Division of Chemistry Newsletter No. 8
February 2006
- Reception at the ACS National Meeting in Atlanta, GA
- Division Director search update
- Personnel changes and availability of positions within the Division of Chemistry
- Joan Frye joins NSF’s Office of Integrative Activities
- Mathematical and Physical Sciences Advisory Committee (MPSAC) news
- Request for qualified reviewers
- NSF Custom News Services
RECEPTION AT THE ACS NATIONAL MEETING IN ATLANTA, GA
We invite you to meet and speak with NSF staff members and Mathematical
and Physical Sciences Advisory Committee (MPSAC) members at a reception
and poster session to be held at the upcoming ACS National Meeting
in Atlanta, GA. On Monday, March 27, 2006, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.,
at the Georgia World Congress Center, Building B 308/309, the following
NSF staff members and MPSAC members plan to be available to meet
with you informally: Marge Cavanaugh, Ron Christensen, Art Ellis,
Mostafa El-Sayed, Richard Foust, Joan Frye, Joyce Guest, Susan Hixson,
Bob Kuczkowski, Carl Lineberger, Kari McCarron, Kathy Parson, Chantel
Sabus, Phil Shevlin, and Harry Ungar.
As part of the event, there will be a poster session featuring projects supported through the REU and LSAMP programs. Please join principal investigators and students at the reception to view and discuss dozens of posters illustrating research supported by the Division of Chemistry and the LSAMP program. A town meeting will be held from noon until 1:00 p.m. as part of the reception poster session. This is an excellent opportunity to share information and perspectives on developments in the chemistry community and at NSF.
Refreshments will be available at the reception.
DIVISION
DIRECTOR SEARCH UPDATE
Art Ellis will complete his four-year term as Division Director on
June 30. Interviews for Division Director are in progress and the
Division hopes to announce the next Division Director this spring.
Janice Hicks, the Division’s Executive Officer, will serve
as Acting Division Director until the new Division Director joins
the staff.
PERSONNEL CHANGES
AND AVAILABILITY OF POSITIONS WITHIN THE DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY
The Division welcomes Martin Pomerantz, Tingyu Li, Zeev Rosenzweig,
and Kelsey Cook as rotators. Martin and Tingyu are based at the University
of Texas at Arlington and Mississippi State University, respectively,
and are assisting the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry (OMC)
program. Zeev and Kelsey are from the University of New Orleans and
University of Tennessee at Knoxville, respectively, and are helping
the Analytical and Surface Chemistry (ASC) program. We also welcome
Bob Kuczkowski back from the University of Michigan. Bob will manage
the MRI and CRIF instrumentation programs while the division searches
for a replacement for Joan Frye, who has left the division to become
a Staff Associate in NSF’s Office of Integrative Activities
(see below). A complete listing of current staff may be found at
http://www.nsf.gov/staff/staff_list.jsp?org=CHE.
The Division of Chemistry asks you to consider serving as a program officer
should your circumstances permit it, and to help us identify other individuals
who might serve in this capacity. Rotators are responsible for planning,
coordinating, and managing programs that support research, education,
and human resource development in the chemical sciences. Applicants should
have a Ph.D. or equivalent training in the chemical sciences, extensive
knowledge of one or more chemistry subfields, and at least six years of
successful independent research activity. Applicants should be familiar
with the chemistry community and have administrative experience. Other
important attributes are strong verbal and written communication skills,
organizational skills, facility in using technology tools, and the ability
to work effectively on a team. If you are interested in serving as a rotator,
please see http://www.nsf.gov/about/career_opps/careers/science.jsp.
About half of our 16 program officers are rotators, and they
bring fresh insights to our work at NSF. Rotators can maintain their research
programs while working at the Foundation. NSF provides time, travel resources,
and use of technology to enable rotators to stay in touch with co-workers
at their home institutions. Rotator positions are typically held for one
or two years, but other arrangements are possible. Rotators not only serve
the community and help to shape chemistry, but they also have excellent
opportunities for professional development and establishment of new research
directions upon returning to their laboratories.
Information about current open rotational program officer positions can
be found at:
http://www.nsf.gov/publications/ods/results.cfm?TextQuery=&Current_
status=Current&timeframe=Restrict+timeframe+to%3A&docType=
Vacancy+Announcements&docSubtype=Scientific+and+Professional&search2.
x=28&search2.y=8
Applicants interested in rotational positions should send an email describing their interest and CV to Art Ellis at aellis@nsf.gov. NSF is an equal opportunity employer committed to employing a highly qualified staff that reflects the diversity of our nation.
JOAN FRYE JOINS
NSF’S OFFICE OF INTEGRATIVE ACTIVITIES
In January, Joan Frye left the Division of Chemistry after 10 years of extraordinary
service to become a Staff Associate in NSF’s Office of Integrative Activities.
Since her arrival at NSF, in 1995, Joan has assisted many individuals at NSF
and in the chemistry community. Through her fine stewardship of the division’s
instrumentation programs, Joan has contributed substantially to the advancement
of basic research and education in the chemical sciences. Joan’s exemplary
service also included a two-year stint as one of the division’s cluster
leaders. The Division of Chemistry will miss Joan but looks forward to continuing
to work with her in her new position. We wish Joan continued success in her professional
activities.
MATHEMATICAL AND
PHYSICAL SCIENCES ADVISORY COMMITTEE (MPSAC) NEWS
We welcome Cynthia Burrows of the University of Utah to the Mathematical
and Physical Sciences Advisory Committee (MPSAC). We thank former
members Jean Futrell and Shenda Baker for their fine service on the
MPSAC. MPSAC members have provided valuable assistance with the Division
Director search (see above). Their efforts also led to a workshop
entitled Building Strong Academic Chemistry Departments through Gender
Equity that was held in Arlington, VA on Jan. 29-31 and co-sponsored
by NSF, NIH, and DOE. The workshop URL is http://www.chem.harvard.edu/groups/friend/GenderEquityWorkshop/.
Information about the MPSAC may be found at http://www.nsf.gov/mps/advisory.jsp.
REQUEST FOR QUALIFIED
REVIEWERS
The Division of Chemistry seeks to enhance its pool of qualified
reviewers of proposals. We invite researchers in the chemical sciences
who have not previously reviewed for the Division of Chemistry but
are interested in providing this service to contact us by visiting
our website at http://www.nsf.gov/mps/che/reviewer/reviewer_info.jsp and completing the online registration form. We welcome qualified
reviewers from academic, industrial, and government employment, as
well as from other countries. It is important to recognize that the
National Science Foundation reserves the right to choose reviewers.
While we are unable to assure individuals that they will be asked
to review proposals, we do attempt to call upon as many qualified
reviewers as possible, and we try to limit the number of requests
that we make to any single individual, recognizing the many demands
our reviewers have on their time.
NSF CUSTOM NEWS
SERVICE
In order to receive NSF program announcements, vacancy announcements,
newsletters or other information as soon as they are published, you
can subscribe to MyNSF. You pre-select as many key words as you like;
every time an NSF document containing one or more of your key words
is published, you will receive email notification with a link to the
appropriate web page. For further information, please visit the MyNSF
website: http://www.nsf.gov/mynsf/.