Dan Falvey was added as Associate Chair for Facilities and Instruction in September of 2005, and his activities in education and leadership have been well received and widely appreciated.  Herman Ammon is Associate Chair for Undergraduate Programs, assigning graduate students to appropriate laboratories, scheduling faculty for undergraduate and graduate courses, and moderating tensions between teaching and research. Janice Reutt-Robey who completed her second year as Associate Chair for Graduate Studies, instituted Visit Maryland Weekend for graduate student recruitment and the Maryland Symposium on Chemistry Research at Undergraduate Institutions to enable closer interactions with undergraduate institutions in our region.  Lyle Isaacs took responsibility for bringing the department into full compliance for the university’s Chemical Hygiene Plan, and his organization of this task allowed the department to reach the targeted goals on time.  Larry Sita completed his term as Associate Dean in the college, having contributed greatly to a new dynamic that characterizes the College of Chemical and Life Sciences.  Bryan Eichhorn became the point person for energy-related activities on the campus.  One of his inventions was designated "2005 Invention of the Year" in Physical Science by the Office of Technology Commercialization.  Michael Doyle, Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, received the Harry and Carol Moser Award from the California-San Jose Section of the American Chemical Society in January, and he received an Arthur C. Cope Senior Scholar Award at the ACS National Meeting in September.

Professor Emeritus Gerald R. Miller, an icon in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, retired from the department in June of 2006 and was designated Professor Emeritus.   A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and the University of Illinois, Miller began at Maryland as Assistant Professor in 1965.  His record of achievements is legend, but summarized in the written acknowledgment of him and his work when he received the President’s Medal from the University of Maryland.  Jerry remains actively engaged, and this summer was once again reviewing proposals for CRDF.

This year brought about significant changes in the administrative staff and in some of our business processes. We congratulate five of our staff who were offered new positions elsewhere in the University and welcome eight new employees who are energized to be joining our team in the Department. The new team members are: Michael Adedotum, T. Ann Donnellan, Theresa Grimley; J. Santos Gonzalez; Theresa Moody, Kimberly Nichols, Adria Simpkins, and Rita Wooddell. Approximately 40% of the staff are continuing their education through the use of University tuition remission. Our first major business process improvement was the Electronic Requisition System which gives everyone up-to-date information on the status of their orders from request to receipt. We have also fully implemented a new accounting package so everyone can now have 24/7 access to their account information.

Debbie Iseli was recipient of the 2006 College Staff Award in recognition of her two decades of service and dedication in the Undergraduate Services Office.	Yiu-fai Lam received the 2006 College Award for Special Projects in recognition of his efforts to keep the NMR facility current and meeting the needs of a very diverse client base.

Joint with NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) we initiated a Graduate Fellowship for selection of awardee in a national competition operated through the NOBCChE (National Organization for the professional development of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers). The first competition will be held 2006-07 for students entering the graduate program in 2007-08. The description of this program is found under Programs: Graduate.

The GAANN proposal submitted to Department of Education was funded for four students: those selected for the banner year are Pedro Bueno, Kelly Daggett, Wendy Heiserman, and Regan Nally.

Two chemistry graduate students each received $24,000 American Chemical Society Organic Division Fellowships (Matthew Harney with Larry Sita and Arthur Catino with Michael Doyle). Darren Bykowski (with Michael Doyle) received a two-year NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada) graduate fellowship.

The “William J. Bailey Fellowship,” which was initiated in 2005 by a generous donation from Ms. Mary C. Bailey, is gaining momentum with the goal of being an annually awarded full graduate fellowship; partial William J. Bailey Fellowship awards were made to Dennis Mayo and Renee Siler.

The Dr. G. Forrest Woods Memorial Scholarship Fund, established through the generosity of Anita Frazer, whose contributions led to the construction of the G. Forrest Woods Atrium (see below), has aided graduate students.

Interior and exterior views of the G. Forrest Woods Atrium at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Raising funds for competitive graduate fellowships is a departmental priority. Departmental Graduate Awards for 2005-06 are announced under Programs:Graduate: Recent Achievements.   Contributions from alumni and friends provide opportunities to increase our competitiveness for attraction of the most promising graduate students.

We are bringing the Center for Biomolecular Structure and Organization to a prominent status in the university. Created in 1999 with George Lorimer as Director, the Center had four assigned faculty in 2005 with one of its centerpieces a 600 MHz NMR spectrometer with a cyroprobe for field/sensitivity enhancement. This year the center is broadening its operations with the creation of a Biomolecular X-ray Facility that includes the hiring of crystallographers, the first of which is Nicole LaRonde-LeBlanc, and the formal designation of the Biomolecular NMR Facility as another Center Facility that can serve the campus research activities.