2013/2014 Volume 2

The Department ofChemistry at theUniversity at Albany,SUNY, is stronger thisyear than last, and it hasnever been better. In thearea of undergraduateeducation, we continue to

witness a record number of enrollments in ourlecture and laboratory courses, and for the firsttime, we are offering organic chemistry laboratorycourses on weekends. On the graduate side, wewelcomed a class of 20 students who are currentlydoing laboratory rotations to facilitate identificationof laboratories in which to conduct their graduateresearch. Our faculty members continue to publishin high-impact, peer-reviewed journals and tosecure grants from both federal and privateagencies. Today, Chemistry is one of the top funded

units on campus. As a result, exciting researchopportunities abound for our graduate andundergraduate students alike. During this academicyear, we welcomed three new faculty memberswhose research areas include computational RNAchemistry, RNA structure determination, and nano-electrochemical sensor design. Thedepartment is also recruiting an additional facultymember in analytical/forensic chemistry/toxicology,and two organic chemists with interests inneurodegenerative disease research. These excitingnew directions and the capital improvementsoccurring to our infrastructure make us confidentthat we will continue to enhance our Department’sreputation as a program where world-class researchoccurs alongside the delivery of a quality educationfor both undergraduate and graduate students.

— Li Niu, Professor & Department Chair

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

WELCOME NEW GRADUATE STUDENTS

Professors Rabi Musah and Jayanti Pande, and Senior Staff Member, Brian Gabriel.NEWSLETTER EDITORS

The Department welcomes the New Fall 2013 Graduate Students: Front row from left to right: W. Wen, C. Sorriento, E. Agustin, J. Agudelo, L. Seebald, T. Quinones-Ruiz, and C. Huynh. Middle row from left to right: H. Haixiang, M. Maron, M. Balcioglu, D. He, C. DeMott and Y. Shen. Last row from left to right: T. Tarasevich, N. Robertson, and L. Ayenew.

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Enzymes are biological catalystsfound in all cells. Enzymesaccelerate the rates of a variety ofchemical reactions that facilitatediverse processes such as theutilization of energy, movement,growth, responses to externalstimuli and even self-replication.In 1926, James B. Sumner was thefirst to isolate and crystallize anenzyme from jack bean which wastermed urease. He determined thaturease was a protein. His discoverywas first greeted with skepticismand even ridicule — yet Sumnermethodically established furtherproof and eventually won full

recognition for his discovery. In1946, he was awarded the NobelPrize in Chemistry “for hisdiscovery that enzymes can becrystallized.” Through his life-long research work, James Sumnerexemplified perseverance,industriousness and ingenuity.

Ureases are nickel-dependentenzymes that catalyze thehydrolysis of urea into ammoniaand carbon dioxide (see thereaction scheme). They are foundin plants, fungi and bacteria, butnot in animals. In 1995, AndrewKarplus’ group at CornellUniversity, where James Sumner

made his discovery, solved the X-ray crystal structure of urease,shown here.

Chem-E-News: “E” Stands for Enzymes

As part of a series of UAlbanystrategic proposals, including theAlbany Impact Plan and theSUNY2020 Plan, the Departmenthas established theNeurodegenerative DiseaseResearch Institute (NDRI). Thegoal of the Institute is to build aninternationally recognizedprogram with a research focus onunderstanding the causes of

various neurodegenerativediseases, and the development ofpotential drugs and reagents forthe diagnosis and treatment ofthese diseases. Efforts arecurrently underway to fill twotenure-track faculty lines forsynthetic organic chemists withresearch interests aligned with this initiative.

The Neurodegenerative Disease Research Institute Initiative

The Forensic Technology Institute InitiativeWith strong support from theUAlbany Administration, theDepartment has formallyestablished the ForensicTechnology Institute (FTI).FTI will employ emergingtechnologies to advancescholarship and research at thegraduate and undergraduate levels.

The Department is currently inthe process of hiring FTI-associated faculty who, it isanticipated, will develop cutting-edge technologies for forensicapplications, and who will provide highly specializedtraining for the next generation offorensic scientists.

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The Shelton Bank Prize forExcellence in Chemistry wasestablished in 2013 by formerstudents of Professor SheltonBank, in honor of hisexcellence in teaching andmentorship. Professor Bankjoined the faculty in the

Department of Chemistry at UAlbany in 1966,where he remained until his retirement in 1997.Shelton Bank was born in the Bronx, N.Y., on Jan.28, 1932. He received his BS degree from BrooklynCollege and then served for two years in the U.S.Army doing weather research in Arizona. He earnedhis doctorate degree from Purdue University,studying under Nobel Laureate Professor HerbertC. Brown. He then did post-doctoral research withProfessor Paul Bartlett at Harvard University. In1961 he joined the Esso Research and EngineeringCompany (now Exxon-Mobil) where he served as aproject leader in 1964.

During his time at UAlbany, Shelton Bank’s researchfocused on using solution and solid-state NMR tostudy metal ions, clays, molecular complexes,neurotoxins, metabolic and fermentation pathways,environmental pollutants and organic reactionmechanisms. During that time, he served as presidentof the Chemical Education Division of the AmericanChemical Society and received the SUNYChancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Shelton was an inspiring mentor to manyundergraduate and graduate students who went on tohave successful careers. He passed away in 2009 andhis legacy is celebrated in part, with the establishmentof the Shelton Bank Prize for Excellence inChemistry. This Prize will be awarded annually to anundergraduate chemistry major who has excelled intheir coursework, and who, under the supervision of afaculty mentor, has demonstrated excellence in his orher research.

Mr. Michael Ferguson, an exceptional undergraduatestudent, was selected to receive the inaugural Bankaward because of his distinguished record of academicand research work. Michael began his undergraduatestudy in Chemistry at UAlbany in 2009. Michael hasreceived many honors and awards including theDean’s List of Distinguished Students, thePresidential Scholarship, the NYS Merit/AcademicExcellence Award, the Chemistry Award forAdvanced General Chemistry, and the ChemistryAward for Organic Chemistry. He was a member ofthe Honors College program and completed hisHonors thesis entitled “Charging and Self-Assemblyof Fullerene Fragments” in May 2013, under theguidance of Professor Marina Petrukhina. He has onepublication and a manuscript in progress. Congratulations Michael!

Inaugural Shelton Bank Prize for Excellence in Chemistry

Professor Shelton Bank

Michael Fergusen accepting the Shelton Bank Prize for Excellence during the 2013 Commencement. Left to right: Todd Bank, Janet Bank, Professor Marina Petrukhina and Michael Fergusen.

Michael Fergusen paused to take a photo with the donors of theShelton Bank Prize during the 2013 Commencement.

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The Department warmly welcomes Drs. Alan Chen,Jan Halámek and Jia Sheng as newly appointedAssistant Professors.

Alan Chen received hisdoctorate from WashingtonUniversity in St. Louis withProfessor Rohit Pappu,studying computationalmodels of strong electrolytenon-idealities and RNA-ioninteractions. Subsequently, hejoined Professor AngelGarcia’s group at RPI as an

NIH postdoctoral fellow where he developed atomisticmodels to interpret single-molecule pullingexperiments of RNA, as well as the de-novo folding ofnon-canonical RNA tetraloops. Alan is currentlyinterested in applications of computational RNAfolding to structural virology. Alan will join thedepartment formally in January 2014.

Jan Halámek received hisPh.D. in the Department ofBiochemistry at MasarykUniversity in the CzechRepublic in 2003. From2003−2006, he held a MarieCurie Fellowship and workedas a postdoctoral fellow at theDepartment of AnalyticalBiochemistry, Potsdam

University, Germany where he studiedorganophosphate and drug biodetection. From2007−2008, he served as a research fellow in theDepartment of Biophysical Engineering, TwenteUniversity, the Netherlands, developing new formatsof immunosensing. Before joining the Department ofChemistry at UAlbany, he was a Research AssistantProfessor at Clarkson University, NY in the laboratoryof Bioelectronics and Bionanotechnology. Jan’s currentresearch interests are mainly in analyticalbiochemistry, specifically in the areas of forensic andbiomedical bioanalysis. Jan joined the department inSeptember 2013.

New Faculty Appointments

Jia Sheng received his Ph.D. from Georgia State University in 2009. His Ph.D. work focused on heavy atom derivatization of nucleic acids and macromolecule X-raycrystallography in Professor Zhen Huang’s lab. He moved to Boston to conduct hispostdoctoral work with Professor Jack Szostak at Harvard Medical School,Massachusetts General Hospital. His work there focused on crystal structure studies ofseveral RNA systems of evolutionary significance. Jia is currently interested in RNAchemical modification and structural studies of RNA complexes with proteins and small molecule ligands.

Faculty Accomplishments During 2012-2013Paul F. Agris and colleagues published six articlescovering a variety of topics, including advances in thedevelopment of anti-infectives, HIV therapeutics, NMRmethods to characterize RNA-protein interactions, andbiophysical studies of modified nucleosides. His lab hasobserved for the first time, keto-enol and amine-iminetautomerization as a mechanism in the translation of thegenetic code.

Eric Block was named an American Association for theAdvancement of Science Fellow (2012) & VisitingProfessor for Senior International Scientists of theChinese Academy of Sciences. He gave 6 lectures atChinese universities, did research in Shanghai, and spokeat a Cardiff, Wales selenium conference.

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John Delano was named a Collins Fellow in recognitionof his extraordinary devotion to the University and thepeople in it over a sustained period of time. In addition,he was appointed Associate Dean of the College of Artsand Sciences.

Evgeny Dikarev’s latest work on “Volatile Hetero- metallic Precursors for the Low- Temperature Synthesis of Prospective Sodium Ion Battery Cathode Materials” has been featured in the Journal of the American ChemicalSociety and was presented at the 246th national ACS meeting.

Daniele Fabris and colleagues continue to makeadvancements in the development of novel massspectrometric techniques to characterize protein-nucleicacid interactions. The most recent results are featured in 3research articles.

Jan Halámek recently published a paper in Analyst inwhich he proposed a novel concept for biodetection inforensic analysis. His work was featured in commentariesin Chemistry World (Royal Society of Chemistry) andForensic Magazine.

Igor Lednev’s laboratory applied advanced spectroscopyto forensic and biomedical research, generating 4 Ph.D.dissertations, one issued US patent and 24 peer-reviewedarticles with 2 journal covers.

Rabi Musah published a paper on bacterial quorumsensing inhibition by cysteine sulfoxide derivatives, and incollaboration with Professor J. Shepard, 5 articles on theapplication of Direct Analysis in Real Time massspectrometry (DART-MS) in forensics. Her work was alsofeatured in the Times Union newspaper.

Li Niu published two articles, two book chapters and hasone patent pending for the development ofbenzodiazepines and RNA aptamers as drug candidates for the treatment of neurological diseases involving AMPA receptors.

Jayanti Pande chaired a session and presented an invitedpaper at the annual meeting of the Association forResearch in Vision and Ophthalmology in 2013. She hasbeen invited to organize a symposium at the InternationalCongress of Eye Research in 2014, and to co-edit avolume in the Vision series by Springer publishers.

Marina Petrukhina received a 2013 University at AlbanyAward for Excellence in Research. She also published her10th Angewandte Chemie manuscript in 2013. It is followedby an author profile feature (seehttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201304842/full). Marina was also elected as a Councilor of the ACSDivision of Inorganic Chemistry.

Max Royzen’s lab developed a bio-orthogonal chemistryapproach for fluorescence imaging of globaltranscriptional levels in live mammalian cells. His lab iscurrently attempting to optimize the procedure forselective imaging of mRNA.

Charles Scholes has been applying EPR to studies of thedynamics of protein-nucleic acid interactions important inHIV-1 replication, as well as characterization ofoxidoreductases important in photosynthesis. Threearticles featuring this work have recently been published.

Jason Shepard’s work on the application of ambient massspectrometric techniques to forensic identification ofdesigner drugs was recently featured in Analyst and DrugTesting and Analysis.

Alex Shekhtman and colleagues published five articlesdemonstrating the power of STINT-NMR in monitoringprotein-protein and protein-nucleic acid interactionswithin living cells.

Jia Sheng has just begun this exciting new journey as anassistant professor from his last stop at Harvard MedicalSchool. He is currently engaged in setting up his own labin the RNA Institute.

Lawrence Snyder gave a talk titled “Science and theHuman Spirit,” which was accompanied by ademonstration at the Chemistry Department graduationceremony in May 2013.

Faculty Accomplishments During 2012-2013

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Faculty Accomplishments During 2012-2013 continuedCarla Theimer has spearheaded the launch of the “Worldof Chemistry” living learning community. This program isdesigned to connect with and mentor incoming freshmenwith an interest in chemistry. Through this program,students will socialize with like-minded peers, learn moreabout the field of chemistry and related career paths, andbe introduced to scholars with active and expandingresearch programs.

Paul Toscano has been mentoring a graduate studentwho gave a talk on “Synthesis and Luminescence of RareEarth Ions (Eu2+, Ce3+) in M2+Al2B2O7 (M2+ = Ca2+, Sr2+,Ba2+)” at the 224th Electrochemical Society Meeting in San Francisco.

John Welch has published a review in Molecular Biosystemson Sirt6, a nuclear enzyme with histone deacetylase ormono- ribosyltransferase activity that is likely involved inNF�� regulation. Currently, inhibition studies of thisenzyme by the antituberculous reagent pyrazinamide areunder investigation in his lab.

Mehmet Yigit’s most recent work on “Doxorubicinloading on graphene oxide, iron oxide and goldnanoparticle hybrid” is featured in Journal of MaterialsChemistry B.

World of ChemistryThe fall 2013 semester saw the introduction of aLearning-Living Community (L-LC) for the Departmentof Chemistry, the World of Chemistry. L-LCs providestudents with the opportunity to meet like-mindedstudents, live in the same residence hall, and take classesin their academic major with students who share similarinterests and/or intended academic majors. The Worldof Chemistry is designed for incoming freshmaninterested in Chemistry and our pilot year includes 11bright-eyed and eager undergraduate students.

In their first month on campus, the World of Chemistrywon an all L-LC scavenger hunt against larger andmore established L-LCs from other Departments, andprovided a chemistry demonstration, the Taste of CollegeWorkshop at the William S. Hackett Middle School forsixty 6th graders. The “Fire and Ice” demonstration onSeptember 25th was a part of the UAlbany President’sInauguration week events. The experience was a greatsuccess for the World of Chemistry and Hackett MiddleSchool students. It was covered by YNN,timesunion.com, and UAlbany News and we areexcited about being involved in more communityoutreach and service events in the near future!

Above: front: Gabrielle Gregoire, back (left to right): Rebecca Huang,Andrew Burkhardt, Jesus Barragan, Isabella Bloss, Joseph Nagy,Cindy Yeung, Jenn Wilson, Kaitlin Shaver, Selina Casadei and Kaycie Lawson. Missing: Kelly Walter.

World of Chemistry students presented a “Fire & Ice”demonstration on September 25th, 2013 as part of the President’sInauguration week events.

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E. Block received a grant from NSF for his continuing studies on organosulfur and organoseleniumchemistry. The project seeks to answer fundamental questions on the chemistry of 1) low molecularweight organoselenium compounds related to methaneselenol, a central player in human Semetabolism and the anticancer activity of dietary Se; 2) olfaction, following up on his discovery of therole of copper in smelling volatile sulfur compounds; 3) thiacorannulenes, unusual, bowl-shapedcompounds with potential utility in the design of metal catalysts and materials for energy storage; and4) garlic and onion chemistry, emphasizing discovery of novel, biologically active sulfur-containingnatural products.

E. Dikarev, in collaboration with E. Block, R. Musah, M. Petrukhina and J. Welch, received a grantfrom NSF for the acquisition of a single-crystal X-Ray diffractometer for research and teaching. Theinstrument allows accurate and precise measurements of the full three-dimensional structure of amolecule. Studies using this equipment will impact a number of areas, including organic and inorganicchemistry, materials chemistry and natural products chemistry. This instrument will be an integral partof teaching as well as research and research training, and will contribute to the education ofundergraduate students, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. E. Dikarev also received an ACS-PRF grant for studies of volatile heterometallic molecular precursors for oxide, fluoride, andsilicate cathode materials of thin film lithium ion batteries.

R. Musah received a grant from NSF for her research on plant-derived organosulfur compounds. Thefunding will facilitate studies of not only the environmental fates of plant emitted volatile organosulfurcompounds, but also the extent to which they may ultimately contribute to the overall atmosphericsulfur burden, and influence pollution, acid rain, and cloud formation, among other phenomena. Thedeveloped analytical tools, which feature both infrared spectroscopy and mass spectrometric methods,will be made commercially available and find broad utility for analyses relevant to a range of other fieldsincluding chemistry, biochemistry, forensic chemistry, food sciences, agriculture, and medicine.

J. Shepard received a grant from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to develop mass spectrometricmethods to analyze and characterize designer drugs, and in particular, emerging novel variants ofcathinone “bath salts.” These methods will enable more comprehensive, rapid, and sensitive analysesfor use in crime labs, and will provide a pathway to deal with 1) sample testing backlogs; 2)determination of unknowns; 3) characterization of complex mixtures and unknowns; and 4)multivariate statistical characterization of the mass spectra of analogs. J. Shepard also received a grant from the Department of Homeland Security for development of a sorbent-coated wire meshconsumable which will permit generation of information-rich Chemical Attribution Signatures (CAS)in forensic analyses of samples by mass spectrometry.

J. Welch received two grants supported by the NIH for his work on development of adjuvanttherapies for the control of tuberculosis infection. The research tests the hypotheses that 1) ametabolite of pyrazinamide (a frontline drug in TB treatment) inhibits the function of the class IIIhistone de-acetylase SIRT6; and 2) aerosol delivery of the pyrazinoic acid metabolite to the lungs maybe an effective adjunct therapy to the conventional oral TB drugs isoniazid, rifampicin andpyrazinamide. It is anticipated that use of the metabolite will significantly reduce the burden ofMycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) bacteria and the course of TB disease in infected patients. Thus, theproposed work will test the feasibility of using a novel therapeutic strategy for an existing TB drug,and it has significant implications for clinical applications. Additionally, successful completion of thiswork may lead to the identification of a new pyrazinamide drug target.

Recent Funding Highlights

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Student Awards and Accomplishments During 2012-2013Mustafa Balcioglu received aDepartment of Chemistry GraduateStudent Travel Award for the FingerLakes RNA meeting in October 2013.

Abhijit Jadhav co-founded aUniversity based Biotech company(Capital Biotech) with a $100,000.00business award received fromThermo-Fisher Scientific.

Ashton Lesiak received the 2013George W. Neighbor Jr. MemorialScholarship from the NortheasternAssociation of Forensic Scientists.

Jennifer Lippens was selected to givea talk at the 61st Conference of theAmerican Society for MassSpectrometry in Minneapolis, MN(June 2013).

Mohammad Qneibi received aUniversity award for Excellence inTeaching by a graduate student.Mohammad is currently a postdoctoralfellow at Yale University.

Muhit Rana received a Hudson ValleyRNA Club Travel Award to attend theFinger Lakes RNA meeting inOctober 2013. He also received a2012-2013 GSEU ProfessionalDevelopment Award.

Rebecca Rose was selected to givetalks at the 61st Conference of theAmerican Society for MassSpectrometry in Minneapolis, MN(June 2013) and at the recent FingerLakes RNA Conference inCanandaigua, NY (October 2013).

Sarah N. Spisak received a 2013 LudoFrevel Crystallographic ScholarshipAward from the International Centrefor Diffraction Data (ICDD) for thesecond time (she also won it in 2012through an international competition).

Zheng Wei received an ACS Divisionof Inorganic Chemistry Travel Award topresent two talks at the 246th AmericanChemical Society National Meeting inIndianapolis in September 2013.

Degrees Awarded During 2012-2013Stephene Harriott-Lodge andRama Yaghi, both from ProfessorEric Block’s lab, graduated with Ph.D.and MS degrees respectively.Stephene is currently employed with a Canadian company. Rama is currently employed as aninstructional support associate at UAlbany.

Ryan Quinn graduated with a MSdegree from Professor DanieleFabris’s lab. Ryan is currentlyteaching chemistry in NYC.

Justin Bueno, Dmitry Kurouski,Gregory McLaughlin andAliaksandra Sikirhytskaya, all fromProfessor Igor Lednev’s lab,graduated with Ph.D’s. Justin andAliaksandra are entering theworkforce. Dmitry is currently doinghis postdoctoral research atNorthwestern University. Greg iscurrently working at the AlbanyMolecular Research Institute.

Abhijit Jadhav graduated with a Ph.D. from Professor Rabi Musah’slab. He is co-founder of a startupbiotech company (Capital Biotech).

Mohammad Qneibi from ProfessorLi Niu’s lab, graduated with a Ph.D. Mohammad is currently doing postdoctoral research at Yale University.

Cindy Yeung graduated with a MSfrom Professor Jayanti Pande’s lab.Cindy is currently employed at theAlbany Molecular Research Institute.

Sarah N. Spisak graduated with aPh.D. from Professor Petrukhina’slab. Sarah remains at UAlbany withProfessor Petrukhina as apostdoctoral fellow.

Christine Bazinet & Katelyn Jaspereach graduated with a MS degreefrom Professor Carla Theimer’s lab.Christine has entered the workforce.Katelyn is currently employed at theAlbany Molecular Research Institute.

Karl Bertrand, JacquelineWashington-Cobbert, and JingXue graduated with Ph.D’s, andRachael Hartz graduated with a MSdegree. All four students were fromProfessor Alex Shekhtman’s lab. Karlis currently employed with aPharmaceutical company in LongIsland. Jacqueline is currently doingher postdoctoral research at theUniversity of Illinois. Rachael iscurrently employed at the AlbanyMolecular Research Institute and Jingremains with Professor Shekhtman asa postdoctoral associate.

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ChemistryDepartment ScholarAwards:Ashley Colvin and Jeremy Manheim

Chemistry FacultyAward:Carlucio Sorriento and Rachel Santiago

CRC Press FreshmanAward:Roselyn Rodrigues

Derk V. TieszenAward: Kendra Adams

Harry L. FrischMemorial Scholarship:Ashton Lesiak

Arthur O. LongTeaching Award: Cristina Dubceac and Ashton Lesiak

Shelton Bank Prize for Excellence in Chemistry: Michael Ferguson

2013 DistinguishedDissertation Award:Dmitry Kurouski

Chemistry GraduateTravel Award: Ashton Lesiak, Mustafa Balcioglu and Justin Bueno

2013 Commencement Awards

Distinguished AlumniDavid W. Krick, ’78, PhD

“Three quarters of everything I’m teachingwill turn out to be wrong someday, but Idon’t know which quarter is correct so I willbe testing you on all of it!” This was astatement from my radiology instructor inveterinary school, circa 1980. I found itastounding and ridiculous at the time, butI’ve spent the last 31 years following mygraduation learning exactly how right he was.

I attended The University at Albany from1974-1978 and had the privilege ofstudying under wonderful Chemistryprofessors like Arthur Long, Shelton Bank,Henry Kuivila and Harold Story of thePhysics Department. Shelton Bankarranged for me to do undergraduateresearch with Steven Kim of the New YorkState Health Department, studyingcomparative toxicology of differentmammalian species.

The summer of 1978 brought a wedding tomy high school sweetheart, Nora Donohuewho was also graduating fromSUNYAlbany. She received her BSN fromthe Nursing Department. We went off toIthaca, NY together to begin Nora’s careerand my own training in VeterinaryMedicine at Cornell University.

Nora and I remained friends with Arthurand Dee Long over the years and also withShelton and Janet Bank. We were sofortunate to enjoy their friendship and theopportunity to visit from time to time.These caring people made a hugedifference in our lives and they are part ofthe reason that we remember theUniversity so fondly.

Nora continues to practice nursing and is aNurse Practitioner at the VA New JerseyHealth Care System in East Orange. Icontinue to practice small animal medicinein private practice. And I continue to learnthe absolute truth that what we think weknow in medicine is often proven wrongwithin a few years. It is humbling but themysteries of medicine are a compellingreason to continue going to work every day!

Some of you may know that a group of usgot together and worked on a scholarshipfund to honor Shelton Bank. That effortcame to fruition this May when Janet Bankawarded the first “Shelton Bank Prize forexcellence in Chemistry” to MichaelFerguson, a graduating senior. In thefuture, this prize is intended to support theundergraduate research of an outstandingChemistry student during their senior year.It has come to my attention that the fundintended to honor Dr. Arthur Long wasnot a perpetual one. It is completelydepleted of funds. If any of you have aninterest in joining me in an effort to createa lasting tribute to Arthur, please contactme through the Chemistry Department sothat we can discuss such a project.

— David W. Krick, Ph.D, Class of 1978

David Krick (center) presented Janet Bank (left)and her son Todd Bank (right) with the InauguralShelton Bank Prize for Excellence in Chemistryat the May 2013 Commencement.

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Distinguished AlumniSharon R. Kantor, ’73, Ph.D., J.D.

Hailing from Bethpage, LongIsland, Sharon Kantor (B.S.‘73, Chemistry/Math) found itdifficult to select a school forher undergraduate studies.Passionate about math andscience, wheels were set inmotion to attend SUNY atAlbany after visiting hercousin, Lawrence Kaye (B.S.’68, Biology) at the university.

From the very start, her time in Albany was filled with greatcourses, wonderful friends that she retains to this day, fondmemories of dorm life (really – she was an R.A.), part-timework for the student press and the N.Y. State legislature,music, art and most of all, the opportunity for scientificpursuits. The summer between her junior and senior yearsfound Sharon climbing to rooftops of Albany area buildingsto tend air sampling equipment as part of an NSF-Studentoriginated air pollution project that was sponsored byChemistry Professor Emeritus Andrew J. Yencha.

After four years at UAlbany, having thoroughly enjoyed herexperiences with Professors Yencha and the late Jerold J.Zuckerman, Sharon decided to pursue graduate study inchemistry. Professor Yencha advised her to consider UCLA,where he had done his own graduate work under ProfessorMustafa El-Sayed. Thus began the next leg of her journey;she received her Ph.D. in synthetic organometallicchemistry under the late Professor Herbert D. Kaesz.

Following graduate school, Sharon did research at DowChemical in northern California and technical marketing ata chemical database software company, before deciding toattend law school. Made possible partly by scholarship andthe generosity of the patent firm where she clerked while afull-time student, law school enabled Sharon to pursue herlove of science and teaching. As she describes it, her role isto make “techno-speak” understandable to the generalpublic and, ultimately, a judge or jury. Herpatent/intellectual property work took her to Germany foralmost two years. She now maintains a private practice inDanville, California. She has written, argued and/orprosecuted patents for clients around the globe.

In addition to her professional life, Sharon has pursued awide variety of extracurricular activities. She helped crew asailboat from Hawaii to California following law school, hassung in fifteen-plus regional opera choruses and withchoruses in Europe and at the Lincoln Center, and hasmentored a number of UAlbany graduates on the WestCoast. With a colleague, Sharon recently foundedChromatica (http://www.chromaticachorale.org) a small,primarily classical music chorale in Danville, CA, where she lives with her husband, two border collie mutts, theoccasional owl, wild turkeys and approximately 60,000 Apis mellifera (aka honey bee) friends.

Although living three thousand miles away, Sharon’s love forUAlbany has never ebbed. She became involved in alumniaffairs first as Class Counselor, and now serves on both theAlumni Association and UAlbany Foundation Boards ofDirectors. She often travels back to Albany (especially forFall colors), and it is seldom that a week goes by in whichshe has not been in touch with friends, faculty, and otherUAlbany colleagues. She actively promotes and participatesin activities on both coasts (she and a colleague co-foundedand co-Chair the Alumni Association Homecoming 5KRun/Walk). Just this past October, she again served as ChiefJustice for the Alumni Association-sponsored Moot CourtCompetition organized by Professor James Acker of theSchool of Criminal Justice.

In addition to supporting the Cancer Research Center andInitiatives for Women at UAlbany, Sharon continues to holdher greatest affection for the Chemistry Department, whichshe feels has given her so much. Asked to deliver theChemistry Departmental Graduation Address (2008), shewas the first non-chemist to be so honored. She isimpressed and inspired by the excellence of the department’sfaculty and students, the breadth of study and the efforts bywhich the Chemistry Department continues to adapt andevolve with emerging technologies. She plans to continuesupporting the department in any way she can.

— Sharon R. Kantor, Ph.D, J.D., Class of 1973

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Our Staff

Our Faculty Honor Roll of Donors Capital ImprovementsRenovations have been completed onthe Quantitative and InstrumentalAnalysis classroom laboratory, whichfeatures a gas distribution system andlots of bench space for instrumentation.The lab has been equipped in part bythe New York State Department ofAgriculture and Markets, which hasgenerously donated a GC-MS, an LC-MS, an AA spectrometer and a mercury analyzer. The lab alsocontains UV-Vis, Raman andfluorescence spectrometers. Thisbrand new lab is a great place forstudents to practice modern analytical chemistry.

Construction has also begun on a newOrganic Chemistry classroomlaboratory. The work is expected to be ready for use in the Springsemester of 2014. This new lab willallow the Chemistry Department totrain up to 33% more future chemists,biologists and health care workers infundamental organic synthesistechniques. We are proud to offerstudents flexibility in scheduling, smalllaboratory classes and training onmodern GC and FT-IRinstrumentation.

The following donors have contributed to TheUniversity at Albany’s Department of Chemistryfrom September 1, 2012 to September 1, 2013

Ms. Rheem F. Anvery ‘07Ms. Helen AragoniMr. Terrence E. Aragoni ‘78Ms. Kiera J. Berkenblit ‘87Dr. Robert G. Berkenblit ‘86Gregory van Buskirk, Ph.D. Eric Block, Ph.D.Mrs. Judith BlockRichard Bopp, Ph.D. ‘73Ms. Virginia Bopp ‘86Zhefei Chen, Ph.D. ‘95Mr. Gary C. Davis ‘71Mr. Paul DemchukDr. Clifford L. Ehrlich ‘77Mr. Mark F. Fleszar ‘71Ms. Laura W. Goldstein ‘82Mr. James Gorman ‘68Vicki H. Grassian, Ph.D. ‘81Dennis S. Hackett, Ph.D. ‘72Ms. Deborah J. Hartz ’85Ms. Christina N. Hammond ‘61Ms. Patricia HamiltonMs. Roberta D. HydeMr. Robert Hyde ‘57Ms. Beth E. Johansen ‘72Sharon R. Kantor, Ph.D., Esq., ‘73Ms. Patricia KentMr. Ronald A. Kent ‘64Dr. David W. Krick ‘78Ms. Nora Krick ‘78Dr. Werner S. Kolln ‘73Ms. Cheryl LangoneMr. Yimin Lu ‘99Mr. Michael T. Luttrell ‘05Matthew A. McMahon, Ph.D. ‘56Mr. Bruce MartindaleMs. Heather Meekins ‘96Mr. Edward E. Messer ‘82Mr. Drake M. Michno ‘73Ms. Wanda MooreMr. Christopher Nielson ‘82Ms. Sharon O’CallaghanMs. Jeanne Oles ‘61Ms. Kathleen M. PappalardoFr. Michael T. E. Parks ‘67Ms. Joan M. Platz ‘73Matthew S. Platz, Ph.D. ‘73Ms. Loretta PostiglioneDr. Franklin D. Roth ‘58Lawrence C. Snyder, Jr., Ph.D.Leslie H. Sultan, M.D. ‘80Mr. Richard A. Simon ‘80Mr. Michael Seaman ‘88Mr. John J. Tegeler ‘73Mrs. Regina M. Tegeler ‘73Mr. Derek A. TreonzeDongyan WangKai Wang, Ph.D. ‘11Mr. David Williams

Paul AgrisProfessor & Director, RNA InstituteEric BlockCarla Rizzo Delray Distinguished ProfessorAlan ChenAssistant ProfessorJohn DelanoDistinguished Teaching ProfessorEvgeny DikarevAssociate ProfessorDan FabrisProfessorJan HalamekAssistant ProfessorIgor LednevProfessor & Director, Forensics InstituteRabi MusahAssociate Professor & Director, Center forAchievement, Retention & Student SuccessLi NiuProfessor & ChairJayanti PandeAssociate ProfessorMarina PetrukhinaProfessorMaksim RoyzenAssistant ProfessorCharles ScholesProfessorAlexander ShekhtmanAssociate Professor & Director, Graduate StudiesJia ShengAssistant ProfessorJason ShepardAssistant ProfessorLawrence SnyderProfessor EmeritusCarla TheimerAssistant ProfessorPaul ToscanoAssociate Professor & Chair, Undergraduate Studies John WelchProfessorMehmet YigitAssistant Professor

Brian A. GabrielSenior StaffColin HenckUndergraduate Laboratory CoordinatorDavid BurzInstructional Support Specialist Lan HuynhInstructional Support TechnicianRama YaghiInstructional Support TechnicianMichele JanishakDepartment Secretary

YES! I/We support the mission of learning and discovery at UAlbany.GIFT DESIGNATION:❍ Department of Chemistry ❍ Graduate Student Support❍ Tiezen Scholarship Fund ❍ College of Arts & Sciences Dean’s Fund for Excellence❍ Arthur O. Long Fund ❍ Henry Kuivila Lectureship❍ Shelton Bank Prize for Excellence

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