the field of medicinal chemistry, specifically in drug design and synthesis.
Other winners include Chance Wilkinson-Johnson, who won the Leo and Jean Besozzi Scholarship Award, and Ira Manthey, who won the Wirth Scholars Award. The Leo and Jean Besozzi Scholarship is gifted to high-achieving seniors in L&S, and Wirth Scholars are high achieving first-generation college students with an intended major in L&S or women students in the biological or physical sciences field that are research-oriented.
Nine chemistry students were inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, one of the oldest and most prestigious honors societies in the country. Some of those students include Brendan Anderson, Sean Huth, Calvin Spolar, Morgan Gugger, Lydia Hoffman, Jacob O’Hearn and Kaining Mao.
Approximately 150 of the top undergraduates at UW–Madison are selected to join Phi Beta Kappa each year. To be selected for participation, students must be among the top in their class, take a range of courses to demonstrate a diverse liberal arts course load, and take a college-level math, statistics or logic course.
FACULTY & STAFF AWARDS
- Bates, Desiree
Outstanding Women of Color Award - Blackwell, Helen
STAR Award for Cottrell Scholars - Brunold, Thomas
2019-20 WARF Kellett Mid-Career Award - Buller, Andrew
GSFLC Mentorship Award
NIH New Innovators Award - Casperson, Kurtis
University Staff Excellence Award
University Staff Recognition Award - Choi, Kyoung-Shin
Vilas Faculty Mid-Career Investigator Award
Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Award - Coon, Josh
2020 Kellett Mid-Career Award - Doolittle, Pam
Dept. Academic Staff Excellence Award - Ediger, Mark
2019 Kavli Lecturer (APS March Meeting)
2019 Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award
2019 Birnbaum Award (University of Illinois) - Fredrickson, Danny
James W. Taylor Teaching Award
2020-20201 Vilas Associate
Elected to Physical Sciences Divisional Committee - Garand, Etienne
2020-20201 Vilas Associate - Ge, Ying
American Society for Mass Spectrometry Biemann Medal - Gellman, Sam
Vilas Research Professorship
Honorary Member, Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Meienhofer Award, Boulder Peptide Society - Gockel, Sam
GSFLC Mentorship Award - Mattei, Michael
GSFLC Mentorship Award - Schueneman, Susan
Outstanding Chemistry Teaching Assistant - Stahl, Shannon
2019 WARF Innovation Award, finalist
2020 ACS Catalysis Lectureship - Stephens, Karen
Pringle Award - Swords, Wesley
GSFLC Mentorship Award - Weix, Dan
ACS Cope Scholar Award
ACS Green Chemistry Institute Pharm Roundtable Grant - Wickens, Zachary
GSFLC Mentorship Award - Yethiraj, Arun
GSFLC Mentorship Award - Yoon, Tehshik
ACS Green Chemistry Institute Pharm Roundtable Grant - Zanni, Martin
Elected to AAAS
2019 UPenn Chemistry Distinguished Alumni Award
APS 2021 Plyler Prize for Molecular Spectroscopy & Dynamics - Zweifel, Erynn
University Staff Recognition Award
GRADUATE STUDENT AWARDS
- Acosta, Milton (Berry)
Pei Wang Fellowship - Alektiar, Sara (Wickens)
NSF Graduate Fellowship, Honorable Mention - Alperstein, Ariel
Reddy Award in Physical Chemistry - Benware, Sarah (Pedersen)
Pei Wang Fellowship - Bishop, Camille
McCoy Memorial Scholarship
National Research Council Postdoc Fellowship - Brown, Kyle (Ge)
Hartl Excellence in Research Award – Analytical
Three Minute Thesis Competition, 1st Runner Up - Bruns, David (Stahl)
Goering Organic Chemistry Fellowship - Flores, Brandon (Fredrickson)
Pei Wang Fellowship - Campbell, Meghan (Buller)
2019-20 TA Award - Candelaria, Froylan Omar Fernandez (Burstyn)
Pei Wang Fellowship - Cendejas, Melissa (Hermans)
Hay Fellowship - Cary, Brian (Gellman)
Hartl Excellence in Research Award- Chemical Biology
Morton Research Award, Graduate Mentor - Chen, Si-Jie (Stahl)
Dickinson Fellowship in Organic Chemistry - Chmiel, Alyah (Wickens)
Pei Wang Fellowship - Corbin, Joshua (Schomaker)
PPG Summer Fellowship - Cribari, Mario (Martell)
Three Minute Thesis Competition, 3rd - Czerwinski, Rachel (Goldsmith)
NSF Graduate Fellowship
2019-20 Teaching Assistant Award - Deglopper, Kimberly (Stowe)
2019-20 Teaching Assistant Award - Delaney, Kellen (Li)
Schrag Analytical Chemistry Outstanding Peer Award
Berk Award for Excellence in Chemistry Research - Dorman, Matisha (McMahon)
Chosen for Graduate School Student Advisory Board - Elmendorf, Laura (Brunold)
NSF Graduate Fellowship, Honorable Mention - Evensen, Claire
2020 Rhodes Scholar - Fellows, Madison (McMahon)
2019-20 Teaching Assistant Award - Foote, Alex (Goldsmith)
Carlson Graduate Award - Garcia, Kevin (Weix)
Goering Organic Chemistry Fellowship
Selected to attend AbbVie Scholar Symposium - Genzink, Matt (Yoon)
NSF Graduate Fellowship
2019-20 Teaching Assistant Award - Girvin, Zeb (Gellman)
Casey Excellence in Research Award-Organic
Reaxys Ph.D. Prize, Finalist - Goes, Shannon (Stahl)
PPG Summer Fellowship - Good, Gillian (Martell)
Pei Wang Fellowship
NSF Graduate Fellowship Honorable Mention - Greenhalgh, Elizabeth (Brunold)
Best Poster, Midwest Enzymes Chemistry Conf. - Hassan, Mostafa (Sibert)
2020 Goldwater Scholar - Hautzinger, Matt (Jin)
2019-20 Teaching Assistant Award - Higgins, Peyton (Buller)
NSF Graduate Fellowship - Hutchinson, Rachel (Cavagnero)
TEAM Science Training Grad Research Award - Ju, Minsoo (Schomaker)
Dickinson Fellowship in Organic Chemistry - Kidd, Jesse (Yoon)
Slifkin Award in Chemistry - Kim, Min Ji (Wickens)
Pei Wang Fellowship - Kohn, Eric (Martell)
Pei Wang Fellowship
NSF Graduate Fellowship - Kreisel, Joshua (Martell)
Pei Wang Fellowship - Kurgan, Kathleen (Gellman)
Hirschmann-Rich Fellowship in Bio-Organic Chemistry - Kuborn, Thomas
Outstanding Chemistry Teaching Assistant Award - Lampkin, Philip (Gellman)
NSF Graduate Fellowship, Honorable Mention - Lee, Byung Joo (Wang)
Goering Organic Chemistry Fellowship - Li, Miyang (Li)
Hay Fellowship - Lim, Amber (Fredrickson)
2019-20 Teaching Assistant Award - Linke, Vanessa (Coon)
Hay Fellowship - Lipinski, Karli (Hoskins)
NSF Graduate Fellowship, Honorable Mention - Liu, Lei (Gellman)
Mirviss Mentorship Award in Chemistry - Longley, Victoria (Weix)
PPG Summer Fellowship - Lumley, Margaret (Choi)
Schrag Analytical Chemistry Outstanding Peer Award
Hay Fellowship - Lutovsky, Grace (Yoon)
3M Science & Technology Fellowship
NSF Graduate Fellowship, Honorable Mention - Machhi, Jasmin (Cavagnero)
Taylor Scholarship
NSF REU Fellowship (Summer 2020) - Manson, Daniel (Blackwell)
Dickinson Fellowship in Organic Chemistry - Masse, Meranda (Cavagnero)
2020 Straka Award
Biophysical Society Travel Award
Biophysical Society Research Poster Presentation Award - Mattock, Dominic (Wang)
Pei Wang Fellowship - McCarty, Bethany (Tang)
NSF Graduate Fellowship - Mecha, Miranda (Cavagnero)
Doban Mentorship Award - Merenini, Princess (Choi)
Pei Wang Fellowship - Melby, Jake (Ge)
NSF Graduate Fellowship, Honorable Mention - Mihalyi-Koch, Willa (Jin)
Pei Wang Fellowship - Mill, Jericha (Li)
NSF Graduate Fellowship, Honorable Mention
2019-20 TA Award - Moreno, David (Ge)
Pei Wang Fellowship - Morris, Rylie (Gellman)
Pei Wang Fellowship
NSF Graduate Fellowship - Morrow, Darien
Hartl Excellence in Research Award-Physical - Mustafi, Mainak
WISL Award for Communicating Ph.D. Research to the Public - Nicastri, Kate (Schomaker)
Goering Organic Chemistry Fellowship
Slifkin Award in Chemistry
Outstanding Chemistry Teaching Assistant Award - Nieszala, Megan (Landis)
NSF Graduate Fellowship - Nutting, Jordan (Stahl)
2020 AAAS Mass Media Fellowship - Orr, Vanessa (McMahon)
Outstanding Chemistry Teaching Assistant Award - Owen, Andrew (McMahon)
Outstanding Chemistry Teaching Assistant Award - Pimentel, Edward (Martell)
Slifkin Award in Chemistry - Pattaburaman, Dinesh
WISL Award for Communicating Ph.D. Research to the Public - Podorova, Yulia (Zanni)
Pei Wang Fellowship - Reed, Nicholas (Yoon)
Goering Organic Chemistry Fellowship
PPG Mentoring Award - Ross, Dominic (Jin)
NSF Graduate Fellowship, Honorable Mention - Roy, Michael (Berry)
Daniels Ethical Leadership Award
Outstanding Chemistry Teaching Assistant Award - Salazar, Chase (Stahl)
Goering Organic Chemistry Fellowship - Santalucia, Daniel J. (Berry)
Outstanding Chemistry Teaching Assistant Award - Schaffer, Leah (Smith)
Parr Memorial Award - Smith, Houston (McMahon)
2019-20 Teaching Assistant Award - Smith, Jamorious (Buller)
Pei Wang Fellowship - Smith, Mackinsey (Goldsmith)
Pei Wang Fellowship
NSF Graduate Fellowship - Spitha, Natalia (Wright)
2019-20 Teaching Assistant Award - Tabang, Dylan (Li)
NSF Graduate Fellowship Honorable Mention - Targos, Karina (Wickens)
Pei Wang Fellowship - Thomas, AnnaBeth
Pei Wang Fellowship - Trenerry, Michael J. (Berry)
Outstanding Chemistry Teaching Assistant Award - Tritt, Rachel (Boydston)
NSF Graduate Fellowship, Honorable Mention - Trujillo, Anji (Coon)
Hirschmann-Rich Fellowship in Bio-Organic Chemistry - Tucholski, Trisha
Parr Memorial Award - Vasilopoulos, Aris (Stahl)
Dickinson Fellowship in Organic Chemistry - Vine, Logan (Schomaker)
Goering Organic Chemistry Fellowship - Vollbrecht, Cecilia (Goldsmith)
QISE-Net award - Warden, Hillary Mitchell (Fredrickson)
Casey Excellence in Research Award-Inorganic - Walsh, Shannon
WISL Award for Communicating Ph.D. Research to the Public - Weaver, Brian (Burstyn)
Best Poster, Midwest Enzymes Chemistry Conf. - Wegner, Kyle
WISL Award for Communicating Ph.D. Research to the Public - West, Korbin (Blackwell)
Hirschmann-Rich Fellowship in Bio-Organic Chemistry
Mirviss Mentorship Award in Chemistry - Wheaton, Amelia (Berry)
NSF Graduate Fellowship, Honorable Mention - Yang, Hanming (Cavagnero)
Bender Memorial Award
Presented at the CANMRDG NMR Conference - Xing, Enran (Ediger)
PPG Summer Fellowship - Zhang, Yongqian “Kelly”
Hartl Excellence in Research Award-Materials
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT AWARDS
- Akhetova, Sofya (Boydston)
Herscher Scholarship - Allen, Anna (Cavagnero) Herscher Scholarship
Hilldale Research Award - Anderson, Brendan
Student Support in Chemistry - Allen, Anna (Cavagnero)
Herscher Scholarship
Hilldale Research Award - Ausman, Samantha (Dumesic)
Dept. Undergrad Research Poster Award - Bartels, Brenna
Firminhac Chemistry Scholarship - Beyer, Peyton
WI ACS Undergrad. Award for Excellence in Chemistry - Bieser, Michael (Ediger)
WI ACS DUCK Exam Award - Carlson, Grace (Buller)
Student Support in Chemistry
Tong Scholarship in Chemistry
Dept. Undergrad. Research Poster Award - Chen, Chelsea (Cavagnero)
UW–Madison Biochemistry Summer Research Awards - Coulthurst, Josette
Saco Polymer Scholarship - England, Kevin (Cavagnero)
Chemistry Department Scholarship
Larsen Scholarship
Hilldale Research Award
Dept. Undergrad. Research Poster Award
ASBMB Undergraduate Research Conference, Poster Award - Erpelding, Peter (Sheibani)
Don Brouse Memorial Scholarship
Hilldale Research Award - Flesch, Kaylin (Stahl)
WI ACS Undergrad. Award for Excellence in Chemistry - Geng, Han (Berry)
Week Scholarship - Gugger, Morgan (Ge)
Maeck Scholarship in Chemistry
Telander Undergrad Research Award
Ackerman Scholarship
Hilldale Research Award - Gut, Mary
Alpha Chi Sigma Scholarship - Harker, Cade
Student Support in Chemistry
Ziarnik Scholarship - Harrison, Brandon
Krauskopf Memorial Scholarship - Hoffman, Lydia
Jane Goddard Scholarship - Hunjadi, Rachel
ACS-Hach Land Grant Undergrad Scholarship - Ishikuri, Takahiro (Record) Ackerman Scholarship
Hilldale Research Award - Juntunen, Nicholas (Brunold)
Ackerman Scholarship
Noland Research Fellowship
Tong Scholarship in Chemistry
Morton Research Award, Undergrad Mentee
Dept. Undergrad Research Poster, Honorable Mention - Kaiser, Bridget (Rayment)
Hilldale Research Award - Kasat, Aadhishre (Buller)
Fischer Scholarship
Dept. Undergrad. Research Poster Award - Kleman, Adam (Gellman)
PPG Mentoring Award - Kressuk, Rebecca
Dorsey Memorial Scholarship
Tong Scholarship in Chemistry - Kyrvasilis, Andreas (Ge)
Hilldale Research Award - Leisten, Eric (Tang)
Hilldale Research Award - Lin, Yueai (Fredrickson)
McLean Bender Scholarship
Week Scholarship
Hilldale Research Award - Ma, Stella (Blackwell)
Kreger Herscher Scholarship
Duthey Reiner Scholarship
2020 Goldwater Scholar - Machhi, Jasmine (Cavagnero)
Taylor Scholarship
NSF REU Fellowship - Mandepally, Akshith (Blackwell)
Taylor Scholarship - Manthey, Ira
Wirth Scholars Award - McCann, Erin (Yu)
Dept. Undergrad Research Poster Award - McGill, Matthew
Student Support in Chemistry
Ralph B. Abrams Scholarship - Mehta. Moulik
Moore Award for Excellence-109 - Minic, Marina (Bertram)
Maeck Scholarship in Chemistry - Nguyen Kevin (Gellman)
Hilldale Research Award - Ni, Chi-Min (Nathanson)
Dempsky Chemistry Scholarship - Nguyen, Kevin Dinh (Gellman)
Morton Research Award, Undergrad. Mentee - Onnuch, Paul
Ackerman Scholarship
Toy Scholarship - Palatnik, Benjamin
Ackerman Scholarship - Palof, George
Krauskopf Memorial Award - Pederson, Corey
Student Support in Chemistry - Ragan, Abbey (Instructional Staff)
Kreger Herscher Scholarship - Rattanakornphan, Dan
Moore Award for Excellence-109 - Raskopf, William (Schomaker)
Ackerman Scholarship
Firminhac Chemistry Scholarship - Rivard, Matthew
Dempsky Chemistry Scholarship - Rupanya, Anuchit
Chemistry Department Scholarship
Panek Memorial Scholarship - Sill, Alex (Demonstration Lab)
Plank & Putze Memorial Scholarship - Singh, Aditya (Yethiraj)
WI ACS Undergrad. Award for Excellence in Chemistry
ACS P. Chem Undergrad. Award for Graduating Senior - Snider, Dylan (Nathanson)
Dempsky Chemistry Scholarship
Hilldale Research Award - Sun, Yuqian
Moore Award for Excellence-109 - Susilo, Nicholas
Krauskopf Memorial Award - Tankel, Nataniel
WI ACS DUCK Exam Award - Tigges-Green, Isabelle (Zanni)
WI ACS Ugrad Award for Excellence in Chemistry
NSF Graduate Fellowship - Unger, Maxwell
Boomer Student Support Fund - Voigt, William
Krauskopf Memorial Award - Wei, Wanting (Cavagnero)
UW–Madison Biochemistry Summer Research Awards - Weidemann, Amelia
Krauskopf Memorial Award - Wilkinson-Johnson, Chance
Paulick Undergrad Scholarship
Saco Polymers Scholarship
Besozzi Scholarship - Winter, Casey (Wickens)
Student Support in Chemistry - Witzig, Daniel
Moore Award for Excellence-108 - Xistris, Lily
Krauskopf Memorial Award - Ye, Xinyu (Gellman)
Dept. Undergrad Research Poster Award, Honorable Mention