Chemistry Haiku:
"Academia
Has never seen the likes of
Chemist’s together"
-Chemistry Student

Congratulations to our 3 Chemistry majors and 12 Biochemistry majors who graduated in May. Special recognition goes to the recipients of our 2008 Outstanding Senior awards: Laura Porter-Peden was named The Robert J. Albers Outstanding Senior in Biochemistry and Kwabena Bediako was named The Karen J. Carlson Muyskens Outstanding Senior in Chemistry.

Fritz Rottman, class of 1959, was named one of Calvin's Distinguished Alumni of the Year! Rottman graduated with a chemistry major from Calvin and earned his doctorate in biochemistry from the University of Michigan. Following training from a Nobel laureate at the National Institutes of Health, Fritz taught at Michigan State and Case Western Universities. He was also instrumental in building bridges between basic scientists and clinical medicine by fostering research in diseases such as schistosomaiasis that plague countries without access to purified water.

His research career has been devoted to the study of RNA and his many publications have had significant impact on the scientific community. Upon retirement, Fritz is serving as a trustee for the Van Andel Research Institute and is on the board of directors for the institute's graduate school. In addition, Fritz and his wife Carol have been active in many mission-related projects, among them work to broaden the distribution of anti-retroviral medications to AIDS and HIV patients in Kenya and Uganda.

Calvin College is the recipient of a 2008 Beckman Foundation Beckman Scholars Award in the amount of $77,000 to support the research efforts of four outstanding students from the Department of Biology and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry over the next three years.

Each student, designated a Beckman Scholar, will work on a research project with a mentor for two summers and the intervening academic year. Towards the end of the second summer, each Beckman Scholar will present his or her work at a symposium for Beckman Scholars in California. In addition, each Scholar will have the opportunity to present their work at a national research meeting in their field and visit Washington, DC to meet with Rep. Vern Ehlers who serves on the House Science and Technology Committee. Calvin was one of 15 institutions to receive this award from a list of over 100 undergraduate and graduate schools that were invited to apply. In addition to providing a very unique research experience for four of our best students, this award is also an endorsement of the strong research programs in our two departments.