Years ago The Catalyst was a newsletter produced and distributed by DePaul’s Chemistry Clubto promote a sense of community in the department and keep folks up-to-date on special eventsand noteworthy developments with faculty, staff, and students. When she retired and headedsouth to Savannah, GA in summer 2005, Dr. Sara Melford left behind a collection of these oldnewsletters. The current department has decided to resurrect The Catalyst as a quarterlypublication aimed at promoting communication and networking between past and current facultyand students. We will use The Catalyst to keep everyone up-to-date with ongoing developmentswithin the department. We’re also interested in knowing where our alumni are, what you’redoing, and the possibility of providing networking opportunities among you and maintaininghealthy ties with the department. The Catalyst will be distributed by mail at the end of everyacademic quarter, and it will also be posted on-line at www.depaul.edu/~alchemy. If you’ve gotnews or items you’d like for others to know about, please do not hesitate to send them to us.

‘The Catalyst’ Regenerated

From the Desk of the Chair Welcome and thank you for taking the timeto look through this initial edition of T h eCatalyst. We hope to use this newsletter tokeep you up to date on what is happening backin the Department of Chemistry on a regularbasis. Indeed, many changes have recentlybeen taking place within the department, butits goal of offering a quality, personalizededucation in the chemical sciences to studentsfrom all walks of life remains the same. The past two years have seen the retirementof two longtime members of the department,Drs. Thomas J. Murphy and Sara J. Melford.Together, they accounted for over seventyyears of teaching experience, and I am surethat many of you have fond classroommemories of them. Over the same period oftime, we have hired three new facultymembers: Drs. Roger D. Sommer, QuinettaD. Shelby, and Layne A. Morsch. Each bringswith them teaching experience and new,exciting research programs that our currentstudents can participate in. In addition to personnel changes, portions ofO’Connell Hall are being renovated. By thetime you read this, most every teaching andresearch lab will have new fume hoods. Thegeneral chemistry lab in O’Connell 400 wasgutted this past summer, completely rebuilt,and can now serve a maximum of 48 studentsat any one time. O’Connell 170 (the site of

The CatalystFall, 2005

Volume 1, Issue 1

Inside:

NationalChemistry Day

Student Research

“Life AfterDePaul”

Alumni News andNotes

Dr. Avrom A. Blumberg’s lab) was similarlyrenovated and now serves as our main wet anddry instrumentation lab. All of theserenovations, however, may be short lived.The university is seriously considering theconstruction of a brand new science facility toserve chemistry and other natural sciencedepartments. I will pass more informationalong as it becomes available. Again, I hope you enjoy this inauguraledition of The Catalyst. The department isinterested in finding out what its alumni are upto these days, so please contact me atrn iedz ie@condor .depaul .edu with anyinformation as you see fit. If you’d ratherreceive an electronic copy of The Catalyst viae-mail, please send a request to Dr. Wolbachat wwolbach@condor.depaul.edu. And, if youhappen to be in Lincoln Park one day, feelfree to stop in. I would be honored to meetyou and give you a tour of the facilities.

Sincerely,

Richard F. NiedzielaAssociate Professor and ChairClass of 1988

DePaul University/ (773) 325-7420

(above) Nearly 800participants attended

National Chemistry DayDePaul; (below) S.

McCormick, E. Lesser, andM. McCormick at the SMT

Showcase

DePaul Hosts National Chemistry Day in Chicago “Chemistry Day,” is an annual eventsponsored by the American ChemicalSociety during National Chemistry Week(usually in mid-October) to expose highschool, junior high and elementary schoolstudents to the excitement of chemistry.DePaul’s Chemistry Department andInterdisciplinary Science and TechnologyCenter hosted this year’s event, which drewnearly 800 participants to the Lincoln Parkcampus on Saturday, October 15. Attendeeslearned about chemistry and “The Joy ofToys,” the theme of this year’s event,through a variety of colorful demonstrations,hands-on activities, and presentations.

Student Researchers Showcase ScientificContributions at Poster Presentations Chemistry students represented the Chemistry Department this year witheight poster presentations at the 3rd Annual Natural Sciences, Mathematicsand Technology Showcase on November 4, 2005. Many students competedfor research grants from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, enrolled inan Experiential Learning course, or volunteered to conduct research withfaculty. With high enthusiasm, our undergraduate students displayed theirresearch results and were on-hand to discuss their findings with all whoventured through the Schmitt Academic Center pit.Our eight posters were:

• “Optical Properties of Mixed Organic Aerosols” by Marta Kapala(R. Niedziela)

• “Metal Complexes of Inorganic Cage Molecules” by Eric Lesser,Sean McCormick, and Mike Davis (R. Sommer)

• “Development of a Clay-Catalyzed Hetero-Diels-Alder Reactionand Application in the Synthesis of Potential HIV-1 ProteaseInhibitors” by Andrew Little, Paul Wucka, Zachary Osner, andTom Lyons (M. Dintzner)

• “Macrocyclic Tetraamides: Structural, Vibrational and ElectronicProperties” by Brian Yoo (R. Parra)

• “Studies Toward the Formation of Homoallylic Products” by LaniAston MacArtney (Q. Shelby)

• “Tetracycline and Metal Interactions” by Elissa Johnson (L. Jin)• “Probing the Activation Mechanism of E. coli Arginine Repressor

for DNA Binding” by Monika Zbyszynska and Nga Du (L. Jin)• “Synthesis and Characterization of New Copolymers” by Celeste

Diener and Selena Russell (G. Kharas) An evening reception was held for the student presenters and facultyresearch advisors. There, Dr. Helmut Epp, Executive Vice-President forAcademic Affairs, presented students with certificates of appreciation.

Perhaps the highlight of the day was a trio offlaming, oozing, and exploding jack-o-lanterns during the grand finale that packedthe SAC 161 auditorium. DePaul’sChemist ry , Biology, Math, andEnvironmental Science Departments tookadvantage of the event to promote theirprograms to prospective students and tonetwork with the many Chicago areateachers who were also participating orattending. A number of exhibitors fromindustry or government were also present,including representatives from Argonne,Cosmetic Chemists, McCrone ResearchInstitute, and the Illinois State Police.

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On November 3, 2005, the ChemistryDepartment at DePaul University hosted itssixth “Life After DePaul” Symposium inseven years. Students learned about careerservices available at DePaul, researchopportunities with faculty, and general waysto prepare themselves to make informeddecisions about their future careers. Mr. EdChilds, the Internship Coordinator in theCareer Center, urged students to use theresources offered at the Career Center toprepare their resumes, personal statements,and other application documents for graduateschool, professional school, andemployment. Josh Neukom, a 2004 DePaulgraduate, discussed his experiences as anEPA scientist. He offered advantages anddisadvantages to consider when seekinggovernment employment. Dr. Jim Koziarz(BS, 1971) chronicled his eventful careerpath to becoming the Corporate Vice-President at Abbott Laboratories.

Several recent grads wrote in to tell uswhere they are and what they’re up to now:Charlie Harrison (BS, 2003) is living inChicago and working as an R&D chemist atWrigley Chewing Gum Co.; A d a mFronczak (MS, 2004) is living in RoundLake, IL and working as a Bio-Pharmaproduct development research associate atBaxter Healthcare; Darcy Fritz (BS, 2004)is living in Chicago and working as anenvironmental chemist for the government atFederal Occupational Health; A n d r e a(Toth) Metlzer (BS, 2003) was married thispast summer and is living with her husbandin Lincoln Park and working tradingcurrency futures; Josh Neukom (BS, 2004)is finishing up an internship with the EPAbefore he starts a Ph.D. program in autumn‘06; Gilbert Villasenor (BS, 2002) is livingin Chicago and is in his fourth year of dentalschool at UIC, preparing to graduate in May’06; Christine Eichendorf (BS, 2000 & MS,2001) is living in Chicago and working as aproduct development chemist at StepanCompany; Josue Gutierrez (BS, 2004) isliving in Long Beach, CA and working as apharmaceutical chemist; Jorge Gutierrez(MS, 2004) is living in Jacksonville, ARworking as a chemist for Poloplaz, a

Departmental Symposium Provides Out-of-Class Education for Students

Alumni News and Notes

Drs. Shelby and Dintzneradvise a student at thedepartment’s quarterlyAdvising Open House

“Dr. Jim Koziarz (BS,1971) chronicled his

eventful career path tobecoming the Corporate

Vice-President atAbbott.” Laboratories.”

During his extraordinary career in industry,his research team developed Abbott’s line ofHIV tests. Dr. Quinetta Shelby suggestedsome questions for students to considerwhen choosing a graduate school andresearch advisor. She advised students toconduct undergraduate research todemonstrate their interest in scientificexploration. Dr. Matthew Dintznerencouraged students to considernontraditional career options in chemistry ifthe traditional paths are less appealing. Heexplained how research skills such asattention to detail, communication skills, andtime-management are very relevant tocareers in law, graphic design, and culinaryarts. The chemistry faculty briefly describedtheir research projects and distributedcorresponding pamphlets. Guest speakers,students, and faculty enjoyed pizza andconversation at an informal reception heldafter the symposium.

company that makes finishes for hardwoodfloors; Kristen McClelland (BS, 2004) isliving in Chicago working as apharmaceutical sales representative forMerck. Chris Horeth (BS, 2004) is living inChicago and working full-time as anaccountant for Fitness Formula HealthClubs, where he also teaches group exerciseclasses; he also instructs various styles ofdance at gyms throughout the city, andchoreography/dance in shows around thecountry.  In addition to that, he works withthe Lake Park High School marching bandas a color guard instructor during their fallseason, and is on staff for their winter guardthroughout the winter season. For those of you who didn’t make the listthis time, it’s only because we haven’t heardfrom you yet! We’d love to know where youare now and what you’re doing, so pleasesend us an e-mail (mdintzne@depaul.edu)and we’ll post your whereabouts and updatesin the next issue of The Catalyst!

To contribute to the Chemistry Departmentin LA&S, contact Rhiannon Rossi ofDePaul's Advancement Office at 773-325-4759 or visit the following site:http://www.giving.depaul.edu.

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DEPAUL UNIVERSITYDepartment of Chemistry1036 West Belden AvenueChicago, IL 60614

DePaul University

Department of Chemistry1036 West BeldenAvenueChicago, IL 60614

Phone:(773) 325-7420

Fax:(773) 325-7421

E-Mail:rniedzie@condor.depaul.edu

DePaul Chemists havesolutions.

2005top row: Q. Shelby (organic), L. Jin (bio-chemistry), R. Parra (physical), N. Rajan (chem.ed.), G. Kharas (organic); middle row: R. Sommer(inorganic), M. Dintzner (organic), A. Blumberg(physical), W. Wolbach (inorganic), M.Meskauskas (biochemistry), L. Morsch (organic);front and center: R. Niedziela (physical)

DePaul Chemistry Faculty: Now and Then

Matthew Dintzner, Writer and CoordinatorRichard Niedziela, Department ChairQuinetta Shelby, WriterLayne Morsch, WriterRoger Sommer, PhotographerAndre Wilson, Departmental Assistant

Catalyst Contributors…We’re on the Web!

See us at:

www.depaul.edu/~alchemy

1970stop row: T. Murphy (organic), R. Novak(biochemistry), J. Anysas (physical), F.Prout (organic); middle row: S. Dhar(inorganic), F. Breitbeil (organic), A.B l u m b e r g (physical), S. Melford(inorganic), W. Pasterczyk (biochemistry);front and center: E. Meyer (physical)