This distinguished Reaction Mechanisms Conference (RMC) has held a position of long-standing significance in mechanistic chemistry since its founding in 1946. The RMC resembles a Gordon Research Conference in both size and format. Discussion and sharing of ideas at the forefront of the field has always been the style. Subjects traditionally include organic, organometallic, inorganic, and biological studies with significant mechanistic implications. The scope has broadened in the past decade; initially the focus was on mechanistic organic chemistry in the traditional sense, with emphasis on the topics and controversies that had great impact on the development of organic chemistry as a whole. The list of the organizers for the early conferences includes the names of many of the progenitors of modern organic chemistry.

Award winners from previous years:

2025 - Cynthia Burrows

1982 - Peter B. Dervan, Josef Michl (Chair), Ned A. Porter, Peter J. Stang

For an individual who through professional service in activities such as teaching, writing, research, and administration has substantially and uniquely enhanced the field of analytical chemistry. In 2018, the Division established this as a named award, in honor of our colleague and friend Roland F. Hirsch.

2025 Award Winner: Joel Harris

The Academy is both an honorary society that recognizes and celebrates the excellence of its members and an independent research center convening leaders from across disciplines, professions, and perspectives to address significant challenges.

Founded in 1780, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences honors excellence and convenes leaders from every field of human endeavor to examine new ideas, address issues of importance to the nation and the world, and work together “to cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest, honor, dignity, and happiness of a free, independent, and virtuous people.”

2025 Award Winner: Shelley Minteer

The Eschenmoser Lecture is annually hosted in spring by the Laboratory of Organic Chemistry to honor the contributions of Prof. Albert Eschenmoser (1925-2023) to the fields of organic synthesis and biological chemistry.

2025 Award Winner: Cynthia Burrows

The Isolated Biomolecules and Biomolecular Interactions (IBBI) Bowers Award recognizes outstanding contributions in spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and theoretical research involving isolated biomolecules.

2025 Award Winner: Peter Armentrout

Every year the Office of Undergraduate Research celebrates awardees with the Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award, the Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor Award, and presents certificates to scholarship recipients. This event fosters a healthy research culture as one that includes recognition.

The Awards Ceremony is event was made possible by the leadership and support of the University of Utah, Undergraduate Studies, Vice President for Research, and the 18 colleges who partner with the Office of Undergraduate Research.

2025 Award Winner: Thomas Richmond

Early career researchers across the universities, industry, and national labs are encouraged to compete for the Emerging Leader Award. The award has been established to recognize exemplary contributions of early career researchers (defined as within 10 years of completing their PhD degree) to advancing the understanding of surface, interface, vacuum, and/or thin film science and technology.

2025 Award Winner: Gabe Nagy

The Pittsburgh Conference Achievement Award is given annually to a researcher who has made a significant and independent impact in the area of analytical chemistry within the first ten years after his or her doctoral degree. The award has been presented jointly with Pittcon since 2002 and is given out each year at a special ceremony during the Pittcon Conference and Exposition. The recipient’s name and achievements are added to the Pittcon Hall of Fame, which conference attendees can visit at the show each year.

2025 Award Winner: Long Luo

The Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Awards Program provides seed money for research by junior faculty at ORAU (Oak Ridge Associated Universities) member institutions such as The University of Utah. These competitive research awards provide seed money for junior faculty members that often result in additional funding from other sources. The award amount provided by ORAU is $5,000. The applicant’s institution is required to match the award with at least an additional $5,000. This is a one-year grant (June 1 to May 31).

2025 Award Winner: Qilei Zhu

These Special Issues will showcase original, cutting-edge research from across the chemical sciences, highlighting the early-career researchers conducting work at the forefront of these fields.

2025 Award Winner: Gabe Nagy

Robert W. Parry Teaching Award in Chemistry was established in 1990 by Dr. Rodney H. and Carolyn H. Brady to recognize outstanding teaching in the Department of Chemistry. Bob Parry remains an extraordinary example for our current faculty members to follow. He was a brilliant scholar and researcher, a national leader in professional service, and, of course, an excellent teacher.

2025 Award Winner: Rodrigo Noriega

The Rosenblatt Prize is the University of Utah’s highest faculty accolade and is presented annually to a faculty member who transcends ordinary teaching, research and administrative contributions. A group of distinguished faculty members on the Rosenblatt Prize Committee recommends esteemed colleagues for consideration and the university’s president makes the final selection.

2025 Award Winner: Henry S. White

This award is established to recognize individual members for their long-time service to the Society. Nominations for the Distinguished Service Award may be made by Regional, Technical, or Student sections, individual members, the Awards Committee or the Executive Committee.

2024 Award Winner: Jay Kitt

The Organometallic Chemistry Group of the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry (GEQO) has established a Fellows Program to recognize outstanding researchers who, through their close collaboration with the GEQO, have made significant contributions to the advancement of organometallic chemistry in Spain. The program was approved by the GEQO General Assembly in 2023 and the first GEQO fellows were awarded in 2024.

2024 Award Winner: Matthew Sigman

The Stanley C. Israel Regional Award recognizes individuals and/or institutions who have advanced diversity in the chemical sciences and significantly stimulated or fostered activities that promote inclusiveness within the region. The award consists of a medal and a $1,000 grant to support and further the activities for which the award was made. The nominee must have created and fostered ongoing programs or activities that result in increased numbers of persons from diverse and underrepresented minority groups, persons with disabilities, or women who participate in the chemical enterprise.

2025 Award Winner: Gina Frey

Established in 2006, The Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Scholar Distinguished Mentor Award honors and encourages the considerable efforts and accomplishments of faculty who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to the mentorship of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars.

2025 Award Winner: Matthew Sigman

The Distinguished Teaching Awards recognize significant contributions to the teaching mission of the University of Utah. Up to five faculty members will be recognized as outstanding teachers with an award of $5,000. Up to three awards may be given to faculty members in the tenure-line and up to two awards may be given to faculty in the career-line. To be eligible, faculty must have completed eight or more years of teaching service at the University of Utah.

2025 Award Winner: Jennifer Shumaker-Parry

The EHS Partnership Award recognizes faculty and staff members who exemplify an outstanding commitment to safety as a core value and routinely partner with EHS in nurturing a culture of safety at the University of Utah. The award consists of a framed certificate plus a $500 “safety grant” sent to a chartfield of the recipients choosing.

2024 Award Winners: Ryan Looper, James Muller

The Faculty Fellow Awards (FFA) provide faculty members one semester of full release time (from teaching and administrative tasks) at full salary for scholarly and creative projects. The VPR Office defines scholarly activity as a work of scholarship that is peer reviewed and publicly disseminated. Examples of scholarly activity should demonstrate the discovery and/or integration of new knowledge, technologies, methods, or materials. The VPR defines creative activity as original contributions to an investigator’s field of study that are produced through writing, creating, composing, designing, recording, performing, curating, etc. Departments of awarded faculty will receive up to $15,000 to defer the cost of the awardee’s release time.

2025 Award Winner: Bethany Buck

The Utah Science Teaching Association Outstanding Higher Education Educator Award recognizes a university professor who exemplifies the Association’s mission of bettering science education in the State of Utah. The Utah Science Teaching Association is a group of educators with members ranging from elementary teachers, middle school teachers, and high school teachers to university professors and members of the science industry. The Association regularly provides information, support, hands-on events, professional development, and more to Utah science teachers and their students.

2024 Award Winner: Janis Louie

The W.W. Epstein, Outstanding Educator Award, is awarded annually to a faculty member, TA, staff, or other employee who has made a difference in education in the department.

2025 Award Winner: Ryan Vanderlinden