CHEMISTRY DEPARTMENT

The 1999-2000 academic year was the Chemistry Department’s season in exile as it vacated its traditional home in the Thompson Chemical Laboratory to make way for the renovation phase of the new science facilities building project. Several department members (Professor Richardson and Debbie Morandi) were dispersed into temporary offices in the Bronfman Science Center, while others took up permanent residence there (Professors Kaplan and Markgraf, and Dr. Skinner, and our newest department member, Professor Chihade). Still other members of the Department were moved into temporary offices in either Chandler House (Professors Chang, Koehler, Park, Peacock-López, Schofield, Smith, and Thoman) or Harper House (Professor Weiss). Likewise, with the temporary loss of four classrooms in TCL, the Department was hard-pressed to find spaces to teach its full complement of courses, with many being offered in less than ideal settings in Clark Hall, Griffin Hall, and even as far away as Lawrence Hall. Although a smaller scale repeat of last summer’s move will be painful, the entire Department is looking forward to a return to normalcy when it reoccupies TCL, joining its new building mates, the members of the Computer Science Department, in August. This step will be the final phase of the Department’s multi-year adventure with the process of fully redesigning and rebuilding its entire complement of spaces, from classrooms and offices to teaching and research laboratories.

With change being the major theme that seemed to underlie all of its activities this year, the Chemistry Department also took on a yearlong examination of its curricular structure. After much discussion, and the examination of several models for restructuring its curriculum, the faculty finally settled on a series of curricular changes that it will begin to implement in the 2001-02 academic year. These changes will include some modifications and additions to the Department’s upper-level courses and requirements and a major reworking of its four-semester introductory course sequence.

Summer Science 2000 participants working in the Morley Science Laboratories.

This year we continued to participate in the lectureship program under the sponsorship of the Class of 1960 Scholars Program. Five distinguished scientists were invited to campus to meet with our students and present a seminar. Professor Robert F. Schleif of Johns Hopkins University, Professor David Lea of the University
of California-Santa Barbara, Professor Rowena G. Matthews of the University of Michigan, Professor Barbara Imperiali of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Professor Melissa Hines of Cornell University were the 1960 Scholar Speakers this year. Fifteen students were selected by the faculty to be Class of 1960 Scholars during 2000 and to participate in the seminar program which includes a preliminary meeting of the Scholars with a Chemistry Department faculty member to discuss some of the papers of the seminar speaker; attendance at the seminar/discussion; and an opportunity for further discussion with the seminar speaker at an informal reception or dinner. The students selected this year are:

Geoffrey H. Allen	Laura L. Almstead	James R. Apgar
Katherine Belecki	Karen Chachu	Daniel R. Clayburgh
Julianna B. Connolly	Roshni T. David	Mabel Djang
Thomas J. Douglas	Samantha Kim	Ryan F. Mayhew
Elizabeth E. Roller	Jay G. Slowik	Mark D. Walrod

During the final week of classes, a number of awards were presented to chemistry students for outstanding scholarship. Joel S. Schmid ’03 received the CRC Award as the outstanding student in the general chemistry course and Alison B. Peet ’03 received the CRC Award as the outstanding student in the advanced general chemistry course. Christopher E. Goggin ’02 was awarded the Harold H. Warren Prize as the outstanding student in introductory organic chemistry. At the annual Senior Honors Colloquium, Professor Richardson announced the American Chemical Society Polymer Division Award for excellence in introductory organic chemistry for David Y. Chung ’02, the American Chemical Society Analytical Division Award for Megumi Onishi ’00, the American Chemical Society Connecticut Valley Section Award for sustained scholastic excellence for Michelle Pacholec ’00, the American Institute of Chemists Student Award for outstanding scholastic achievement for Michael Hurwitz ’00, and the Frank C. Goodrich 1945 Award in Chemistry to support travel expenses to scientific meetings to Karelle Aiken ’00 and Michelle Dunn ’00. Veena Mandava ’00 was announced as the recipient of the Leverett Mears Prize in recognition of outstanding scholastic achievement, admission to graduate study in the medical sciences or to medical school, and designation by the faculty of the Department as showing outstanding promise.

At Class Day activities before graduation, the John Sabin Adriance Prize was awarded to Amish A. Shah ’00 as the senior chemistry major who maintained the highest rank in all courses offered by the Department. The James F. Skinner Prize for achieving a distinguished record in chemistry and showing promise for teaching and scholarship was presented to Jeffrey D. Roizen ’00.

During the summer of 2000, ca. 30 Williams College chemistry majors were awarded research assistantships to work in the laboratories of departmental faculty. We gratefully acknowledge support from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc., the College Divisional Research Funding Committee, the J. Hodge Markgraf ’52 summer research fund, the Merck/AAAS Undergraduate Science Research Program, the National Science Foundation, Petroleum Research Foundation grants administered by the American Chemical Society, Pfizer, Inc., Summer Science Program funds, and the Wege-Markgraf fund.

Professor Raymond Chang continued to serve on the editorial board of the Chemical Educator. He taught CHEM 103, Concepts of Chemistry: Advanced Section, in the fall and was on leave during the spring semester. Professor Chang attended the American Chemical Society National Meeting in San Francisco in March. He published two books: Essential Chemistry, second edition, McGraw-Hill, 2000, and Physical Chemistry for the Chemical and Biological Sciences, University Science Books, 2000.

After a very long drive from San Diego, where he did post-doctoral work at the Scripps Research Institute, Assistant Professor Joe Chihade started his first year at Williams in late July. His research is centered on RNA-protein recognition. One particular focus is on aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, the enzymes that correctly combine amino acids and transfer RNAs to create the basis of the genetic code. Honors student Michelle Pacholec ’00 worked this year on understanding the role of tRNA tertiary structure in aminoacylation by examining the recognition of an unusually small tRNA found in mitochondria of the nematode worm C. elegans. Another honors student, Michael Hurwitz ’00, worked on developing a technique for selecting aminoacylated RNAs from large randomized pools, an approach which will facilitate the identification of important recognition elements in tRNAs, and may lead to the discovery of novel RNA substrates for the synthetases. Another set of enzymes which are of interest in the lab are pseudouridine synthases, which rearrange specific uridine nucleotides in RNA to pseudouridine. Samantha Kim ’01 worked on cloning and overexpressing an E. coli pseudouridine synthase, while Susan Levin ’02 worked on a collaborative project with Professor Wendy Raymond of the Biology Department on understanding the connection between a yeast pseudouridine synthase and exit from mitosis. Samantha and Susan will continue their work this summer.

In the spring, Professor Chihade traveled to San Francisco for the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, and to Cambridge, England for the 18^th tRNA Workshop, where he presented a talk on the molecular evolution of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases.

Professor Chihade’s teaching at Williams started in the fall with CHEM 121, Fighting Disease: The Evolution and Operation of Human Medicines, a course designed for non-majors which covers the history and mechanism of action of pharmaceuticals, but pays special attention to the human factors involved in the discovery, development, approval, and use of new drugs. In the spring, he taught CHEM 310, Enzyme Kinetics and Reaction Mechanisms.

Professor Lawrence J. Kaplan continued to develop the new media based “Project Sherlock” (http://www.williams.edu/Chemistry/lkaplan/top1.html) which provides an exploration into the world of forensic science from the crime scene to the crime lab. Project Sherlock integrates an interactive CD-ROM with a World Wide Web site (http://www.projectsherlock.com/) that provides further interactivity and the possibility for updates to the basic material. Daniel W. Nelson ’99 continued to do the basic programming and, along with David Furlow from hup!Multimedia, to develop the animations and design elements for Project Sherlock. This “virtual crime lab” was discussed in the New York Times, Education Life supplement in the article “Virtually Science” by Nancy Beth Jackson. The article appeared on Sunday, April 9, 2000.

Along with Daniel Nelson and David Furlow, Professor Kaplan made a presentation employing computer animations and web site interaction entitled “Project Sherlock: Forensic Education Through Interactive Multimedia,” at the first Forensic Sciences & Crime Scene Technology Conference and Exposition (FRENZY), in Washington in May 2000.

Professor Kaplan continued as an adjunct faculty member of the District Court Committee on Continuing Education and the Judicial Institute of the Trial Court. On June 22, he conducted a special workshop for the judges of the Massachusetts District Court and the Massachusetts Trial Court involving the analysis of urine for alcohol and drugs of abuse in the context of treatment-based drug courts.

Assistant Professor Birgit Koehler taught the first semester of physical chemistry, CHEM 301, Physical Chemistry: Thermodynamics, to a group of students who had to be awake at 8:30 in the morning for their twice-weekly dose of thermodynamics. During Winter Study, she and Assistant Professor Tom Smith taught CHEM 011, Science for Kids. In this program, 25 Williams College students prepared and presented science workshops for 160 fourth graders and their parents. On 2/2/2000, Sasha Natalie Koehler Nutcher was born and Professor Koehler took a leave during the spring.

Bevan Londergan ’00 and Carolyn Adams ’02 worked with Professor Koehler during the summer of 1999 to complete a study of the uptake of ammonia on n-hexane soot under simulated atmospheric conditions. The day after they finished this project, it was time to disassemble the apparatus for the move into the new Morley Science Laboratories. After working out the kinks in the new lab, reassembling and realigning the apparatus, and designing and building a new gas-handling line, thesis student Londergan and Koehler worked on developing the proper protocol to make sub-monolayer coatings of sulfuric acid on soot. This technique will be used for upcoming studies of how sulfuric acid affects the interaction of trace gases with soot particles in the atmosphere.

Another summer research student working with Koehler, Heather Blumer visiting from the University of Missouri-Columbia, measured the effect of iron on the optical properties of sulfuric acid. Iron from meteorites has been found in sulfuric acid droplets in the lower stratosphere and upper troposphere. The iron affects the absorption of UV light by sulfuric acid and therefore affects how scientists measure the aerosol particles.

Professor Koehler reviewed papers for the Journal of Physical Chemistry and the Journal of Geophysical Research–Atmospheres; she reviewed proposals for the Petroleum Research Fund and the NSF. She represented the Council on Undergraduate Research at a meeting with the head administrator and other officials from NASA in talks to convince NASA to support research at primarily undergraduate institutions.

Professor Charles Lovett continued to serve as Director of the Science Center, Chair of the Science Executive Committee, Chair of the Divisional Research Funding Committee, and Director of the Summer Science Program for Minority Students. As Chair of the Building Committee for the new science facility, he has continued to serve as faculty liaison in overseeing construction for the $47 million renovation and addition to the sciences.

Professor Lovett continued his research on the regulation of DNA repair in the bacterium Bacillus subtilis, currently supported by a $375,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. Last summer, Williams College students Biniam Gebre ’00, William Green ’03, Tracey Jackson ’03, Veena Mandava ’00, and Amish Shah ’00 worked on this research as full-time research assistants. Also participating in this research and providing invaluable assistance was Thomas O’Gara, now in his twelfth year as research technician in the Lovett lab. Professor Lovett also co-directed, with Professor Nancy Roseman and Professor Wendy Raymond, the research project of one Merck/AAAS Scholar, Maywa Montenegro ’00. During the academic year, Professor Lovett directed Biniam Gebre ’00, Veena Mandava ’00, and Amish Shah ’00 as senior honor students and Tanisha Salmon’00 as an independent research student. Professor Lovett also directed nine students in a Winter Study research project aimed at identifying new DNA damage-inducible genes in Bacillus subtilis. The students involved in the project included Laura Bothwell ’02, Susan Canny ’02, Sierra Colavito ’02, Shakierah Fuller ’03, Eli Groban ’02, Laurel Hensley ’03, Theresa O’Brien ’02, Jessica Tierney ’03, and Louise Tomm ’02; together, they identified and characterized 18 genes that are regulated by DNA damage.

In November, Professor Lovett served on the review panel for research grants submitted to the Molecular Genetics Division of the National Science Foundation. He also served as an ad hoc reviewer for the following journals: Journal of Bacteriology, Molecular Microbiology, and Nucleic Acids Research.

Last summer, Professor Lovett taught the Chemistry lectures component of the Williams College Summer Science Program for Minority Students. Together with Professor David Richardson, he also taught for the second year, a science camp for elementary school students and teachers. In the fall semester, Professor Lovett taught CHEM 101, Concepts of Chemistry, and during the spring semester, he taught the course he developed for non-science majors entitled CHEM 115, AIDS: The Disease and Search for a Cure.

During Winter Study Period, Professor emeritus J. Hodge Markgraf supervised the research of one CHEM 022, Introduction to Scientific Research, student: Peter J. Webb ’02. Professor Markgraf also received a $20,000 grant from the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation under a new Senior Scientist Mentor Initiative which supports retired faculty in the chemical sciences who continue to involve undergraduate students in active research programs. Peter will continue his WSP research with Professor Markgraf during summer 2000 under support from this program. In addition, Ms. Cindy Kaltner, a summer research exchange student from the University of Leiden, will be working in Professor Markgraf’s lab during summer 2000.

Professor Lee Park taught CHEM 304, Instrumental Methods of Analysis, in the fall; and in the spring taught CHEM 102, Concepts of Chemistry, and team-taught CHEM/PHYS 318, Materials Science: Chemistry and Physics of Materials, with Professor Sarah Bolton of the Physics Department. CHEM/PHYS 318 is the core course in the new Materials Science cluster offered at Williams. This course drew students from Chemistry, Physics, and Biology, and was a highly interdisciplinary introduction to an important and exciting developing discipline.

She continued her research on metal-containing liquid crystalline materials during the summer of 1999 with the assistance of a number of students: Dan Clayburgh ’01, David Chung ’02, Willie Wu ’02, and Judith van der Zwan, a summer exchange student from the University of Leiden. Dan worked on a collaborative project between Park and Professor Dan Lynch in the Biology Department on the lyotropic structures formed by phospholipids while David, Willie, and Judith worked on the synthesis of new macrocyclic ligands to be used in the development of new Group VIII metallomesogens. Research in Park’s lab was continued during the academic year by Michelle Dunn ’00, who worked on developing analogs to the mesogenic Cu(pyridine-R₂)X₂ complexes studied previously in the Park lab. Michelle's work was presented in a poster at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Francisco in the spring. This research will be picked up this summer by Maria Drinane ’02, Marsha Lynch ’03, and Mark Walrod ’01. Park's research was primarily supported by an external two-year grant from the American Chemical Society awarded in the summer of 1999; summer research funds were also provided by the Merck/AAAS Undergraduate Science Research Program and the Williams College Summer Science Program.

Professor Park also served as a reviewer of proposals and manuscripts for the NSF, ACS-PRF, and Chemistry of Materials.

Associate Professor Enrique Peacock-López continued his research in complex chemical and biochemical mechanisms. In his work related to self-replicating molecules, he studied a mechanism with complementary template and triplex structures. He also studied pattern formation in two dimensions in the template model using a cellular automaton developed by Geoffrey Hutchison ’99. In his work related to the Complement system, he considered the implications of Complement deficiencies in autoimmune diseases. In the Complement, recognition between self and non-self is regulated by a group of membrane bound proteins that inhibit protein polymerization. Therefore, when this recognition mechanism is altered, he expects to see a self-attack and cell damage. In his studies in glycolysis, Professor Peacock-López studied a simple three substrate-three enzyme model. In this model, one enzyme (hexokinase) is inhibited by its product; another (phosphofructokinase) is activated by its product and the third one (aldolase) follows Michaelis-Menten kinetics. For this model, he has observed a large variety of complex dynamical behaviors ranging from simple period one to period 32 bursting to different routes to chaos.

Most hormone concentrations in the body are regulated by negative feedback mechanisms in which the production and release of hormones are regulated according to the concentration of related species. It is known that many hormones are released in a pulsatile manner. The mechanism driving these complex release patterns is not known in most cases. In this field, Professor Peacock-López has considered communication and regulation of chemical oscillators mimicking hormonal patterns. Finally, Professor Peacock-López has served as reviewer for Journal of Physical Chemistry and The Chemical Educator.

In addition to his research activities, Professor Peacock-López taught a new non-majors course, CHEM 119, Chemistry for the Consumer in the Twenty-First Century, with emphasis in policymaking. In this course students consider the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the “machinery” and chemistry behind EPA regulations. Finally, he participated last summer as an instructor in the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program with students from Williams and Mount Holyoke colleges.

Professor David Richardson continued as department chair during the 1999-00 academic year, which proved to be an especially tumultuous season given the Chemistry Department’s entry into its new spaces in the recently completed Morley Science Laboratories. His research program directed at isolating the chemical components responsible for the toxicity of Southeast Asian dart poisons continued in collaboration with his senior honors thesis student, Karelle Aiken ’00. During Winter Study Period, Professor Richardson supervised the research of Sarah Hart ’02 in the Department’s offering CHEM 022, Introduction to Scientific Research. Sarah’s work with Professor Richardson is supported by the College’s Merck/AAAS Undergraduate Science Research Program, which was initiated in the 1998-99 academic year. In this program students work under the collaborative supervision of a pair of Williams faculty drawn from the Biology and Chemistry Departments, and continue their research into the summer following their initial introduction during WSP. Sarah is working together with Professor Richardson and Professor Hank Art on the isolation of allelopathic agents from two plants that grow widely in Hopkins Forest: raspberry and hay-scented fern. A second student, Matt Luedke ’02, will begin work with Professor Richardson this summer under the auspices of the same program. Teamed with Professor Dan Lynch, Matt will be working on new techniques for analysis and quantization of sphingolipid mixtures isolated from plants. Professor Richardson served as a reviewer for the Journal of Organic Chemistry as well as for the new on-line journal, The Chemical Educator. He also served as a reviewer of grant applications for Research Corporation and The Petroleum Research Foundation. In addition, together with Professor Dan Lynch, he authored successful grant proposals to renew our institutional support through the Beckman Scholarship Program and the Merck/AAAS Scholarship Program.

Professor Richardson’s teaching responsibilities for the year included CHEM 201, Introductory Organic Chemistry, in the fall semester and CHEM 308, Toxicology and Cancer, and a section of CHEM 106/108 during the spring semester. In the month of July, he taught the Chemistry laboratory portion of the Williams College Summer Science Program for Minority Students. During August, he and Professor Chip Lovett led a second installment of the Science Camp program for local third through fifth graders they developed last summer. This year’s program included a newly developed advanced week for children who had attended one of the previous year’s sessions. Professor Richardson served on the New Science Facility Building Committee and as chair of the Olmsted Committee and of the Prehealth Advisory Committee.

Assistant Professor Mark Schofield continued his research on the design and synthesis of metalloenzyme mimics. During the summer of 1999, Tory Nims ’00 and Megumi Onishi ’00 synthesized a variety of trispyrazolylborate zinc complexes as models for liver alcohol dehydrogenase. In a joint project with Professor Park, Judith van der Zwan of Leiden University worked on the synthesis of imine macrocycles of nickel(II) as models for methylcoenzyme M reductase, which catalyzes the final step in methane biosynthesis by methanogenic Archaea. Finally, Alexei Greig ’02 synthesized a variety of transition metal complexes for use in the introductory chemistry curriculum. Following leads developed in the summer, Megumi carried out her thesis work in Professor Schofield’s lab where she worked on the synthesis of novel bi- and tri-dentate oxazole ligands to serve as models for copper, nickel and zinc metalloenzyme active sites. During Winter Study, Meg was joined by Peta-Gaye Burnett ’03 and Gerald Lindo ’03 who measured the rate of p-nitrophenyl acetate hydrolysis catalyzed by amine macrocycles of zinc(II).

During the fall semester, Professor Schofield taught CHEM 305, Inorganic and Organometallic Chemistry, and in the spring he taught CHEM 104, Concepts of Chemistry: Advanced Section, as well as a section of CHEM 106/108. In addition to his research activities during the summer while working with Gerald Lindo ’03, Elizabeth Roller ’01, and Kamille Williams ’03, Professor Schofield will be developing a new tutorial, CHEM 316T, Bioinorganic Chemistry, which will be offered in spring 2001. In March 2000, Professor Schofield attended the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Francisco.

Dr. Anne Skinner was responsible for the laboratory program for CHEM 101-102/104, Concepts of Chemistry. This year’s labs were completely redesigned, moving qualitative analysis into the fall semester and introducing new quantitative analysis experiments into CHEM102/104. This allows students more time to understand the quantitative aspects of chemistry before they have to apply them in the lab.

Dr. Anne Skinner attended several professional meetings in 1999-2000 to present her research in the dating of fossil materials by electron spin resonance. At LED99, the International Luminescence and Dosimetry meeting held in Rome in September 1999, she presented a poster on high-field ESR as a tool for studying fossil teeth. In February, she presented new information on several South African early hominid sites to the University of Buffalo Archaeometry Workshop. In early April, she was invited to participate in a symposium at the American Society of Archaeologists annual meeting in Philadelphia on problem solving in archaeological dating. She then spoke at a symposium at Harvard University honoring retiring Professor Nikolaas van der Merwe. Finally, she has just returned from the 32nd International Archaeometry Symposium in Mexico City where she delivered an oral presentation on a potentially very early human site in Oklahoma, and a poster further expanding her high-field ESR work.

In collaboration with Dr. Joel Blickstein of RFK High School in Queens, NY, and Dr. Bonnie Blackwell, Research Scientist at Williams, Dr. Skinner received a Tapestry grant to support a program or research opportunities for gifted high school students during the summer of 2000. The students will do most of their work in New York City, but will spend one or two weeks at Williams in order to use the ESR spectrometer.

Dr. Skinner has been reappointed as news and features editor of the Council on Undergraduate Research Quarterly. As safety officer for the College, Dr. Skinner attended the annual conference of the Campus Safety, Health, and Environmental Management Association, a division of the National Safety Council, in Madison, Wisconsin. She presented an overview of the campus safety programs at Williams, emphasizing the changes that have occurred in the ten years since she began this task.

Assistant Professor Tom Smith and his team of Williams research students began the year with a move from their half-lab in Bronfman to a state-of-the-art research space in the Morley Science Laboratories. Michelle Mourad ’00 began her senior honors work on a new project involving the selective functionalization of heteroaromatic systems. Mabel Djang ’01 continued on toward an asymmetric total synthesis of the terpenoid natural product, pacifigorgiol, a fish toxin originally isolated from a Pacific soft coral. The key step in this synthesis employs a transition metal–catalyzed intramolecular [4 + 2] cycloaddition to form the core bicyclic ring system and establish three of the five stereogenic centers of the natural product. Carolyn Stickney ’00 continued this project in the fall as her senior honors research. Also over the summer, Katherine Belecki ’01 completed the development of a series of experiments which probe the initial steps in one of the first published syntheses of the natural product (+)-mevinolin, a cholesterol-lowering therapeutic manufactured by Merck under the trade name Mevacor^®. This work became the foundation of a new multi-week laboratory experiment for CHEM 303 in the fall of 1999.

In the fall, Professor Smith taught CHEM 303, Synthetic Organic Chemistry, for the second time, to a class of seven talented advanced organic chemistry students. Professor Smith also took on the role as faculty liaison to the Chemistry Student Advisory Committee (CSAC). After organizing a “groovy” first annual tie-dye party at the end of the summer, CSAC also organized a Fall hike to the top of Mt. Greylock (pizza waiting at the top!) and a “cool” ice skating party over Winter Study.

Winter Study also saw Professor Smith team-teach CHEM 011, Science for Kids, with Professor Koehler. Twenty-five Williams students and over 300 community members took part in the January weekend program where five different science workshops were presented to fourth grade students and their parents.

In the spring semester, Professor Smith instructed 96 students in CHEM 202, Introductory Organic Chemistry, where 30-second fun breaks and 2-hour midterms kept the students on their toes. The end of the year CHEM/BIOL picnic, organized by CSAC, featured the tasty BBQ fare of our friend Hickory Bill where a record-breaking 150 people turned out for ribs, chicken, baked beans, and all the fixin’s. It was a nice good-bye to all of the students and faculty who had worked so hard to make the year a success.

Associate Professor Jay Thoman returned from sabbatical in late summer 1999, after finishing a project at the Combustion Research Facility, Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA. Results of the project probing CH radicals in low-pressure flames were recently published with Sandia host Andrew McIlroy as co-author. Adam Steeves ’02 is continuing this work at Sandia, using the diagnostic technique known as cavity ringdown spectroscopy to probe transient species in low-pressure flames. Steeves and Joe Stember ’02 worked with Thoman during Winter Study 2000 on the computational chemistry interpretation of overtone spectroscopy. Carolyn Adams ’02 and James Apgar ’01 are working with Thoman during summer 2000 investigating the overtone spectroscopy of water clusters and of fire suppressant molecules. They are also helping to complete the move of Thoman’s lab to new quarters in the Morley Science Laboratories, and to construct the apparatus needed for cavity ringdown spectroscopy. New equipment for the experimental aspects of the project was purchased with funds from the NSF equipment grant that Thoman has with the four Williams College laser physicists. Professor Henrik Kjaergaard of the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand is a continuing collaborator on the computational aspects of the overtone spectroscopy project.

After several years of teaching primarily 100-level lectures and laboratories, Thoman returned to teaching CHEM 401, Quantum Chemistry and Molecular Spectroscopy, and CHEM 302, Physical Chemistry: Structure and Dynamics. He introduced new laboratory exercises in computational chemistry and also a lab day of scientific glassblowing. Thoman taught CHEM 016, Glass and Glassblowing, for Winter Study. The glass class enjoyed new field trips to the Williamstown Art Conservation Center, the Williams College Museum of Art, and the Heath, MA studio of glass artist Robert Dane. In the spring semester, Thoman also taught ENVI 102, Introduction to Environmental Science, with biologist Hank Art and geoscientist Dave DeSimone. A new week of ENVI 102 investigated PCB contamination in the Housatonic River. Thoman is working with Tracey Jackson ’02 and Professor Dave Richardson to develop a laboratory experiment for ENVI 102 to probe PCBs in stream sediments using our new gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS). The GC-MS was recently purchased with funds from an NSF grant written by Richardson and Thoman. The new GC-MS is exciting because it provides for chemical ionization and negative ion mass spectrometry; hence it has increased sensitivity to halogenated molecules such as PCBs and some pesticides.

During the 1999-2000 academic year, Assistant Professor Deborah L. Weiss was on maternity leave for the fall semester following the birth of her son in August. In January, she began her Assistant Professor leave pursuing her studies on the transcriptional regulation of the Interleukin-4 gene in murine mast cells. Assisting her on this project was Nicole Draghi ’00 who was in Weiss’ lab during the spring semester for an independent study. During this time progress was made towards purification of significant quantities of a transcription factor that is believed to contribute to the negative regulation of Interleukin-4 at the transcriptional level. The identity of this factor is currently unknown, however studies are now underway using mass spectrometry techniques and peptide mapping to uncover whether or not this is a previously described protein or in fact, a novel factor. For the summer of 2000, Laura Almstead ’01 has joined the lab and is also involved in these studies. During the spring semester, another student, James Apgar ’01, was working on an independent study in the Weiss lab. He continued a project from the previous summer that involves measuring cytokine expression levels in the brains of immunologically challenged rats using quantitative RT-PCR.

Professor Brian Benicewicz, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Sponsored by Organic Syntheses, Inc.

“Liquid Crystal Thermoset Polymers”

Professor J. Kent Blasie, University of Pennsylvania

Sponsored by the Merck Company Foundation

“Structural Studies on Single Monolayers of Vectorially-Oriented Proteins”

Professor Melissa Brown, Emory University

“MASTering the Immune Response: The Role of Mast Cells in Immune Function”

Professor Steven Cramer, University of California-Davis

“Learning about Manganese in Photosynthesis from X-Ray Fluorescence”

Professor Catherine Drennan, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

“Life on CO: Crystallographic Studies of Carbon Monoxide Dehydrogenase
from R. Rubrum”

Professor Melissa Hines, Cornell University
Class of 1960 Scholar

“In Search of Perfection: Understanding Silicon Etching on an Atomic Scale”

Professor Barbara Imperiali, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Class of 1960 Scholar

“Chemistry and Biology of Asparagine-Linked Protein Glycosylation”

Professor David Lea, University of California-Santa Barbara
Class of 1960 Scholar

“Extracting Climate History from Oceanic Chemical Records”

Professor Les Loew, University of Connecticut Health Center

“The Virtual Cell Project”

Professor J. Hodge Markgraf, Williams College
Charles Compton Lectureship

“Novel Routes to Canthinones”

Professor Rowena G. Matthews, University of Michigan
Class of 1960 Scholar

“Methyl Transfers to Thiols: The Role of Zinc”

Professor James Panek, Boston University
Sponsored by Organic Syntheses, Inc.

“Studies Directed Toward the Synthesis of Complex Natural Products”

Professor Gregory Petsko, Brandeis University

“Structural Biology in Four Dimensions: Enzyme Reactions at Atomic Resolution”

Professor Robert F. Schleif, Johns Hopkins University
Class of 1960 Scholar

“The Light Switch Mechanism of AraC Action”

Professor Marc Snapper, Boston College
Sponsored by Organic Syntheses, Inc.

“The Synthesis and Use of New Biological Probe Reagents”

Dr. Leah Williams, Boston College

“Heterogeneous Atmospheric Chemistry: Ozone Depletion and Aerosol Particles”

Joseph W. Chihade

“Assembly of a Catalytic Unit for Microhelix Aminoacylation Using Nonspecific
RNA Binding Domains”
18th tRNA Workshop in Cambridge, United Kingdom

Lee Y. Park

“Designing Metallomesogens and Other One-Dimensional Materials”
Hamilton College in Clinton, New York

Lee Y. Park, Geoffrey R. Hutchison ’99, and Michelle B. Dunn ’99

“The Development of Novel One-Dimensional Materials Using a Metallomesogenic Approach”
National ACS Meeting in San Francisco, California

Enrique Peacock-López

“Self-Replicating Structures”
Symposium in honor of Joel Keizer at the University of California-Davis

Anne R. Skinner

“Recent Developments at South African Sites”
Buffalo Archaeometry Symposium at SUNY-Buffalo

“Bitten by Australopithecines: Problems in ESR Dating of Very Old Teeth”
Symposium in honor of Professor Nikolaas van der Merwe at Harvard University

Anne R. Skinner, Bonnie A. B. Blackwell, N. Dennis Chasteen, and Junlong Shao

“Q-Band Studies of the ESR Signal in Tooth Enamel”
9th Annual Conference on Luminescence and Electron Spin Resonance Dating in Rome, Italy

“Q-Band ESR Spectra as Indications of Fossilization in Teeth”
32nd International Archaeometry Symposium in Mexico City, Mexico

Anne R. Skinner, Bonnie A. B. Blackwell, Henry P. Schwarcz, and Donald G. Wycoff

“ESR Dating at the Burnham Site, Oklahoma”
32nd International Archaeometry Symposium in Mexico City, Mexico

Anne R. Skinner, Bonnie A. B. Blackwell, and J. Francis Thackeray

“Isochron Dating at Swartkrans, South Africa”
American Society of Archaeologists Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Karelle S. Aiken	Ph.D. in Chemistry, University of New Hampshire
Paul M. Bethe	Uncertain
Nicole A. Draghi	Research Assistant, Williams College for one year, then Ph.D.
Michelle B. Dunn	M.D., University of Virginia
Thomas R. Fleming	Ph.D. in Mathematics, University of California, San Diego
Biniam T. Gebre	Uncertain
Cory R. Heilmann	Ph.D. in Statistics, Iowa State University
Michael D. Hurwitz	Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science, Pennsylvania State University, American Meteorological Society Fellowship
Randall L. Lindquist	Pre-IRTA at National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
Bevan P. Londergan	Associate Consultant, Sibson & Co., Boston, MA
Veena Mandava	M.D./Ph.D. in Genetics, Cornell-Sloan Kettering-Rockefeller Tri-Institutional Program
Michelle S. Mourad	Teaching Chemistry in Honduras for one year, then to medical school, New York University School of Medicine
Megumi Onishi	Research Technician at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, then to graduate school
Michelle Pacholec	Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences, Harvard University
Jeffrey D. Roizen	M.D./Ph.D. in Biological or Biomedical Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis
Tanisha N. Salmon	Management Consultant with A T. Kearney, Atlanta, GA
David J. Seward	Lab Technician at the University of Rochester, then to graduate school
Amish A. Shah	M.S. in Development Studies and International Law, Cambridge University (UK), Dr. Herchel Smith Fellowship, then to graduate or medical school
Carolyn A. Stickney	M.D., Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine