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On April 20, 2023 we held the annual Awards Ceremony to celebrate our students, faculty and staff. It was a celebration of hard work and outstanding contributions of the Department of Chemistry.

Guest Speaker:

Adrienne Carey, MD
Assist. Professor, Infectious Diseases & Immunology. Program Director, Infectious Diseases Fellowship
University of Utah School of Medicine, Department of Chemistry Alumna (2009) and former recipient of the numerous Chemistry Awards.

Undergraduate Awards


American Institute of Chemists Award: Elena Sjoblom

COS Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher AwardsYexalen Barrera-Casas and Alison Wang

Walter D. & Grace G. Bonner Memorial Award: Dawson Baxter / Eva Bol / Ali Bouck / Rachel Carder / Eli Counterman / Taylor Jorgensen / Chase Pehrson / Isaiah Rosal / Jack Sheehan / Elena Sjoblom Isabelle Smith / Rachel Whipple

Honors in Chemistry Awards: Maxwell Austin / Yexalen Barrera-Casas / Beck Bassett / Lillee Casselman / Mina Done / Dhruvan Gopinath / Mason Hansen / Nathan Iverson              Kevin Lutz / Emily Major / Lauren Montgomery / Catherine Petersen / Brenden Roberts / Alison Wang

ACS Undergraduate Award for Excellence in Chemical Safety & Ethics: Elena Sjoblom

ACS Division Awards: Analytical – Nancy Sohlberg / Inorganic – Alison Wang / Organic – Maxwell Austin / Physical – Dawson Baxter

CMES Undergraduate Research Award: Nancy Sohlberg

Leon Watters Memorial Awards: Jamie Covington / Hana Fauver / AJ Giles / Rose Godfrey / Uziel Gonzalez / Alyssa Harpring / James Lawton / Bhakta Rahhika / Maran Sardoni        Nancy Sohlberg

Ferdinand A. & Ruth Anderson Peterson Scholarship: Wilder Dalton

Laya F. Kesner Awards:  Andrew Larkin / Adam Montgomery / Olivia Schmitz

Armantrout Memorial Award: Lorrin Malady

Melvin C. Cannon Scholarship: Vincent Ngo

Wilkes Scholar:  Andrew Larkin

Resiliency Awards: Adam Ford / Safiya Hamud / Sky Hansen / Maria Hernandez Rivera / Clay Walker

ChemUnity Mentor Awards: Kobi Baker / Danny Barrera

Kodak Educational Service Awards: Yexalen Barrera-Casas / Parker Guzman / Delaney Miller

College of Science Theodore V. Hanks Scholarship: Wilder Dalton

College of Science Talent Scholarships: Danny Barrera / Andy Nieto

College of Science Dean's Scholarship: Aric Potter

College of Science Promise Scholarships: Clista Galecki / Anna Christiansen

College of Science Paul and Darice Koo Scholarship: Safiya Hamud

College of Science Crocker Science House Scholars: Brekke Pattison – Sugihara Scholar / Abbie Nistler

Kodak Teaching Fellow Scholarships:  Kesaia Akau / Alex Balinger / Joshua Bilsky* / Dion Copoulos* / Jackson Elowitt* / Sanaz Habibi* / Emma Hale* / Thomas Kawagoe* / Silvia Leon-Moreno / Delaney Miller / Jake Pedigo* / Jesus Sandres* / Olivia Schmitz / Elena Sjoblom / Anna Tang / Pierce Wratten

Departmental Tuition Benefit Scholarships: Husaib Arshad / Danny Barrera / Clista Galecki / Tessa Larsen / Abbie Nistler

The Ronald & Eileen Ragsdale - Undergraduate Endowment Scholarships: Aric Potter (Eyring Award) / Travis Martinez (Burdett Award)

Undergraduate Research Scholarships: Arnel Besic / Natalia Danilla / Mary Alice Parker / Gary Perea / Elena Sjoblom / Sophie Steckel / Rachel Whipple

Mack Thomas Rozelle Scholarships:  Fiedel Bailee / Grace Bean / Emily Dalley / Maddox Riewald / Kristen Rye / Morgan Smoot

Lloyd E. Malm Memorial Awards: Nehal Bakshi / Navneet Brar / Marcus Castro / Malia McCann / Ritika Nayan / Eron Powell / Jezra Simmons

W. H. Breckenridge Honors Scholarships: Noah Coombs / Zoie Frisby / Kaylee Meyers

Graduate Awards


Cheves T. Walling Graduate Research Awards: Kameron Hansen / Grant Myres

The Ronald & Eileen Ragsdale - Curie Club Graduate Research Award: Dakota Merriles

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship: Emily Carroll – Honorable Mention

Harris Graduate Fellowship in Analytical Chemistry: David Williamson

Keck Graduate Fellowship in Organic Chemistry: Jordan Liles

William E. Jack Life Science Graduate Research Award: Shereen Howpay Manage

Anthony W. Czarnik Curie Club Graduate Teaching Award: Alex Ring

Craig & Linda Lee Curie Club Graduate Teaching Award: Tyler Southam

Dow Chemical First-Year Awards: Emma Hale / Zrinko Juric / Thomas Kawagoe / Luke Kays / Tashi Liebergesell / Kevin McFadden

Faculty Awards


Robert W. Parry Teaching Award - Endowed by the Brady Foundation: Shelley Minteer

Royal Society of Chemistry Fellow: Shelley Minteer

Royal Australian Institute of Chemistry Bruno Breyer Award: Shelley Minteer

ACS Division of Chemical Toxicology Founders Award: Cynthia Burrows

Pauling Medal Award: Cynthia Burrows

American Association of Advance Science Election to Fellow: Vahe Bandarian

University of Utah College of Science UPSTEM Faculty Fellows: Kaci Kuntz / Janis Louie / Aaron Puri

American Physical Society Irving Langmuir Award: Valeria Molinero

Utah Academy of Engineering and Sciences: Valeria Molinero

National Academy of Sciences: Valeria Molinero

University of Utah Distinguished Professor: Michael Morse

2022 Machine Learning in the Chemical Sciences & Engineering Award:  Connor Bischak

W.M. Keck Foundation Grants : Michael Grünwald / Ryan Looper / Rodrigo Noriega

University of Utah Presidential Scholar: Luisa Whittaker-Brooks

ACS Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research Class of Influential Researchers :Luisa Whittaker-Brook

Outstanding Early Career Investigator Award: Luisa Whittaker-Brooks

ACS Award in Theoretical Physical Chemistry: Jack Simons

American Association Advance Science Election to Fellow: Jennifer Shumaker-Parry

W.W. Epstein Outstanding Educator Award: Jared Smith

Staff Service Recognition


15 Years - Renee Laws    /   20 Years - Kevin Teaford   /   25 Years - Shawn Laughli

Diana Campbell Memorial Staff Excellence Award: Jollanda Valejo 

The 2023 J. Allen Alexander Award: Kevin Teaford