by Whitney Hale

(July 8, 2014) — Each year University of Kentucky students are recognized on the national, and even international, stage with a variety of prestigious scholarships, internships and fellowships that acknowledge their excellence in the classroom, as well as in research and extracurricular activities.

In the 2013-14 school year alone, UK students earned 11 more national awards than the previous year, including a prized Truman Scholarship and two Goldwaters. This brought the year's count of major honors to 35 with several national organizations awarding UK double the

By Zachary Dodson

The Department of Chemistry and Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER) at the University of Kentucky are always looking to infuse their research environments with new energy—and recent hire Chad Risko will do just that when he comes to campus this fall.

Risko received his PhD at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he specialized in understanding structure-property relationships of organic-based materials. He went on to Northwestern University as a research fellow where he expanded his research interests to the study of hybrid interfaces. For the past five years, he worked as a Research Scientist at Georgia Tech.

“Dr. Risko comes from the world’s leading group in applying computation and theory to the design and analysis

by Keith Hautala

(June 3, 2014) — The University of Kentucky has been awarded a $1.9 million grant to improve retention of students in the STEM disciplines: science, technology, engineering and mathematics, through a collection of initiatives dubbed "STEMCats."

UK is one of 37 research institutions selected by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) to receive an award, from among 170 institutions competing for a share of $60 million in total funding. The five-year awards, ranging from $1.2 to $2.4 million, are intended to enable schools to focus on "significant and sustained improvement in retaining students" in the STEM disciplines.

Although the need for STEM graduates is growing nationally, fewer than half of all students who enter college with the intention of majoring in

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 25, 2014) — Two University of Kentucky juniors have received the Undergraduate Research Abroad Scholarship (UGRAS) which will support their international independent research projects during the 2014 summer session.

Tamas Nagy, a computer science and chemistry double major in the Colleges of Engineering and Arts & Sciences, and Alexis Thompson, an animal science/pre-veterinary science major in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, have been awarded the scholarships which support

by Keith Hautala

(April 22, 2014) — The University of Kentucky's annual Naff Symposium hosts three leading chemistry experts on Friday, April 25, at UK's William T. Young Library auditorium. A poster session will be held in conjunction with the symposium at King Alumni House Ballroom.

Presented by the Department of Chemistry in the UK College of Arts and Sciences, the Naff Symposium brings renowned researchers, including Nobel prize-winning scientists, to campus to share their knowledge with students and faculty from UK and nearby institutions. The symposium was established in honor of Anna S. Naff, a University of Kentucky graduate, through the generous support of Dr. Benton Naff of the National Institutes of

by Whitney Harder

(April 23, 2014) — Chris Richards, assistant professor in the University of Kentucky Department of Chemistry, recently received a Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) Young Investigators research grant for a research project focused on understanding complex biological processes.

Richards' project is titled “Real-time imaging of fast conformational dynamics of ion channel gating with plasmonic nano-antennas.”

Richards and his team, including Tom Vosch at the University of Copenhagen and 

Sometimes the most obvious questions are the ones that need to be asked. In chemistry professor David Atwood’s case, that question came in 1994 when a postdoc student working in his lab realized that there was no industrial chelator that worked with mercury.

Fast forward 20 years and 50 compounds later, and Atwood is providing answers that have some far-reaching benefits.

Discoverer: David Atwood, department of chemistry, University of Kentucky
Discovery: Highly effective mercury chelator
Years in development: Six
Biological application: Antioxidant, under development as a mercury poisoning therapy
Environmental application:

by Gail Hairston 

(April 14, 2014) — University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto, as the principal investigator, will lead a multi-million-dollar initiative with Kentucky and West Virginia universities to increase underrepresented undergraduates studying in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

The five-year, $2.5 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant establishes the Kentucky-West Virginia Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (KY-WV LSAMP) in the STEM disciplines. Coordinated by the UK Office for Institutional Diversity and UK’s co-PI and engineering Associate Professor Johné Parker, the alliance of nine institutions of higher learning includes UK, University of Louisville, West Virginia University, Western Kentucky University, Centre College, Marshall University, Kentucky State University, West Virginia

by Whitney Harder, Whitney Hale

(March 27, 2014) — The University of Kentucky Gaines Center for the Humanities has chosen 12 outstanding undergraduates as new scholars for the university's Gaines Fellowship Program for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 academic years. Gaines Fellowships are given in recognition of outstanding academic performance, demonstrated ability to conduct independent research, an interest in public issues and a desire to enhance understanding of the human condition through the humanities.

Gaines Fellowships are awarded for the tenure of a student's junior and senior years, or for the last two years of a five-year program; students in all disciplines and with any intended profession are given equal

by Whitney Harder

(March 24, 2014) — Students in introductory-level chemistry courses at the University of Kentucky now have a resource focused on their success. 

The General Chemistry Learning Center at UK provides introductory assistance to any student taking the courses, including Chemistry 105, with its inaccurate reputation for being a difficult class that "weeds out" students. Lisa Blue, the center's coordinator, says students need to know that help is available.

"I don't want students to feel like Chem 105 is a weed-out course in the least," Blue said. "I want them to understand that there are certain critical thinking skills that, as a card-carrying chemist, we want them to walk out of that class having. So, we're going to do anything we can to reach out to the

By Dr. Steven Yates

William (“Bill”) Donald Ehmann was born on February 7, 1931 in Madison, Wisconsin, and died on December 17, 2013 in Lexington, Kentucky. Bill received B.S. (1952) and M.S. (1954) degrees in Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin, and married Nancy Gallagher on July 16, 1955 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1957, he received a Ph.D. in Radiochemistry from (now) Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, working with Prof. Truman P. Kohman.  After two years as a postdoctoral fellow with John R. Huizenga at Argonne National Laboratory, where Bill began using neutron activation analysis, he accepted a faculty position at the University of Kentucky (UK) in Lexington, Kentucky and quickly rose through the ranks to become a Professor of Chemistry. 

Named a Fulbright Research Scholar in 1964, Bill traveled to Australia for a year where he completed ground-

by Allison Perry

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 17, 2014) — After 39 years of working in the University of Kentucky's Department of Chemistry, you might suspect one would get bored with the work. But professor Allan Butterfield describes his current project as "one of the most intellectually stimulating projects I've ever worked on."

Butterfield, whose many titles include director of the UK Markey Cancer Center's Free Radical Biology in Cancer Shared Resource Facility, studies oxidative stress in the brain. This includes the effect of oxidative stress on the development of Alzheimer's disease, and, in collaboration with Daret St. Clair, Markey's associate director for basic research,  the study of chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment (CICI), known

The Department of Chemistry is pleased to welcome Professor Kenneth Graham, who will be joining the faculty in the summer of 2014. Professor Graham earned his Ph.D. at the University of Florida, and has been a postdoctoral research fellow at Stanford University. His research areas encompass the fields of organic light-emitting diodes and organic solar cells, and he will bring with him a very broad analytical/characterization skill-set and an interest in the study of interfaces that are present in devices, particularly those in photovoltaic devices. The Department is excited to have Professor Graham arriving this summer.

By Mary Venuto

(Lexington, KY) – The philosopher, Alkmeon, is said to have been the first to advocate that the brain was the site of the spirit. In the case of D. Allan Butterfield, he is being recognized for both his spirit and brain.

Butterfield, a professor in the Department of Chemistry, is being awarded the Alkmeon International Prize for his contribution to the progress in the science of Alzheimer's disease (AD). He will be presented the award in Rome, Italy by Professor Nistico, of the University of Rome, on April 3, 2014. Dr. Butterfield will also be giving a lecture at the University of Rome II (Tor Vergata) and a seminar in Biochemistry at the University of Rome I (La Sapienza) during this trip.

”It is fair to say that our

by Whitney Hale

Feb. 10, 2014 — Celebrated chemist, novelist and playwright Carl Djerassi comes to the Bluegrass this week. Known for his work in organic chemistry and as a father of insect and human birth control, Djerassi will take part in several events being held Feb. 13-15, at the University of Kentucky.

During his visit to the Bluegrass, Djerassi will participate in three events. He will first serve as the featured speaker at a luncheon for business and academic leaders. The talk, "Academic Entrepreneurship: Facts through Fiction," will feature his perspective on academic-business relationships in science and technology and will be followed by a question and answer session. The luncheon is Feb. 13, at the Hilary J. Boone Center.

By Mary Venuto

The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a nonprofit organization of geophysicists with over 62,000 members from 144 countries. At their most recent meeting last December, 24,000 people presented and discussed the newest interdisciplinary and international research in geophysics, which makes Liz Pillar’s accomplishments all the more impressive.

Pillar, a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry at UK, received the “Outstanding Student Paper Award” (OSPA) at AGU’s fall 2013 meeting. Only the top 3% of presenters are awarded an OSPA. This award recognizes the quality research that Pillar has conducted in atmospheric chemistry.

“I was shocked to win,” said Pillar “I had no

by Whitney Hale

(Jan. 28, 2014) — Renowned chemist, novelist and playwright Carl Djerassi, known for his work in organic chemistry and as a father of insect and human birth control, will take part in several events being held Feb. 13-15, at the University of Kentucky.

During his visit to the Bluegrass, Djerassi will participate in three events. He will first serve as the featured speaker at a luncheon for business and academic leaders. The talk, "Academic Entrepreneurship: Facts through Fiction," will feature his perspective on academic-business relationships in science and technology and will be followed by a question and answer session. The luncheon will begin at noon Thursday, Feb. 13, at the Hilary J. Boone Center. Cost for the luncheon is $

Video by UK Public Relations and Marketing

by Keith Hautala

(Jan. 22, 2014) — More than 5,000 individuals have signed up to take a free college-preparatory chemistry course online through the University of Kentucky.

The "Advanced Chemistry" course, beginning Jan. 27, will be the university’s first to use Coursera, a leading platform for MOOCs (massive open online courses). The non-credit course is designed to prepare incoming and current students for college-level chemistry classes, and to provide supplemental material for students already enrolled in chemistry classes for credit.

The 10-week course is made up of five two-part units, with each part intended

by Allison Perry

(Dec. 2, 2013) — A new study led by University of Kentucky researchers suggests that a diet low in vitamin D causes damage to the brain.

In addition to being essential for maintaining bone health, newer evidence shows that vitamin D serves important roles in other organs and tissue, including the brain. Published in Free Radical Biology and Medicine, the UK study showed that middle-aged rats that were fed a diet low in vitamin D for several months developed free radical damage to the brain, and many different brain proteins were damaged as identified by redox proteomics. These rats also showed a significant decrease in cognitive performance on tests of learning and memory.  

"Given that vitamin D deficiency is especially widespread among the elderly, we