Alumni Newsletter
SEPTEMBER 2016
Greetings Alumni!
As we prepare for the start of another academic year, we once again wish to share with you news of the department from the past year. We hope you will enjoy reading about the accomplishments of our faculty, staff, students, and alumni.
Work on McCourtney Hall, the new 220,000 sqft science and engineering research building, is in its final stages. This state-of-the-art facility provides a collaborative space to expand and further the research enterprise at Notre Dame. Departmental faculty have begun to move into the new space just across from the Hesburgh Library, and we are excited for the work this space enables.
We would like to say thank you to all who have given to Notre Dame in the past. If you would like to include Notre Dame in your giving, undergraduate alumni can follow this link, and graduate alumni can follow this link. Thank you for supporting the efforts of the department and the University!
Lastly, if you would like additional information on the stories in this newsletter, please visit the departmental website or Facebook page. As always, if you have news or feedback, we would love hear from you. 
Faculty & Staff News
We are happy to announce that Brian Baker, Rev. John A. Zahm Professor of Structural Biology, is the new chair of the department. Prof. Baker most recently served as Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies for the College of Science, and he has been a member of the Chemistry & Biochemistry faculty since 2001. Prof. Baker’s research focuses on the intersection of protein biophysics, structural biology, an immunology, targeting the development of immunological therapeutics for cancer.
We wish a fond farewell to Prof. Kenneth Henderson, who is now the Dean of the College of Science at Northeastern University. Prof. Henderson served as department chair for seven years and was a dedicated member of the Notre Dame faculty since 2002. He will be greatly missed, but we wish him all the best in his new position.
Prof. Marvin Miller was selected for induction into the ACS Division of Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame. Prof. Miller has produced over 300 peer reviewed publications and more than 25 U.S. patents. He is internationally recognized as a leader in the design, syntheses and study of new antibiotics, especially β- lactams. He has also trained 80 graduate students, 63 postdoctoral associates, and has influenced numerous undergraduates to pursue careers in medicinal chemistry.
Prof. Steve Corcelli was selected as an American Chemical Society (ACS) Fellow. He was chosen based on his contributions to theoretical chemistry and to the ACS community. Prof. Corcelli most recently served as the chair of the ACS Graduate Education Advisory Board. He is a previous recipient of numerous other awards including an NSF CAREER Award, a Sloan Research Fellowship, a Ruth L. Kirchstein National Research Service Award, and a Kavli Fellowship.
Prof. Haifeng Gao and Prof. Vlad Iluc each received NSF CAREER Awards. Prof. Gao’s award will enable the development of a new polymerization method to access hyperbranched polymers with high levels of structural definition. This method will utilize copper (Cu)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition to generated polytriazol-based hyperbranced polymers in one pot. Prof. Iluc’s award will support his work on creating new tools for promoting the selective reaction of hydrogen atoms bonded to common elements using palladium carbene complexes. The goal of the project is to facilitate reactions under mild conditions, thereby decreasing the environmental and society impact of these reactions.
We would like to welcome our newest faculty member, Prof. Jessica Brown. Prof. Brown received her Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Ohio State University and recently completed her postdoctoral research at Yale University. Prof. Brown’s research group will specialize in understanding the biological, biochemical, and structural roles of RNA triple helices.
Prof. Paul Helquist and Prof. Olaf Wiest, together with their collaborator Frederick Maxfield from Cornell University, have received a patent for “Histone deacetylase inhibitors as therapeutic agents for Niemann-Pick Type C Disease”. Niemann-Pick Type C is a genetic, fatal lysosomal storage disorder. One of the patented inhibitors is completing a two year clinical trial.
Prashant Kamat, Rev. John A. Zahm Professor of Science, has been chosen as the inaugural editor of the journal ACS Energy Letters.
We would like to congratulate Prof. Masaru (Ken) Kuno and Prof. Marya Lieberman on their promotions to Full Professor.
We also extend congratulations to Dr. Mary Prorok for receiving the 2016 Notre Dame Presidential Leadership Award. This award is given to recognize staff supervisors who demonstrate outstanding servant leadership. Dr. Prorok’s contributions to the department as assistant chair are vital and include organizing multi-investigator grant applications, leading lab safety and diversity efforts, and supervising the departmental staff. 
Student & Alumni News
Recent graduates Ellen Norby (B.S. ’16) and Toby Turney (B.S. ’16) received NSF Graduate Research Fellowships. Ellen is pursuing her graduate studies at Stanford University. Toby is pursuing his graduate studies at UC Berkeley
Travis Marshall-Roth (B.S. ’15) is the winner of the 2016 ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry Award for Undergraduate Research. Marshall-Roth and his research advisor, Prof. Seth Brown, were recognized for their work elucidating the reaction mechanism for non-classical oxygen atom transfers and developing new catalyst designs with multiple redox-active ligands.
Dr. Daniela Kohen (Ph.D. ‘95) was promoted to Full Professor of Chemistry at Carleton College in Minnesota.
Dr. Ann Weber (B.S. ‘82) was selected for induction into the ACS Division of Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame. She is currently an independent consultant after retiring from Merck & Co., where her work led to over 40 drug development candidates, including Januvia, Janumet, and Marizev.
Paul Hergenrother (B.S. '94) was featured in the October 2015 issue of ASBMB Today as the cover article for his work on cancer research facilitated by dog patients.
Over the past year, we have added 26 PhD graduates, 13 MS graduates, and 35 BS graduates to the ranks of our alumni. Congratulations to the following students:

Ph.D.Recipients
Chemistry
Christina Arisio, Bronx, NY (Marya Lieberman)*
Dominic Babbini, Peoria, AZ (Vlad Iluc)
Catherine Campos, Lawrenceville, NJ (Brandon Ashfeld)
Yong-Siou Chen, Keelung City, Taiwan (Prashant Kamat)
John Christie, Little Rock, AR (Ken Henderson)**
Kasey Clear, Niles, MI (Brad Smith)
Ryan Flaherty, Canton, MI (Norman Dovichi)
Thomas Frederick, Lithia, FL (Jeff Peng)
Laura Herder, Stevens Point, WI (Bill Schneider)*
Feng Li, Changchun, China (Slavi Sevov)*
Mark Majewski, Antioch, IL (Marvin Miller)**
Matthew McDonald, Hickory, NC (Ken Kuno)*
Joseph Michalka, Village of Loch Lloyd, MO (Dan Gezelter)
Luan Nguyen, Grand Rapids, MI (Franklin Tao)
Evan Peck, Thompsontown, PA (Brad Smith)
Jarred Pickering, Queensland, Australia (Rich Taylor)*
Scott Sarver, Dexter, MI (Norman Dovichi)
Pornthip Tongying, Trang, Thailand (Ken Kuno)*
Kyle Watson, Warsaw, IN (Marvin Miller)**
Lawrence Zaino, Huntersville, NC (Paul Bohn)
Shiran Zhang, Wuhu Anhui, China (Franklin Tao)
Alex (Xueqiang) Zhang, Lingyuan, China (Ian Carmichael and Sylwia Ptasinska)
Biochemistry
Sydney Blevins, Somerset, KY (Brian Baker)
Si Mou, Guangzhou, China (Norman Dovichi)*
Alissa Schunter, Fort Collins, CO (Amanda Hummon)
Eric Weaver, Saint Louis, MO (Amanda Hummon)**
 
M.S. Recipients
Paul Battles, Nacogdoches, TX (Chemistry)
Lindsay Baxter, South Bend, IN (Chemistry)**
Tim Dunn, Highland Heights, KY (Chemistry)
Jun Huang, Hebi City, China (Chemistry)**
Kevin Jacobs, Crown Point, IN (Chemistry)*
Matthew Krusen, South Bend, IN (Biochemistry)
Haichao Lu, Jiyuan, China (Chemistry, Haifeng Gao)
Ruth Nelson, Maple Valley, WA (Biochemistry)
Kathryn Norquest, Colorado Springs, CO (Biochemistry)
Dmitry Royzman, Reston, VA (Chemistry)*
Mounia Sacha, Mishawaka, IN (Chemistry)**
Gillian Shaw, Old Bridge, NJ (Chemistry)*
Nicholas Takebayashi, Honolulu, HI (Chemistry)*

B.S. Recipients
Chemistry
Moneer Arabiyat, Milwaukee, WI
Brenna Cashman, Quantico, VA
Megan Fleming, Cincinnati, OH**
Lawrence Gray, cum laude, O'Fallon IL
Justin Hoffman, Celina, OH
Tesia Janicki, Walkerton, IN
Nahee Kim, cum laude, Seoul, South Korea**
Andrew Ledley, Brewster, NY
Daniel Lee, cum laude, McLean, VA
Ashley MacConnell, magna cum laude, Gainesville, VA
Joseph Ong, cum laude, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
Megan Petti, cum laude, Idaho Falls, ID
Elizabeth Tso, New York, NY**
Adrienne Voelker, Lanesville, IN
Biochemistry
David Boothe, Mentor, OH
Jessica Creager, San Jose, CA**
Megan Fabry, cum laude, Wrightstown, WI
John Jacobs, River Forest, IL
Emily Kaye, Bloomfield Hills, MI
Catherine Knoverek, Downers Grove, IL
Miko Malabute, Tujunga, CA
Tyler McGehee, Mesa, AZ
Ellen Norby, summa cum laude, Bloomington, MN
Kelly O'Shea, cum laude, Satellite Beach, FL
Thomas Parsons, cum laude, Fowlerville, MI
Stephanie Prince, Lombard, IL
Colleen Riordan, magna cum laude, Mohegan Lake, NY
Robert Stanley, Warrenville, IL
Ivana Surjancev, magna cum laude, Addison, IL
John Szigety, Ridgewood, NJ
Toby Turney, cum laude, Talihina, OK
Brian Walter, Annandale, NJ
Emily Wings, magna cum laude, Vernon Hills, IL
Honglin Xiao, cum laude, Chicago, IL
Chemistry with Business
Lauren Cziesla, cum laude, Wheaton, IL
  
*August 2015 graduate
** January 2016 graduate
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