Fall 2010 Newsletter

Officers
Remarks from Division Chair
Election Information and Ballot
Notes from the Secretary/Treasurer
Councilor's Report
Biophysical Subdivision
Theoretical Subdivision
Student Poster Awards

ACS Physical Chemistry Division Award in Theoretical Chemistry

ACS Physical Chemistry Division Award in Experimental Chemistry

ACS Physical Chemistry Annual Postdoctoral Award
Request for Symposia Topics
Recent Symposia Topics
Call for Papers — 241^st National Meeting — Anaheim, CA
Fall 2011Meeting, Call for Papers, August 28- September 1, 2011 Denver, CO
Restrictions for Speakers for PHYS Symposia
Submission of Abstracts
General Information for Contributed Papers
Future ACS Meetings
Information and Rules Applying to All Contributed Poster Papers
Membership Information
Membership Application

http://phys-acs.org/

Vice-Chair (8/09-10)   Greg Engel

  Department of Chemistry, University of Chicago

(773) 834-0818

Martin Head-Gordon

Divisional Actions Preserve ACS Wilson and Adamson Awards: One continuing challenge for the PHYS Division is helping to identify sponsors for the ACS National Awards that are associated with the Division. If no sponsor can be found, the ACS may suspend or even cancel an award. To avoid this happening, the PHYS Division has agreed to sponsor the 2012 E. Bright Wilson Award in Spectroscopy, whose purpose is “to recognize outstanding accomplishments in fundamental or applied spectroscopy in chemistry”. Likewise, the COLL Division has agreed to sponsor the 2012 Arthur W. Adamson Award “to recognize distinguished services in the advancement of surface chemistry”. Nominations for both of these awards are now being accepted with a Nov. 1, 2010 deadline. We are also actively searching for 2013 sponsors for both of these awards – if you are affiliated with, or know of, a company or organization that might be interested in being a sponsor, please contact the division (acspchem@chemistry.ohio-state.edu), or any of our officers.

Nominations for Divisional Awards in Experimental and Theoretical Physical Chemistry: 2011 is the first year that our new Divisional Award in Experimental Physical Chemistry is to be presented, joining the existing Divisional Award in Theoretical Chemistry.  Nominations for both these awards are due by Nov. 1, and full details are posted on the Division’s home page: http://phys-acs.org.

Divisional Reception at the Fall 2010 ACS National Meeting in Boston: A very successful Physical Chemistry reception was held, jointly sponsored by the Journal of Physical Chemistry, to promote their new Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, and by the Division. We had food, drinks, and musical entertainment, drinks, along with a great turnout. We were able to recognize the winners of the Division’s Postdoctoral Research Awards for 2010, with ACS President Joe Francisco, and JPC Editor George Schatz joining me in making the presentations. There will be a call for the 2011 Awards early next year, and look for the divisional reception to appear again next year!

Student Poster Prizes: The Physical Chemistry Division continues to provide awards for the best student posters at each national meeting. The 6 awardees for the Fall 2010 meeting in Boston are listed on our web-page at http://phys-acs.org/Fall2010.htm

Upcoming ACS National Meetings: The Spring 2011 ACS meeting will be held in Anaheim from March 27-31, 2011, and our 2011 Program Chair, Sharon Hammes-Schiffer (Penn State) has put together an exceptional program including symposia in energy-related chemistry, biophysical chemistry, atmospheric chemistry, theoretical chemistry and much more. The symposia description may be found here: http://phys-acs.org/ http://phys-acs.org/Anaheim.pdf. The deadline for abstract submission is Oct. 18. Looking further ahead, the Fall 2011 meeting will be held in Denver from Aug. 28-Sept. 1, 2011.

Future P-Chem Symposia: With ACS’s long time-lines, planning for symposia in 2012 is already progressing under the leadership of our 2012 Program Chair, Martin Gruebele (Illinois), and further suggestions for either 2012 or beyond are welcome.

Finally, I would like to thank the officers and executive committee members of the PHYS Division for their time and scientific expertise, and thank you for your continued support of the Division. It is my pleasure to turn the chairmanship over to our 2012 Division Chair, Mark Johnson (Yale) – we will be in good hands.

Dear PHYS Division Member:

The Bylaws of the Division of Physical Chemistry, approved in 2006, call for the Division Chair to appoint a three-person, Nominating Committee before the spring meeting. A complete slate of candidates prepared by this committee will consist of one candidate for Vice-Chair-Elect, one candidate for each vacancy on the Executive Committee, and one candidate for each vacancy that may have developed in the ranks of the division Councilors, Alternate Councilors, and Secretary/Treasurer position. The Vice-Chair-Elect automatically becomes the Vice-Chair, Chair-Elect, Chair, and Immediate past-Chair in each succeeding year. Thus, this person makes a commitment to serve five years on the Executive Committee. In the year this person serves as Chair-Elect, the duties of Program Chair are also his or hers. The term of office for other Executive Committee members, Councilors, and Alternate Councilors is three years. The Secretary/Treasurer serves five years.

The Secretary/Treasurer is required to announce the slate of candidates in the fall newsletter.

To increase the input of the members in this nominating process and to broaden the pool of candidates, the Executive Committee seeks input directly from members for use by the Nominating Committee. Any member may suggest nominees to any of the officers of the PHYS division in writing. The nominee must agree to serve.

Additional nominations can come from the membership in the following fashion: A petition candidate must be supported by the signatures of not fewer than 4% of the members of the PHYS division in good standing (presently approximately 4,000). No signature shall be valid if it appears on more than one nominating petition for the same vacancy during the same calendar year.

A letter shall be submitted from each petition nominee stating willingness to be a candidate for election and to serve the Division for a full term if elected. No nominee may be a candidate for more than one vacancy. If nominated for more than one vacancy, the nominee must choose which nomination to accept.

If no valid nominations are forthcoming from the membership, the nominees submitted by the Nominating Committee for Vice-Chair-Elect and membership on the Executive Committee are declared elected.

Regardless of whether petition nominees are validated or not, the Bylaws require the Secretary/Treasurer to distribute to every PHYS division member a ballot that bears at a minimum the names and biographical sketches of the single candidates for each Councilor and Alternate Councilor vacancy submitted by the Nominating Committee.

Biographical sketches of all the nominees are found below. This year, the Nominating Committee consisted of Laurie Butler, Martin Head-Gordon and James Skinner. They have chosen the following candidates for election:

The election will opened September 30, with a closing date of October 28. 

Joel M. Bowman received his A.B. degree (Phi Beta Kappa) from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1969 and his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 1974, under the direction of Aron Kuppermann.  Bowman is currently the Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Theoretical Chemistry at Emory University, where he also served two terms as department chair.  His research interests are in theoretical and computational reaction dynamics, high-dimensional potential energy surfaces, molecular vibrations of clusters and polyatomic molecules.  He has published roughly 350 articles and book chapters and has given many invited lectures including several named lectures. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.  He was elected Visiting Fellow at Magdalen College, Oxford, and was an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow.  He has or is serving on editorial boards of the Journal of Chemical Physics, the Journal of Physical Chemistry, the International Journal of Quantum Chemistry, and Spectrochimica Acta A, where he was just named Editor.  He has co-organized several symposia at National ACS Meetings, has been vice chair and chair of the Dynamics of Molecular Collisions meeting, and co-chair of the Gordon Research Conference on Molecular Energy Transfer.  He was an elected member of the Executive Committee, Division of Chemical Physics of the American Physical Society and also served on the board of the Telluride Summer Research Conferences.

Jianpeng Ma is a Lodwick T. Bolin Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Baylor College of Medicine.  He also holds a joint appointment in the Department of Bioengineering at Rice University.  In his doctoral research, he developed algorithms for global optimization.  In his postdoctoral research at Harvard University, he studied the dynamics of enzymes and supramolecular complexes such as molecular chaperonin GroEL.  In that period of time, Dr. Ma extensively collaborated with eminent experimental scientists such as Professor William N. Lipscomb and the late Professor Paul B. Sigler (Yale), and he was supported by postdoctoral fellowships from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund and National Institutes of Health (NIH).  Since moving to Houston in 2000, Dr. Ma and his research group have pioneered a series of novel multiscale computational methods for simulating, refining and modeling flexible biomolecular complexes.  For example, he developed a method that reliably computes complex dynamics without atomic coordinates, which enabled functional analysis and structure refinement of biomolecules studied by lower-resolution experimental techniques such as cryogenic electron microscopy.  His related methods also set a milestone in fiber diffraction refinement.  Other contributions include developing innovative empirical potentials and sampling algorithms for structure prediction.  Most importantly, by more accurately describing large-scale anisotropic molecular motions, Dr. Ma overcame a serious algorithmic bottleneck and substantially enhanced low-resolution X-ray structural models of supramolecular complexes and membrane proteins, of which the data are becoming ever more abundant.  In 2004, in recognition of his contributions to biophysics and structural biology, the Welch Foundation awarded Dr. Ma the highly prestigious Norman Hackerman Award.  In 2007, he was elected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS).  In 2008, he was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.  Dr. Ma is also a recipient of the Michael E. DeBakey Excellence in Research Award.  He lives in Houston with his wife Dr. Qinghua Wang.  They have one son, Albert Z. Ma.

Angela Wilson is a Professor of Chemistry, Associated Faculty of Computer Science, and Co-Director of the Center for Advanced Scientific Computing and Modeling (CASCaM),at the University of North Texas.  She received her B.S. in 1990 from Eastern Washington University, Ph.D. in 1995 from the University of Minnesota under the direction of the late Professor Jan Erik Almlöf, and was a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Thom H. Dunning, Jr. at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.  She joined the faculty at UNT in 2000 where she leads a research group of 24 members. Dr. Wilson’s research focuses on the development and application of quantum mechanical methodologies.                                              

Dr. Wilson is an ACS Councilor, representing the Dallas-Fort Worth local section, and has been a member of the ACS Committee on Science, and is presently an elected member of the ACS Committee on Nominations & Elections. She is a National Associate of the National Academies, and a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Physical Chemistry.  Honors include an NSF CAREER Award, the Wiley International Journal of Quantum Chemistry Young Investigator Award, and selection as a 2010 ACS Fellow. She was U.S. Chair of the 2006 Chinese-American Frontiers of Science Program, and currently serves on the U.S. National Committee for the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), the Division of Computational Physics of the American Physical Society, Division of Physical and Biophysical Chemistry of IUPAC, Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory User Advisory Board of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and International Scientific Advisory Board for the 2011 IUPAC Congress in Puerto Rico.  

Frank Keutsch was born in Tübingen, Germany in 1971; he moved to Munich in 1991, where he obtained his Diplom at the Technische Universität München in 1997 with Vladimir Bondybey. He next moved to Berkeley where he obtained his Ph.D. in 2001 at the University of California-Berkeley, working in the group of Richard Saykally on high-resolution vibration-rotation-tunneling spectroscopy of water clusters. In 2001 Frank took a position as a research associate in the lab of James Anderson at Harvard were he pursued research in atmospheric chemistry using high-altitude airborne platforms. He moved to the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2005 where he is currently Assistant Professor of Chemistry. Dr. Keutsch’s awards include the Camille and Henry Dreyfus New Faculty Award and the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Award Postdoctoral Program in Environmental Chemistry. He also had a fellowship of the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes and is a co-Editor for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. His research focuses on developing novel instrumentation for measurement of atmospherically important molecules and studying the chemistry of ozone and secondary organic aerosol formation. Measurements are performed in both controlled laboratory environments and ground and airborne field measurement campaigns. The goal is to evaluate and improve predictive models of atmospheric chemistry. Dr. Keutsch has over 30 scientific publications and more than 30 invited talks.

Robert A. Walker received his B.A. degree cum laude (high honors in chemistry) from Dartmouth College in 1990 and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1995. Under the direction of Professor Jim Weisshaar, Dr. Walker’s graduate research coupled molecular beam spectroscopy and ab initio calculations to explore how steric and electronic effects controlled large amplitude motion in substituted toluene species. Dr. Walker worked for two years as a post-doctoral research associate in Professor Geraldine Richmond’s group at the University of Oregon, applying 2nd order nonlinear optical methods to study the vibrational structure of lipid monolayers adsorbed to liquid/liquid interfaces. In 1998, Dr. Walker accepted a position as an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Maryland College Park. He remained at Maryland for 11 years advancing to the rank of full professor in 2008. While at Maryland, Dr. Walker also served as the associate chair of the University’s degree granting Chemical Physics Program. In 2009 he moved to Montana State University in Bozeman, MT where he joined the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry as a full professor. Dr. Walker’s current research interests focus on two distinct areas: 1) structure, organization and reactivity at liquid interfaces and 2) high-temperature surface chemistry on electrocatalytic and metal oxide surfaces. Research in the area of solution phase surface chemistry uses a suite of linear and surface-specific nonlinear spectroscopies to understand how solvation at interfaces differs from bulk solution limits. Studies of high temperature surface chemistry employ vibrational Raman scattering and traditional electrochemical techniques to identify mechanisms of electrochemical oxidation and material degradation in high temperature (~1000K) solid oxide fuel cells. Dr. Walker’s research awards include a National Science Foundation CAREER award, a Research Corporation Research Innovations award, a fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and a Fast Track Fellowship from the Institute of Advanced Study at Durham University (UK). Dr. Walker’s commitment to undergraduate education has also been recognized with the “University Outstanding Faculty Award” from the University of Maryland Parents’ Association and the University of Maryland’s “Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year” award.

Paul W. Jagodzinski, Received his B.S. degree in Chemistry from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (1973) and the Ph.D. degree in Physical Chemistry from Texas A&M University (1979). At Texas A&M he worked with Jaan Laane on the vibrational spectroscopy of large-amplitude, low-frequency normal modes. Jagodzinski was a postdoctoral fellow with Warner Peticolas at the University of Oregon (1979-1981) where he used resonance Raman spectroscopy to study enzyme-substrate intermediate complexes. He spent one year as an Assistant Professor at Eastern Michigan University before moving to West Virginia University where he attained the rank of Professor. He served as Chair of the Department of Chemistry at WVU from 1990 until 2001. In 2001 he moved to the Department of Chemistry & Geochemistry at the Colorado School of Mines as Professor and Head of the Department where he served as Head until 2006. Jagodzinski moved to Northern Arizona University in 2009 as Dean of the College of Engineering, Forestry & Natural Sciences. He has received Outstanding Faculty Awards at both WVU and the School of Mines. Jagodzinski’s current work involves understanding the effects of quantum confinement as manifest in adsorbate-surface interactions and chemistry using plasmon-enhanced spectroscopy. He has mentored 6 postdoctoral fellows and 20 graduate students in his career. Jagodzinski is involved with programs to increase opportunities for traditionally under-represented groups in the sciences and engineering and has been recognized for those efforts. He is a member of the American Chemical Society and the Society for Applied Spectroscopy. Within the ACS he has served as Councilor for the Northern West Virginia Section (1986-2001) and also Chair of that Section. He serves as Alternate Councilor for the Colorado Section (2005-2009) and also was Chair of that Section. Jagodzinski has served on the Women Chemists Committee (member, 1988-1992), Meetings and Exposition Committee (member, 1997-2001; Vice Chair, 2001; Finance Subcommittee Chair, 1999-2001), Budget and Finance Committee (member, 2001-present; member, Advisory Subcommittee, 2007-present; Subcommittee on Financial Impacts of Constitutional Amendments member, 2006-present, Chair 2007-present), Task Force on National Meeting Finances (member, 2002-2003), and the Program Review Advisory Group ( member, 2006-present), Chair (2010-present).

BALLOT

I approve the nomination of Paul Jagodzinski for Councilor from January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2013.

YES [     ]          NO [     ]

I approve the nomination of Rob Walker for Alternate Councilor from January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2013.

YES [     ]          NO [     ]

I approve the nomination of Jianpeng Ma for Alternate Councilor from January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2013.

YES [     ]          NO [     ]

Voter’s Signature                                 __________________________________

Please return your ballot by October 28, 2010 to:

physvote@chemistry.ohio-state.edu

Or by mail to:

Anne B. McCoy, Secretary/Treasurer
Department of Chemistry
The Ohio State University
100 W. 18^th Avenue

Columbus, OH 43210

Anne B. McCoy

This newsletter contains information about the ACS national meetings and any other items of interest to significant numbers of PHYS Division members.  All members of the PHYS Division are welcome to submit items to the Secretary for inclusion in this newsletter.  The deadlines are generally around April 1 and August 15 for the newsletters appearing before the Spring and Fall ACS meetings, respectively.  Submissions may be made via mail, FAX, or e-mail.

Paul Jagodzinski

The finances of the Society continue to be an issue requiring due diligence on the part of the Board of Directors, the Committee on Budget and Finance, and senior staff. The Society is on budget through July 2010. However, low interest rates require the Society to use unrestricted net assets to cover some liabilities. Consequently the Society is not able to meet all of its financial guidelines.

Contained below is a synopsis of the actions taken during the Council meeting held at the Fall 2010 national meeting in Boston as well as other information reported to Councilors.

·         Council elected Janet L. Bryant, H. N. Cheng, Amber S. Hinkle, V. Michael Mautino and Yorke E. Rhodes to serve on the Committee on Committees for the 2011-2013 term.

·         Council elected John E. Adams, Alan M. Ehrlich, Mary Virginia Orna and Dorothy J. Phillips to serve on the Council Policy Committee for the 2011-2013 term.

·         Council elected Jeannette E. Brown, Martha L. Casey, D. Richard Cobb, Lissa Dulany, and Angela K. Wilson to serve on the Committee on Nominations and Elections for the 2011-2013 term.

·         Luis A. Echegoyen and Bassam Z. Shakhashiri were announced as candidates for President-Elect 2011.

·         Janan M. Hayes, Robert L. Lichter, Kathleen M. Schultz and Kent J. Voorhees were announced as candidates for Director-at-Large 2011-2013.

·         George M Bodner and Joseph R. Peterson were announced as candidates for Director, District II, 2011-2013.

·         Larry K. Krannich and Will E. Lynch were announced as candidates for Director, District IV, 2011-2013.

·         Council voted to approve the Petition on Recorded Votes. This petition allows additional voting methods, e.g., clickers, when conducting recorded votes at Council. The Board will vote within 90 days on whether to ratify the approved petition.

·         Council was informed that two petitions that would have been up for action in Boston had been withdrawn. These are Petition on President-Elect Eligibility and Petition on International Chemical Sciences Chapters.

·         As the result of a regular performance review, Council voted to continue the Committee on Science. Continuing this committee requires Board of Directors concurrence.

·         President Joseph Francisco led Council in a discussion of the pros and cons of moving the Council Meeting during national meetings from Wednesday to Tuesday. A straw vote showed 128 in support of the move, 225 opposed to the move and 56 undecided. The Council Policy Committee and the Board of Directors will decide by Spring 2011 if such a move will be implemented.

·         Council voted to change the territory of the Northeast Oklahoma Local Section to include all members residing in the North Central Oklahoma Local Section territory and Council voted to change the territory of the Binghamton Local Section to include all members residing in the Norwich Local Section. The North Central Oklahoma Local Section and the Norwich Local Section will dissolve on December 31, 2010 because their membership has fallen below the minimum requirement.

·         Based on a recommendation from the Committee on Budget and Finance (B&F), the Board voted to approve an advance member registration fee of $355 for national meetings held in 2011.

·         The Board considered three program funding requests, and on the recommendation of B&F voted to take the following actions:

o    Include funding for the ACS Global Research Experiences, Exchanges and Training (GREET) program in the Society’s 2011 Proposed Budget.

o    Include funding for the State Government Affairs Program in the Society’s 2011 Proposed Budget and 2012-2013 Forecast.

o    Include funding for the Department of Professional Education in the 2011 Proposed Budget and 2012-2013 Forecast, subject to annual review.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about these or any other issues.

Douglas Tobias

The mission of the Biophysical Subdivision is to suggest and help organize symposia and activities for PHYS Division members with an interest in biophysical chemistry. Biophysical symposia at the forthcoming Spring, 2011, ACS meeting in Anaheim include "Membrane Protein Structure and Function" and "IR Spectroscopy of Gas and Condensed Phase Biomolecules."  We welcome suggestions for symposium topics and volunteers for organizers of symposia at future ACS meetings. Any PHYS member interested in organizing a biophysical symposium should contact the chair, Doug Tobias. Subdivision membership is free to dues-paying members or affiliates of the Division of Physical Chemistry. To join the Biophysical Subdivision, notify the chair, Doug Tobias, at the address in the table of officers.  Indicate that you wish to join and mention that you belong to the PHYS Division. If you do not belong to the PHYS Division, you may join both the Division and the Biophysical Subdivision by completing the application form at the end of this newsletter.

Gerhard Hummer

Subdivision membership is free to dues-paying members or affiliates of the Division of Physical Chemistry.  To join the Theoretical Subdivision, notify the chair, C. David Sherrill, at the address in the table of officers.  Indicate that you wish to join and mention that you belong to the PHYS Division.  If you do not belong to the Division, you may join both the Division and the Theoretical Subdivision by completing the application form at the end of this newsletter.

Finally, I invite your nominations for the annual ACS Physical Chemistry Division Award in Theoretical Chemistry. The deadline for nominations is November 1, 2010. Prof. Kenneth D. Jordan, the 2010 awardee, will give the plenary talk at the Telluride School on Theoretical Chemistry. 

Bruce D. Kay

The Energy Subdivision was created in 2010 to address fundamental physiochemical phenomena relevant to the efficient production and  utilization of energy and its impact on the environment.  Physical chemistry provides the scientific foundation for many energy-related technologies such as combustion, catalysis, fuel cells, energy storage, and solar (both photosynthesis and photo-voltaic), and plays a central role in understanding related issues in climate change, and carbon capture and sequestration.  The Subdivision works closely with the Division and the Theoretical and Biophysical Subdivisions in developing energy-related 

programming for symposia at national meetings.

The inaugural officers for the Subdivision are Bruce D. Kay (Chair) of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Emily A. Carter (Chair-Elect) of Princeton University, and John C. Hemminger (Vice-Chair) of the University of California at Irvine.  William F. Schneider of the University of Notre Dame will join the leadership team as Vice-Chair in 2011.

Subdivision membership is free to dues-paying members or affiliates of the Division of Physical Chemistry.  To join the Energy Subdivision complete and submit the application form at the end of this newsletter.

Mark Johnson

The winners of the Physical Chemistry Student Poster Award Competition at the Fall 2010  ACS meeting in Boston, MA were:

Degan Hayes , University of Chicago, “Dynamics of electronic dephasing in the Fenna-Matthews-Olson complex”                              

Daniel Whitenack , Purdue University, “Density functional resonance theory”

Sara Witchner, University of Chicago, “2D Fourier transform spectroscopy of light harvesting complex II”         

Caroline Womack, University of Chicago, “Modeling the rovibrationally excited CH₂CH₂OH radicals from the dissociation of 2-bromoethanol at 193nm”

Pengfei Huo, Boston University, “Theoretical study of coherent energy transfer in photosynthetic systems”

Alexis Johnson, University of Wisconsin, “Gas-liquid scattering using a liquid microjet: The journey to high vapor pressure liquids”

The ACS Physical Chemistry Division Award in Theoretical Chemistry, which is jointly sponsored by the PHYS division of ACS and the Telluride Schools on Theoretical Chemistry (TSTC), recognizes contributions in theoretical chemistry. The recipient of the 2011 award will receive a plaque and will be invited to present her or his work at the 2011 summer school, which will be held the week of July 11-15, 2011 in Telluride, Colorado. The Award will be presented at that meeting. The TSTC will pay up to $1500 to cover travel, lodging, and meal expenses for the award winner while at the TSTC.

The ACS Physical Chemistry Division Award in Experimental Physical Chemistry recognizes contributions in experimental physical chemistry.  The awardee will receive a plaque and will be invited to present his or her work at an appropriate symposium at the ACS national meeting in Denver, Colorado August 28-September 1, 2011.  At that meeting, he or she will present an invited talk and receive the Award. The division will pay up to $1500 to cover the travel, lodging, and meal expenses for the award winner while at this ACS meeting.

Congratulations to the winners of the 2010 ACS Physical Chemistry Division Postdoctoral  Research Award. There are two winners in the theoretical and computational area: Riccardo Baron (USCD; McCammon group), Dmitrij Rappoport (Harvard; Aspuru-Guzik group), and two winners in experimental physical chemistry: James Cahoon (Harvard; Lieber group) and Randall H. Goldsmith (Stanford; Moerner group).   Each award winner gave an invited talk at the Fall 2010 National ACS meeting in Boston, MA, and they were honored at a reception that was held on Tuesday.. 

Sharon Hammes-Schiffer

The Executive Committee solicits formal suggestions for symposia and speakers for the meetings to be held in future years.  The Executive Committee will meet in Anaheim, CA in March, 2011 to plan the programs for 2012.   Please send your suggestions to the 2012 Program Chair, Martin Gruebele, at the address in the table of officers.  The deadline for receipt of suggestions is November 1, 2010.  These suggestions will be essential input for organizing the programs of the meetings.  For greatest effectiveness, follow these guidelines:

                a)            Recommend a symposium topic, organizer, and list of suggested speakers (a list of recent PHYS symposia

                             follows for informational purposes).                   

                b)            Provide a brief description of the significance of the symposium.

Recent Symposia Topics

234^th ACS                                  Single Molecule Spectroscopy and Novel Imaging Techniques for Biomlecular Systems

National Meeting                     Emergence of Function in Molecular Assemblies

Boston, MA                               Computational Electrochemistry for New Energy

August 19-23, 2007                Hydration: From Clusters to Aqueous Solution

                                                    Structural Determination, Refinement, and Modeling of Large Biomolecular Complexes

                                                    Excited Electronic States in Chemistry and Biology- Theory and Experiment

                                                    Quantum Mechanics and Statistical Mechanics: Can One Avoid the Other?

                                                    Biological Ion Channels: From Molecular Structure to Cellular Function

235^th ACS                                  Physical Chemistry of Atmospheric Processes

National Meeting                     Optical Probes of Dynamics in Complex Environments

New Orleans, LA                     Multiscale Modeling in Biophysics

April 6-10, 2008                       Computational Spectroscopy

                                                    Nanostructured Materials

                                                    Electronic Structure and Reaction Dynamics of Open-Shell Species

                                                    Spectroscopy, Chemistry and Imaging Through Nanophotonics

236^th ACS                                  Water Mediated Interactions

National Meeting                     Advances in the Electronic Structure of Transition Metal Systems and Organometallics

Philadelphia, PA                      Spectroscopic Probes of Chemical Dynamics in Gaseous and Condensed Phases

August 17-21, 2008                Protein Folding Dynamics: Experiments and Theory

                                                    Recent Advances in Biophysical Chemistry of Transport by Biomolecular Motors and Machines

                                                    Fundamental Advances in Contemporary NMR Spectroscopy

                                                    Centennial of the Physical Division: Celebrating the Past, Embracing the Future

237^th ACS                                  New Developments in Energy Conversion and Light-Harvesting

National Meeting                     Advances in Electronic Structure Theory and First Principles Dynamics

Salt Lake City, UT                    Attosecond Science- The Next Frontier

March 22-26, 2009                  Convergence Between Theory and Experiment in Surface Chemistry and Catalysis

                                                    Functional Motions in Enzyme Catalysis

                                                    Molecular Hydrogen in Nanoporous Materials: Meeting Ground for Theory and Experiment

                                                    From Clusters to the Condensed Phase: Progress in Polarizable Force Fields and Simulation

238^th ACS                                  Molecular Basis of Protein Aggregation and Amyloid Fibril Formation

National Meeting                     New Developments in Strongly Correlated Electrons

Washington, DC                      25 Years of ZEKE

August 16-20, 2009                Protected Metallic Clusters, Quantum Wells and Metal-Nanocrystal Molecules in Fundamental and  Applied Chemistry

                                                    The Physical Chemistry of Photon to Fuel Conversion

                                                    Graphitic Materials

                                                    Fluorescence Microscopy Beyond the Diffraction Limit

                                                    Chemical Reaction Dynamics in Gaseous and Condensed Phases

                                                    Special Symposium for Postdoctoral Presenters

239^th ACS                                  Multiscale Nanomaterials, Polymer, and Biomolecular Dynamics

National Meeting                     Optical Science and Emerging Energy Technologies

San Francisco, CA                  Dynamics in Clusters and Floppy Systems: Theory and Experiment

March 21-25, 2010                  Fluorescent Probes in Biophysics and Chemistry

                                                    Recent Advances in Observational and Experimental Astrochemistry

 Measuring and Manipulating Condensed Phase Chemistry in Time and Frequency: Celebrating 50    Years of the Laser

    Physical Chemistry of Ionic Liquids

240^th ACS                                  Electrons in Bio-Molecules

National Meeting                     Molecular Systems for Efficient Solar Energy Conversion and Storage

Boston, MA                               Challenges for Density Functional Theory

August 22-26, 2010                Physical Chemistry of Spectrochemical Analysis

                                                    Metals in Biology

                                                    Physical Chemistry of Hydrates, Interfaces and Aerosols and Their Relationship to Climate

                                                    Recent Advances in Ion Mobility for Analysis and Characterization of Macromolecules

                                                    Chemical Computations on General Purpose Graphics Processing Units (GP-GPU’s)

The 241^st  American Chemical Society National Meeting will take place in Anaheim, CA during the week of March 27-31, 2011.

Sharon Hammes-Schiffer, 2011 Physical Chemistry Division Program Chair, has arranged a broad range of topics in modern physical chemistry to be featured in symposia and a general poster session at this meeting.  The window for abstract submission for this meeting is open until October 18^th.  The topical symposia and their organizers are:

Membrane Protein Structure and Function  Toby W. Allen (University of California, Davis), Frances Separovic (University of Melbourne)

Fragment and Local Orbital Methods in Electronic Structure Theory So Hirata (University of Florida), John Z. H. Zhang (East China Normal University and New York University)

20 Years of Tunneling Pathways David N Beratan (Duke University), Jose N. Onuchic (University of California, San Diego)

Chemical Reactions and Dynamics at Surfaces: Advances in Experiment and Theory Diego Troya (Virginia Tech), John R. Morris (Virginia Tech)

Chemical Carbon Mitigation: A Physiochemical Approach Andrew Bocarsly (Princeton), Emily Carter (Princeton)

Quantum Information and Computation in Chemistry: Experiment and Theory Alan Aspuru-Guzik (Harvard), Ken Brown (Georgia Tech)

Infrared Spectroscopy of Gas and Condensed Phase Biomolecules Timothy Zwier (Purdue), Martin Zanni (University of Wisconsin, Madison)

Program Chair:  Sharon Hammes-Schiffer, Pennsylvania State University, shs@chem.psu.edu

Online abstract submission for this meeting opens in January or February, 2011.  Please see http://abstracts.acs.org for abstract submission access and guidelines.  Only electronic abstracts via the ACS online submittal system will be accepted, except by special arrangement with the ACS symposium organizers.  You can check the Division’s website for specific deadlines. The web page is http://phys-acs.org/.

Submit your abstract online at the ACS website:  http://abstracts.acs.org.   Please see the following for more information regarding submission.  As is now customary, Program Chair Hammes-Schiffer has arranged for the presentation of contributed talks in each of the topical symposia.  The contributed talks will be selected by the individual symposium organizers from among abstracts that explicitly request consideration for oral presentation.  The criterion for selection will be close connection with the topics addressed in the symposia.  Abstracts not selected for oral presentation will be assigned to the poster session(s), unless the authors request otherwise.  Since the organizers will not be able to accommodate all requests, the poster sessions will be specifically organized to group posters by symposium topic.  While the symposia do cover a wide range of topics, they cannot cover the full depth and breadth of physical chemistry.  The Division, therefore, also welcomes general contributions to the poster sessions, which will be grouped by subject area.

Excited-State Dynamics: Theory and Experiment John Herbert (Ohio State), Stephen Bradforth (University of Southern California)

Advances in SERS and Molecular Plasmonics Lasse Jensen (Penn State), Richard P. Van Duyne (Northwestern)

Heterogeneous Atmospheric Chemistry Heather C. Allen (Ohio State), Martina Roeselova (Academy of Science of the Czech Republic)

Reduced Density Matrices in Quantum Chemistry David A. Mazziotti (University of Chicago), Neil Shenvi (Yale)

Pushing the Envelope: Computational Chemistry at the Petascale and Beyond  Theresa Windus (Iowa State), Mark Gordon (Iowa State)

Advances in Microscopy Christine Payne (Georgia Tech), Eric Potma (UC Irvine)

Symposium in Honor of the 100^th Anniversary of Marie Curie’s Nobel Prize for International Year of Chemistry Geri Richmond (University of Oregon), Ellen Stechel (Sandia)

A speaker may give, at most, one invited talk in the PHYS Division in any given meeting.  Note that this rule does not apply to contributed talks and posters, so there is still plenty of opportunity for all physical chemists to present their research results in the PHYS Division.

Abstract Requirements:  Submit a 150-word abstract via the ACS web-based submission system, abstracts.acs.org.  Submission instructions and information on abstract requirements can be found at the ACS Web site, http://www.acs.org/meetings.

Request for Contributed Oral Presentations:  Authors who submit a contributed paper to the program and wish their abstract to be considered for possible oral presentation in a topical symposium must indicate such preference. 

General Papers – Members are cordially invited to present papers at the poster sessions.  Abstracts should be submitted as instructed on the ACS Meetings web page, http://www.acs.org/meetings.  The deadline, as published in C&E News, on the abstract submission, and the call for papers must be observed to allow the ACS to compile the program and to print and to circulate the abstracts.

Anaheim, CA March 27-31, 2011                                                                                         San Diego, CA March 25-29, 2012

 Program Chair: Sharon Hammes-Schiffer                                                                       Program Chair: Martin Gruebele               

 The Pennsylvania State University                                                                                      University of Illinois

 shs@chem.psu.edu                                                                                                                gruebele@scs.illinois.edu

Denver, CO August 28- September 1, 2011                                                                    Philadelphia, PA August 19-23, 2012

Program Chair: Sharon Hammes-Schiffer                                                                       Program Chair: Martin Gruebele               

The Pennsylvania State University                                                                                      University of Illinois

shs@chem.psu.edu                                                                                                                gruebele@scs.illinois.edu

1.       No paper will be accepted unless an author expects to be present.

2.       ACS Bylaws 3(a) require that “papers by American Chemists or chemical engineers not members of the Society shall not appear on the program unless they be joint with one or more Society members.”

3.       Prospective poster presenters who also submit papers to other Divisions should inform the Chairman-Elects as to the Division, titles of papers and co-authors by the deadline date.

4.       Each poster paper will have a poster board measuring 4’x8’.

5.       All illustrations, charts, and textual material to be posted must be prepared in advance since materials for these purposes will not be available at the meeting.

6.       Posters should be mounted prior to the opening of the session and left in place until the close.  Authors are encouraged to be present the entire session.

7.       There must be a heading (with letter at least 1” height) giving the title of the papers, the author(s), their affiliation(s), and the number assigned to it in the program.

8.       Illustrative material will be read by attendees from a distance of 3’ or more, so lettering on illustrations should be at least 3/8” high.

9.       There should be a logical sequence (introduction, development and conclusion) to the display and each sheet should be numbered.

10.    Using techniques for improving graphic impact will enhance the presentation’s effectiveness.  Ease of reading is far more important than artistic flair.  Certain color combinations, for instance, may look beautiful but may be almost impossible to read, especially in the absence of optimum lighting.

11.    Each author is responsible for mounting his or her material at least ½ hour prior to the opening of the assigned poster session and removing it within ½ hour after the close of the session.  ACS cannot assume any responsibility for materials beyond those time limits.

12.    Do provide sign-up sheets to record names and addresses of attendees who wish more information.

13.    Do bring duplicates of data and conclusions.  Duplicating facilities are unavailable through ACS.

14.    ACS provides a modest supply of pushpins, masking tape, and felt-tipped pens, but it is wise to bring your own.  Upon advance request, ACS will arrange for blackboards to be available in the room.

15.    Admission to poster sessions will be by ACS meeting badge only.

16.    A poster paper submitted to the Program Chair (before the deadline) for presentation at a national meeting should be considered accepted unless the author is specifically notified to the contrary by the Division of Physical Chemistry Program Chair.

17.    Students wishing to have their posters considered for the poster competition should obtain a red star from the program chair to and post it next to the poster number.

American Chemical Society, Division of Physical Chemistry

Subdivision of Theoretical Chemistry and Subdivision of Biophysical Chemistry

We invite you to encourage non-members to join the PHYS division.  It is the professional organization devoted to physical chemistry and physical chemists and can be most successful with maximum participation by physical chemists.  Some of the more practical advantages of membership are:

1.             Members receive, in advance, posters announcing the symposia that will be sponsored by the Division of Physical Chemistry programs at national meetings of the ACS.

2.             Members receive electronic notification of the posting of the electronic newsletters.  These newsletters list future symposia and divisional meetings and provide the deadlines for submission of papers to be presented at these meetings.  

3.             The Division of Physical Chemistry is an affiliate of the American Institute of Physics, and members of the Division are eligible for a discount on various AIP publications including The Journal of Chemical Physics.

4.             The Division holds mixers at each national meeting of the ACS at which a division program is presented.  These events are held in conjunction with a poster session and provide an excellent opportunity to meet other physical chemists.

5.             Beginning in 2008, the division has co-sponsored receptions at the fall national meetings with the Journal of Physical Chemistry.

6.             Members may vote and hold office in the Division and participate in its activities.  Division Affiliates may not vote and may not hold office.  Members and Affiliates are invited to suggest symposium topics, speakers, and organizers.

7.             The Division maintains a close relationship with the Journal of Physical Chemistry.  Through the Division programs and through cooperation with the Journal of Physical Chemistry, we seek to call attention to the vigorous and dynamic character of physical chemistry in this country and to stimulate intellectual cross-fertilization between the different fields of research in physical chemistry.

8.             The Division hosts important awards symposia.  The Debye, Hildebrand, and Theoretical Chemistry awards are given each year, the Langmuir Award every other year by the ACS.  In addition, the Pure Chemistry and Nobel Laureate Signature awards are frequent features in Division symposia.

9.             The Division sponsors an award in Theoretical Chemistry.

10.          The Division sponsors an award in Experimental Physical Chemistry.

11.          The Division sponsors up to six awards given to presenters of posters at each of the national ACS meetings each year.

12.          The Division sponsors awards for Post Doctoral researchers, presented at the Fall national meeting each year.

13.          The Division sponsors special programming for a selected group of undergraduate chemistry majors at the fall National meeting.  This program provides an introduction to the symposia and opportunities for the students to interact with faculty from other Universities.

14.          In 1978, the Division established the Subdivision of Theoretical Chemistry.  There is no additional fee for membership in the Subdivision.  The subdivision provides special services and participates fully in developing symposium topics at the national meetings, specifically for the theoretically inclined.

15.          In 1978, the Division established the Subdivision of Biophysical Chemistry.  There is no additional fee for membership in the Subdivision.  The subdivision provides special services and participates fully in developing symposium topics at the national meetings, specifically for the biophysically inclined.

16.          In 2009, the Division established the Subdivision of Energy.  There is no additional fee for membership in the Subdivision.  The subdivision provides special services and participates fully in developing symposium topics at the national meetings, specifically related to issues, systems and processes related to energy.

Name                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Address                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

City, State, Zip                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Country, Postal Code                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Telephone            (w)                                                                                      (h)                                                                                                                

ACS Member?     NO    r              YES     r        ®     ACS member #                                                                                                                       

Membership Categories (qualification)                                                        (CIRCLE ONE)

r             Member (current ACS member)                                                               $15.00

r             Student (current Student ACS member)                                                 $  5.00

r             Division Affiliate (Non-ACS member)                                                     $15.00

r             National Affiliate (current National Affiliate ACS member)                $15.00

Subdivision Membership

r             Theoretical Chemistry (no additional fee at this time)

r             Biophysical Chemistry (no additional fee at this time)

r             Energy (no additional fee at this time)

                                            Total $                          

Payment:  (please check one)

r            Check enclosed (make checks payable to “American Chemical Society”)

r             VISA/MasterCard             r    American Express

Card Number:                                                                                                                                 

Expiration Date:                                                                                                                              

Signature:                                                                                                                                        

(Signature is required, regardless of method of payment)

Please mail this application (and check, if applicable) to:

ACS Member & Subscriber Services

P. O. Box 82229

Columbus, OH   43202

1-800-333-9511