Appointments, honors and activities

• Campus activities:

- Nobel laureate Ei-ichi Negishi will speak at the 30th Herbert C. Brown Lectures in Organic Chemistry on April 27. Negishi, who won the 2010 Nobel Prize in chemistry, will give the introductory remarks at the event that honors his mentor and winner of the 1979 Nobel Prize in chemistry. The lectures will run from 9 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. in Room 104 of the Wetherill Laboratory of Chemistry Building and are free and open to the public. Jon Clardy of Harvard Medical School will present "Learning Chemistry from Bacteria," Jonathan Ellman of Yale University will present "Synthesis and Elaboration of Nitrogen Heterocycles and Amines," Tohru Fukuyama, of Nagoya University, Japan, will present "Total Synthesis of Natural Products by Means of RCM Reaction," Barbara Imperiali of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will present "Protein Glycosylation: Pathways and Processes," and Herbert Waldmann of the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physicology, Germany, will present Biology Oriented Synthesis." The lecture series was established in 1984 to honor Purdue Nobel Laureate Herbert C. Brown and to provide a forum for Purdue faculty and students interested in current organic chemistry topics. Registration and additional information is available at http://www.chem.purdue.edu/hcbrownlectures/

• Faculty and staff honors:

-  The staff at Purdue University's National Public Radio station, WBAA, received three awards at the Society of Professional Journalists Indiana chapter awards. At the 34th annual "Best in Indiana" awards, Sam Klemet placed first in the sports reporting category with his story on Purdue diver David Boudia competing in the Olympics. "Morning Edition" host and news producer Kristin Malavenda received second place in the newscast category. WBAA news director Mike Loizzo's story on the regional impact of the 2012 drought won third place for in-depth reporting.  

- Cara Wetzel, assistant director of the Undergraduate Studies Program, has received a certificate of merit for outstanding advising from the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA). The NACADA annual awards program for academic advising honors individuals and institutions making significant contributions to the improvement of academic advising. In February, Wetzel received the Outstanding Academic Advisor Award from the Purdue Academic Advising Association (PACADA).

• Student honors:

- Sishi Zhou, a senior studying industrial design from Chongqing, China, is one of 20 semi-finalists in the Boston Street Seats Design Challenge. Her concrete-seat, Dominik, was selected from more than 170 entries of sustainable outdoor sidewalk furniture, and it will be on display in Boston's Fort Point Channel area through October. While on display, illuminated signage will be posted by each bench to show information about the design, the team, and the creative process. Zhou will attend the April 27 opening event at Design Museum Boston, where the finalists will be named. More information and a related video is available at http://designmuseumboston.org/exhibits/streetseats/ 

- A team of civil engineering students from Purdue University has earned first place in the Great Lakes Regional Steel Bridge Competition and first place in the economy category. The students will test their skills next in the National Student Steel Bridge Competition at the University of Washington in Seattle on May 31-June 1. The team members are Mitchel Jones, captain; Kevin McKeon, vice captain; Jeff Dowgala, graduate student adviser; Nathan Wyrowski; Daniel Sturgeon; Martin Teufel; Justin Schneck; Avinash Raghavan; Jordan Wright; Ryan Hom; and Keelee Roggenbuck. The competition is sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the students are members of the society's Purdue chapter.