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August 16, 2018

Five Chemistry Alumni Named American Chemical Society Fellows

By Jocelyn Duffy

Jocelyn Duffy

Five alumni from Carnegie Mellon University’s Department of Chemistry were among 51 scientists named to the 2018 class of American Chemical Society (ACS) Fellows. Teresa Head-Gordon, Malika Jeffries-EL, Melissa A. Pasquinelli, Daniel A. Savin and Doris Zimmerman will be recognized for their outstanding contributions to science, the profession and ACS at the society’s national meeting held August 19-23 in Boston.

Teresa Head-Gordon was recognized by ACS for developing theoretical models and computational methodologies that are applied in chemical physics and biophysics for water and solvation, macromolecules and assemblies, polymers, interfaces and catalysts.

Head-Gordon graduated with her doctoral degree in chemistry from Carnegie Mellon in 1989. She is currently the Chancellor’s Professor of Chemistry, Bioengineering and Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at the University of California Berkeley and a faculty staff scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Malika Jeffries-EL was recognized for synthesizing novel organic semiconductors for use in applications, including light-emitting diodes and solar energy conversion. She has been an ACS volunteer for almost two decades and received the 2015 Stanley C. Israel Regional Award for Advancing Diversity in the Chemical Sciences.

Jeffries-EL completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Carnegie Mellon’s Department of Chemistry in 2005. She is currently an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Division of Materials Science at Boston University.

Melissa A. Pasquinelli was recognized for advancing knowledge and technological innovations through computational thinking “from the nanoscale,” excellence in teaching and mentoring budding scientists and engineers, and effective leadership and advocacy.

Pasquinelli earned her Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon’s Department of Chemistry in 2002. She is currently the associate department head, director of graduate programs and a professor in North Carolina State’s Department of Textile Engineering, Chemistry and Science.

Daniel A. Savin was recognized for his outstanding contributions to the field of polymer physical chemistry, using light scattering for the solution characterization of self-assembling biomaterials and hybrid nanoparticles.

Savin earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from Carnegie Mellon in 2002. He is currently an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Florida.

Doris Zimmerman was recognized as a tireless educator who encouraged everyone, especially women, to pursue careers in chemistry. As a teacher, she modeled excellence in science to thousands of students. 

Zimmerman earned her bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1964. A retired faculty member from Thiel College, Zimmerman has served in leadership roles within ACS for more than 27 years.

The honor of ACS Fellowship is reserved for only a small proportion of the society’s membership. Of the more than 150,000 members, only 1,110 are fellows. Carnegie Mellon Chemistry Professors Krzysztof Matyjaszewski and Terry Collins are fellows, as are Andrew Gellman, Todd Przybycien and Robert Tilton from the College of Engineering.