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Stevenson Wins “Best Research” Award

Dr. Cheryl Stevenson

Dr. Cheryl Stevenson

Dr. Cheryl Stevenson, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, has won the American Chemical Society's (ACS) Award for Research at an Undergraduate Institution. This covers all universities in the United States that do not have a Ph.D. program in Chemistry.  Her work, “The Second Triannulenylene,” was published by the Journal of the American Chemical Society and was later featured as the Editor’s Choice in Science.  The undergraduate student who worked with her on the research is now a graduate student at Stanford. That work described the discovery of triannulenylenes, which are materials that may work in liquid displays such as LCDs. She was also recognized for her published work on molecular electronics for future computer applications. “What I try to instill most is motivation for chemical research,” said Dr. Stevenson.  “It is important to have background information from classroom work and use it to do something new and exciting, something that has never been seen before.”

The ACS's national awards recognize individual or team accomplishments in diverse fields of the chemical sciences and are an annual feature of the ACS spring national meeting.  Each recipient is required to appear in person to receive the award and deliver an award address on the scientific work that is being recognized. “We are delighted to see this wonderful recognition of Professor Stevenson’s terrific scientific contributions,” said Dr. Clifford Dykstra, Department Chair, “and to have this award shine a spotlight on the outstanding research opportunities and accomplishments of our undergraduate chemistry majors.”  Dr. Stevenson will be receiving the award in Chicago in March.

The award committee is made up of five experts in the discipline and rotates every three years.  Each member is appointed by the President-Elect and is kept confidential.  The procedure for picking an award recipient is complex.  First, each Award committee member ranks the nominees from one to ten, one being the best suitable recipient.  If one nominee is ranked number one in at least three lists, then that nominee becomes the unanimous recipient.  If there is no unanimous recipient, then the two lowest numerical scores move to a second ballot.  The award committee repeats their ranking, and if a nominee receives a majority of number one ranking the nominee becomes the recipient.  If there is a tie, the President-Elect selects the recipient.
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