Purdue News
Purdue News
|
|
October 30, 2001 Purdue professor honored by national chemistry societyWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Jillian Buriak, associate professor of chemistry at Purdue University, has been awarded the 2001 Phi Lambda Upsilon National Fresenius Award, presented annually to a young scientist to recognize outstanding achievement. She will receive the award Thursday (11/1) during a colloquium at Purdue. A reception for her will be 3:30-4:30 p.m. in the Wetherill Laboratory of Chemistry, Room 201. Phi Lambda Upsilon, an honorary chemistry society, annually presents the Fresenius Award to recognize an outstanding scientist early in his or her career. Established in 1965, the honor recognizes high scholarship and original investigations in pure and applied chemistry. Nominations are solicited nationally from academic department heads and Phi Lambda Upsilon members. A panel of nationally recognized scientists selects the award recipient. Jack D. Graybeal, Phi Lambda Upsilon national president, will present Buriak with the award, which consists of a plaque and a $1,000 honorarium. He cited the international recognition Buriak has received for basic science and applications in interfacing catalysts with silicon computer chips. "Selection of Dr. Buriak places her in the company of a very select group of scientists," Graybeal says. "The award was initially presented at a luncheon at a National American Chemistry Society Meeting, but several years ago the society moved the presentation to the recipient's home institution so their students and close colleagues could share in the honor." Buriak is working to instigate a new approach toward catalysis design by interfacing catalysts with silicon computer chips. Catalysis is the process of speeding up, or slowing down, the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance capable of creating the desired change. Recently, her research group at Purdue discovered how to harness the light-emitting properties of porous silicon to stabilize the material's surface and direct it to respond to specific chemical environments or cues. The development may allow scientists to create new types of drug-delivery systems, or biological and chemical sensors for use in medicine and manufacturing. Buriak says this approach also can be used for applications in opto-electronics or integrating light-emitting devices with silicon chips, and may result in novel catalysts capable of carrying out very difficult reactions, such as water splitting and carbon dioxide reduction. Buriak received her bachelor's degree from Harvard University in 1990, and a doctoral degree from the Universite Louis Pasteur in 1995. In 1999, she was awarded a Faculty Early Career Development Award from the National Science Foundation. Last year, she was among 104 outstanding young scientists and economists selected to receive a Sloan Research Fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Buriak is the 37th recipient of the National Fresenius Award and the third recipient from Purdue. Other Purdue chemistry professors previously honored were the late Ben Freiser, who received the award in 1985, and chemistry Professor Ian Rothwell, who was honored in 1987. Writer: Susan Gaidos, (765) 494-2081, sgaidos@purdue.edu Sources: Jillian Buriak, (765) 494-5302, buriak@purdue.edu. Stephanie Bejune, (765) 494-6922, sbjune1@purdue.edu. Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
|
