Message from the New Dept. Head

It is the people and what they do that make it exciting to take the position of Department Head in Chemistry. The Department is grateful to Steve Suib who steered us through a decade of tremendous growth. In 2001, there were 82 chemistry majors, and now there are nearly 190. In the same time frame, the graduate student population rose from 97 to 140. Our immediate goal is to recruit more faculty, where we have seen a decrease from 28 to 24 over the last decade, largely because of State incentives for retirement. Our current faculty continue to excel in both teaching and research, as is evident from the highlights in this newsletter. Of particular note are the awards for research to Professors Suib (CT Medal of Science, ACS Fellow selection and CLAS Research Excellence Award) and Frank (AAUP Research Excellence Award) and for teaching to Professor Bailey (Honors Faculty Member of the Year). We are also proud of our current students and our alumni, and some of their achievements are highlighted in articles and in alumni news. We hope you will enjoy the newsletter and that you will take the time to share your news with us. If you are in the area, please drop in and visit. There are many changes, including upgrades, through grants, to our MS and NMR facilities.