Faculty News
The coronavirus pandemic created unprecedented challenges for our W&M Chemistry community this year. Like our alumni, students, and staff, faculty have endeavored to continue their work in these difficult times. A number of faculty were recognized during the ’19-’20 academic year for their efforts in teaching, research, and service.
Bill McNamara was named the Wilson & Martha Claiborne Stephens Associate Professor of Chemistry in recognition of excellence in research and a demonstrated commitment to teaching.
Tyler Meldrum was awarded tenure and promoted to Associate Professor. His Army Small Business/Academic Collaborative grant was renewed, and he will continue to work with Metna, Co. in Michigan and Rutgers University to study nondestructive NMR methods for probing adhesive strength.
Associate Professor Kristin Wustholz received the 2020 Jennifer and Devin Murphy Faculty Award, which recognizes outstanding integration of faculty research with the teaching of students.
Doug Young, the Cornelia Brackenridge Talbot Term Distinguished Associate Professor of Chemistry, received the 2020 Arts & Sciences Award for Faculty Governance in recognition of his exceptional service both in the department and in the broader W&M community.
Senior Lecturer Dana Lashley was named a Reves Faculty
Fellow for ’20-’21 and also a Studio for Teaching & Learning Innovation (STLI) Fellow for ’20-’21. STLI is a relatively new unit on campus that has been vital in supporting faculty in their remote teaching during the pandemic. Dana and fellow Senior Lecturer Bev Sher were also recognized as W&M Women of Influence for ’19-’20.
Assistant Professor Rachel O’Brien received a grant from the Sloan foundation to support her work on the composition of organic material on indoor surfaces.
Two papers from the research group of Assistant Professor Nathan Kidwell received special recognition. "Imaging the Nonreactive Collisional Quenching Dynamics of NO(A) radicals with O2(X)" was selected as an Editor's Pick and published as a part of the 2019 Journal of Chemical Physics Emerging Investigators Special Collection. "Nonstatistical Dissociation Dynamics of Nitroaromatic Chromophores" was published on the cover of The Journal of Physical Chemistry and included in the Pacific Conference on Spectroscopy and Dynamics Virtual Special Issue.
Garrett-Robb-Guy Professor J.C. Poutsma was named one of two Outstanding Reviewers from the Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry.
And finally, here are the solutions to Bob Pike’s crossword! 
