QUEENS COLLEGE | CUNY | DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY

chembiochemnews Vol. 15, No. 1 Spring 2010

Share news via email: arthur.baker @qc.cuny.edu

STUDENTS AT WORK Spring 2010 classes met for the first time in our new teaching laboratories.

NEW LABS FOR A NEW DECADE Your editor (A.D. Baker) was on sabbatical leave in 2008–2009, and partly because of that, the latest Newsletter has been delayed. Certainly it was an active period while I was away, and this has continued since my return. Construction of the new Remsen annex was finally completed, and we started to move in late in the fall semester. It was exciting to see streams of people moving chemicals, glassware, and other

equipment into our new quarters. Spring 2010 classes are meeting for the first time in the new teaching laboratories, which look very inviting, and research groups are getting into full swing with their efforts. Several photographs of our new digs are scattered about this Newsletter. After six years of yeoman’s service, Professor continued on page 3

INTRODUCING THE CHEMICAL EDUCATION TRACK After three years of relentless work in conjunction with the Secondary Education department, we introduced the Chemistry Education major in Fall 2009. The program is very ambitious, trying to graduate a student within four years, providing all the necessary coursework in chemistry, education, and practicum to become a successful New York City chemistry teacher. A new course, Practicum in Chemistry Education, was introduced for this major, with various teaching objectives: developing and performing chemistry lecture demonstrations, composing surveys, and collecting student performance data in examinations for subsequent analysis. Longterm goals include improving the education and success rates of chemistry students, and creating and testing laboratory experiments for introducing new concepts, or for saving costs, or protecting the environment, and so on. Aspiring teachers are required to take at least three credits in one or more units per semester and work with a faculty mentor as they strive to achieve their teaching goals. Three undergraduates took part in a summer training program in lecture demonstrations with mentoring support from Townsend High School teacher (and QC alum) Thomas Sangiorgi, and two of our faculty members, Arthur Baker and Gopal Subramaniam, with grant support from the Teacher

SILVER MIRROR Freida Zavurov proudly exhibits the silver mirror formed on the glass which is reflecting the room lights. The flask was passed to all the students, who no doubt had a quick look at their facial makeup!

Academy. At the end of their training, they spent two days putting on a remarkable show of booms and sparkles before the rest of the college faculty. It kindled immediate interest in bringing lecture demonstrations back to the college classroom with the help of these chemistry education students. Instructors of general and organic chemistry courses took advantage of this in Fall 2009; the demonstrations are now incorporated into their regular lectures. Shown in the continued on last page

On June 30, 2009, I finished six years as department chair. My term was a time of major change at the college, starting with the hiring of President James Muyskens in 2002. During the past six years, four faculty retired (Disch, Schulman, Locke, and Tropp), two young faculty resigned, and seven new faculty members were hired (Evans, Jang, Liu, Kumar, Samuni, McLachlan, and Chen). We have created two new teaching rooms in Remsen, added computer projection equipment in the main lecture hall, and overhauled the curriculum so that all our graduates will have American Chemical Society-certified degrees. We have refurbished our 400 MHz NMR, added a 500 MHz NMR, and a huge variety of new equipment for teaching and research has been purchased—from new UV/ VIS and fluorescence spectrometers, to GC and HPLC equipment, to a new LC-MS that was installed in June. At the very end of my term, I was able to achieve another long-term goal, namely the initiation of an undergraduate summer research fellowship from a fund set up by the Konkol family. For our undergraduate population, such fellowships could make a huge difference in their development as chemists. I began my first summer as chair struggling to make sure we survived an audit by the EPA—confirming that all the chemicals in storage had labels, and throwing out damaged bottles and mountains of obsolete equipment that was deemed hazardous. So, it is quite a change to see what is about to happen at the outset of my last summer: a new building, and the new Annex nearing completion. We refurbished the storage room for all those chemicals, but more important, we have opened seven new undergraduate laboratories and four research labs. All of the old undergraduate labs have closed—the summer session of 2009 was their last use. The general chemistry labs are now on the ground floor of the Annex, a short walk from the lecture halls, and the organic and advanced labs are on the third floor. The second floor is the research floor, with four organic labs occupied by two of our new assistant professors (Chen and Kumar) and two by Prof. Robert Engel and myself. Construction has now started

on more labs in the vacated space in “old” Remsen, for biochemistry and one physical chemistry research lab. The department and I were allowed to play a major role in the design of all this new space, and while our participation was time consuming, the result will be first-rate new space for our undergraduate students preparing to teach and for all students doing research—a major upgrade for Queens. I want to take this opportunity to thank you, the alumni, one last time—you have brightened my tenure as chair by replying to my notes and emails, and I have enjoyed the opportunity to meet some of you. You have been incredibly generous to the department; even in these chaotic economic times, your contributions have continued at the same levels as before. You will probably be surprised to hear that the economic issues really have had very little impact on the college—our educational and research programs have been largely shielded, and our enrollment has increased dramatically, as it normally does during a recession. Your contributions have allowed us to operate at our usual level, and we are grateful for that. In closing, I am looking forward to the opportunity to have more time for my research on DNA and RNA synthesis, and to teaching again. Finally, I extend my best wishes to the new chair, Prof. Wilma Saffran, and acknowledge the hard work of another department member Bob Engel, who agreed to serve as acting dean of the division during the 2009–2010 academic year. Bill Hersh O

PROFESSOR YU CHEN started at Queens in 2009 after finishing his PhD work at the University of Toronto and a postdoctoral at Iowa State University. His research interests include late-transition-metal catalysis, asymmetric synthesis and catalysis, and heterocyclic chemistry. Latetransition-metal catalysis plays a significant role in the Chen research group, which is particularly interested in group 9-11 transition metals, especially Rh, Pd, Pt, and Au. Developing new efficient chemical transformations using these late-transition-met-

NEW FACULTY

BILL HERSH REMINISCES ON HIS TIME AS CHAIR

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HONORS & AWARDS Sept. 2008 and Feb. 2009 Graduates Karina Bairamyan Dmitriy Rybitskiy May 2009 Graduates Kahtan Alsaedi Alejandra Castaño Andres Montoya Ross Radusky Stanley G. Konkol Memorial Award Andres Montoya Maxwell L. Eidinoff Scholarship Kahtan Alsaedi Karina Bairamyan Alejandra Castaño Trudy Rothman Chemistry Award Dmitriy Rybitskiy Chemistry & Biochemistry Service Award Kahtan Alsaedi Alejandra Castaño CRC Press Handbook of Chemistry and Physics Award Alejandra Castaño Ira M. Goldin Memorial Award Ross Radusky Jerome Schulman Award Andres Montoya Konkol Summer Research Fellowship Pansy Elsamadisi We are pleased to announce the winner of the first Departmental Konkol Summer Research Fellowship, Ms. Pansy Elsamadisi. The award enabled Pansy to work in Mike Mirkin’s lab during the Summer of 2009, and she has continued to do research in his group through the 2009–2010 academic year.

al catalysts is currently one of the group’s major objectives. Late-transition-metal catalyzed asymmetric synthesis is another important research topic in the Chen group. The focus is on designing and preparing new enantiomerically pure biaryl ligands for efficient and highly stereoselective chemical reactions catalyzed by late-transition-metals. The synthetic methodologies developed in the Chen group will be employed as the key steps in the synthesis of biologically interesting and pharmaceutically important molecules. A variety of techniques such as high-throughput parallel synthesis, microwave synthesis, and automated preparative flash chromatography are utilized in Chen’s research efforts. O

NEW LABS FOR A NEW DECADE continued from page 1

Bill Hersh stepped down from the chair position, and the department elected Professor Wilma Saffran as the new chair. You can read Bill Hersh’s reflections on his time at the helm in these pages. Wilma has settled in as the new chair, and we all wish her well in this new role. Several major new initiatives have begun and are works in progress. The Chemical Education track has attracted some talented students, who are developing and performing lecture demonstrations in lecture classes as well as working on other instructional materials (see Dr. Gopal Subramaniam’s description on page 1). Spearheaded by Professor Cherice Evans’s tireless efforts we are revamping our undergraduate laboratory offerings (lab classes are now standalone courses), emphasizing clear writing of reports, thoughtful analysis of data, and cultivating understanding by doing. We also have welcomed a new faculty member, Professor Yu Chen, who has been teaching Organic Chemistry I and II. He seems to have settled in very well and his research program is summarized in the “New Faculty” feature. So it is an active and exciting time here, and we look forward to a most successful new decade. O THE NEW REMSEN ANNEX Photos show the renovated annex and Remsen’s brand new, state-of-the-art labs, as well as one of our students busy at work. 3

NEW LABS FOR A NEW DECADE WHERE SCIENCE & ART MEET

THE NEW REMSEN INTERIOR Mosaic specialists working to complete the wall mural and pillars in Remsen; the design will inspire scientific exploration and discovery!

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ALUMNI NEWS DR. MEL LEVY ’63, MA ’65 did his PhD in Chemical Physics at Indiana University (1971) and postdoctoral research at The Johns Hopkins University. After two years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he joined the Department of Chemistry at Tulane University, where he had a distinguished career working in theoretical chemistry. He is an important figure in the field of density function theory, and has served on numerous editorial boards for monographs in quantum/theoretical chemistry. Professor Levy retired from Tulane in 2002 (before Katrina!), and then joined the Department of Physics and Chemistry at North Carolina A&T State University. He was recently elected to the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science. DR. DENNIS B. DOVE ’67 received the MD degree from the University of Cincinnati in 1972. His residency in general surgery was at Harlem Hospital/ Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, followed by a fellowship period in pediatric surgery at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center. He then held faculty appointments at New York Medical College, and the medical schools at the University of Miami and Nova Southeastern University, before moving to his current position at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Amarillo, Texas, where he is professor and regional chairperson in the Department of Surgery. DR. MARILYN S. LANTZ ’67 received a CUNY PhD in Biochemistry, doing her research at Queens College in the laboratory of Dr. Arthur Zahalsky of the Department of Biology. She subsequently changed her field to dentistry, earning a DMD degree from the Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine. She has had a notably successful career in academic dentistry, as professor and chair of the Department of Oral Biology in the School of Dentistry at Indiana University, and currently as Professor and Associate Dean of the School of Dentistry at the University of Michigan.

DR. JOSEPH HRABIE ’75 remained at CUNY for his PhD in Chemistry, mentored by Dr. William F. Berkowitz of this department. After a postdoctoral period at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Dr. Hrabie moved to the National Institutes of Health center in Frederick, Maryland, where he has published extensively on nitric oxide-releasing substances involved in cardiovascular disease. ROBERT HICKEY ’72 AND LINDA MALKAS ’79, husband and wife, obtained their PhD degrees at CUNY, Bob’s research being conducted at Queens College (with Dr. Max Eidinoff as his advisor) and Linda’s at Hunter College. They were both at the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology before joining the faculty at the University of Maryland Medical School in 1990. In 2002, they moved to the Indiana University School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology, where each holds the rank of professor. Both have published extensively in the area of DNA replication, and the development of diagnostic tools for the detection and treatment of breast and ovarian cancer. Linda has been named the Vera Bradley Professor of Oncology. JESSE HALPERN ’53 received his MD degree from the SUNY Downstate Medical School, and is a specialist in neuro-ophthalmology. He has been director of neuro-ophthalmology service in the ophthalmology departments at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock; the Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital, Los Angeles; the University of Florida School of Medicine campus in Jacksonville; and currently at the Louisiana State University Health Science Center, Shreveport. Dr. Halpern has made numerous visits to residency programs in Central and South America, giving courses to students and former residents to bring them up-to-date with the latest advances in his field. He is the senior author of a monograph, “Neuro-Ophthalmology Problem Solving, a Practical and UserFriendly Guide,” published in 2008.

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ERIC BLOCK ’67, Carla Rizzo Delray Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at the State University at Albany, recently published Garlic and Other Alliums: The Lore and the Science. This book covers the chemistry and biochemistry of the unique natural products found in these plants, as well as their history, uses in medicine and cuisine, and references in literature and the arts. Prof. Block has studied the chemistry of the organic sulfur compounds in garlic and the alliums for four decades. His contributions include the identification and synthesis of “ajoene” and vinyl dithiins, natural anticoagulants from garlic, and of bis-sulfine, cepaenes, and zwiebelanes, biologically active flavorants from onion. He has also isolated the lachryamtory factor in onions and identified the organoselenium compounds found in Allium volatiles and in human garlic breath. Prof. Block obtained a PhD in 1967 from Harvard University, where he studied with Nobel laureate E. J. Corey. He has been the recipient of a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, a SUNY Albany President’s Award for Excellence, the Chancellor’s Research Recognition Award, and the Kenneth A. Spencer Award, which recognizes outstanding achievement in agricultural and food chemistry. He was named a Fellow of the ACS Division of Agricultural and Food Chemistry in 1993 and a Distinguished Professor at the State University at Albany in 2002. O

IN MEMORIAM

MARJORIE NAVIDI Queens College and the department lost a jewel this past spring. Marjorie Navidi passed away in May 2009. Marjorie joined the department in 1954 after obtaining her PhD at Brooklyn Poly, and taught chemistry at the college for thirty-four years, retiring in July 1988. Probably most remember her for teaching the first-year, two-semester chemistry course, but she taught a variety of courses, including advanced inorganic lecture and laboratory and physical chemistry laboratory. No matter what course she taught, she did an excellent job. As Trudy Rothman pointed out, “she was one of the most brilliant people I have ever known.” I concur, and often asked for her suggestions on how to resolve some issue. I don’t remember the specific issues, but I do remember that Marjorie’s suggestion was always right on target and usually the course of action we pursued. Always charming and selfeffacing, she was fun to be with and a joy to know. Larry Gries, who shared an office with Marjorie for more than twenty years and retired at about the same time she did, said “she was a perfect office mate, considerate, convivial, companionable and tolerant, when I hogged the office with hordes of students (for) registration, overtallies, (and) placement exams.” I never heard her berate or complain about a student. She truly enjoyed teaching and wanted to help each one. In spite of being widowed early with two young boys, her spirit never darkened. She continued teaching

and raised her children. She traveled extensively and went on walking tours in her eighties. Larry notes that she was “the most wonderful and the best of travel companions” traveling to Botswana, South Africa, the Andes, Machu Picchu, Easter Island, the Galapagos Islands, and many other places. She was well into her seventies, when she climbed a 12,000- to 13,000-foot volcano in Mexico, and almost apologetically pointed out to me that she didn’t “do the last five hundred feet.” How do you find the words to capture that spirit? Don’t worry Marj, we’ll give it to ya!!! The college and the department are going to miss Marjorie, but we are thankful for having known her and for having her as a colleague and friend. I certainly am. She was a wonderful mentor and friend. Whether it was research, teaching, or some other topic, I counted on her opinion, and whether she agreed or disagreed, I always felt better having discussed it with her. She had that marvelous ability to frame the conversation in the most encouraging way. What a marvelous person she was, and what a joy it was to know her. Perhaps Larry Gries, who now lives in Hawaii, put it best: “Aloha Marje!” Harry Gafney

In 1969 she was granted the title of Lecturer with a Certificate of Continuous Employment; many students had the good fortune to have such a friendly and knowledgeable person teach them. After she retired, she and her husband moved from Bayside to Manhattan and enjoyed their remaining years there. She leaves three children, Alan, Jodi, and Terry, and several grandchildren.

Norman Goldman SELMA “SUNNY” GROSS We are sorry to report the death of Selma “Sunny” Gross. Some of you will remember her as Sunny Eichhorn. Sunny was a much-beloved departmental executive secretary who worked in the department from January 1967 until her retirement in September 1981. She enjoyed her retirement until the spring of 2008, but in her last few months she became unwell and needed the assistance of a home attendant. She died in May 2008. To the end, she enjoyed the attention and love of her four children, eleven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Those of the department who remember Sunny recall her cheerfulness--truly matching her name--her excellent work, and her cooperation with all who came to our department.

George Axelrad

NORMA GROSS We were saddened to learn of the death of Norma Gross last year. Norma had quite a remarkable life, and her involvement with chemistry began in the early days of Brooklyn College, a time when not many women majored in the sciences. She went on to do a master’s degree in chemistry at Bryn Mawr College, and joined the Women’s Army Corps (WACS) after the start of World War II, working as a chemist on the Atomic Bomb project at Los Alamos. Her husband Leo joined her there. After the war she worked with Harold Blatt of the Queens College Department of Chemistry as a research associate, and taught laboratory classes and recitations.

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GIVING BACK As resources at the college become scarcer, the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry is looking outward to the people who know it best— former students and friends—to assist with the resources needed to maintain its position of leadership in the college, the university, and the country. Money donated to the department’s Special Fund has been used for the development of

new courses, student activities, and colloquia. The department relies on people like you to help give its students the best education possible. Every dollar that the department receives from friends and former students is put to work to benefit our majors. Your gift is especially appreciated by the department, the faculty, and—most of all—by our students. Please enclose

your tax-deductible gift check to The Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry Special Fund and mail it to: Queens College Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry 65-30 Kissena Boulevard Flushing, New York 11367-1597

To Make a Donation Online: click on “Alumni & Donors” on the college’s home page, www.qc.cuny.edu and then click on “Make a Donation.” Some older versions of the Macintosh web browser Safari will not work, but you can go directly to the alumni page by typing the following URL: www.qc.cuny.edu/alumni_and_donors.php

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Chemical Education

continued from first page

photos are presentations by Joel Heitman and Freida Zavurov for an organic chemistry class. The students planned the entire experiment from start to finish while Prof. Baker filled in the gaps with appropriate commentary and explanations where needed. The strong motivational effect of this teaching experience on the student performers and the learning experience of the student audience can’t be described in simple words. Suffice it to say we are very excited with these developments and are planning more improvements to the chemistry education curriculum. Gopal Subramaniam O

IODOFORM Joel Heitman demonstrates the iodoform test.

Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry 65-30 Kissena Blvd. Flushing, New York 11367

POLYURETHANE Dramatic effect of an exothermic condensation polymerization reaction with the foam formation by mixing only 5 mLs of two liquids in a 120 mL container.

NYLON Freida Zavurov spins the wheel to draw nylon from a mixture of a diamine and a diacid chloride.

NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID FLUSHING, NY PERMIT NO. 48

Please make a note of all new email addresses in this Newsletter for faculty, and college-wide, addresses.