Our friends with a taste for quantitative information sometimes ask: “How ‘good’ is the University of Utah Chemistry Department compared to other departments in the U.S. which are granting Ph.D. degrees in Chemistry?” One reasonably objective answer lies in a comparison of the following quotient Q for as many departments as you have the patience […]
Read MoreWay back in December of 1981, Professors Ron Ragsdale and Jerry Driscoll started their popular version of the annual Faraday Christmas Lectures. Michael Faraday, born in London in 1791, was one of the most celebrated scientists of the 1800s for his discoveries of the laws of magnetism and his discovery of several chemical elements. As […]
Read MoreThe Spring 2004 issue of the U. of Utah Department of Chemistry “Alumni Newsletter” reported important advances being made by Professor Sheila David and independently by Professor Cynthia Burrows in the understanding of DNA damage arising from oxidative chemical reactions. In the same issue of the newsletter, the use of a laser “tweezer” to hold […]
Read MoreOne of the important administrative innovations of Peter Armentrout’s tour as Department Chair was the creation of monthly “brown bag lunches” attended by the full department faculty. Customarily, two faculty members are deputized by the Chair to talk for about 25 minutes each about their current research. No slides, overheads, handouts or movies are allowed. […]
Read MoreIn 2002, the Salt Lake Winter Olympics played a dominating role in the first three months of the calendar year in the life of the Utah Chemistry Department. While skiing competitions took place in the mountains around Park City and skating events took place beyond West Valley, the colorful parades of the opening and closing […]
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