Professor of Biology and Chair of the Pre-Med Advisory Committee Maria Cuevas was the recipient of the inaugural Advisor of the Year Award conferred by the Texas Association of Advisors for the Health Professions (TAAHP). The award was created to recognize a TAAHP member who has exhibited excellence in health professions advising over the past year. Cuevas added significant resources for students in her first two years as Southwestern’s chief faculty pre-health advisor and chair of the Pre-Med Committee, including a robust pre-health website, a physical home for pre-health students in the new science building, and an enhanced process for committee recommendation letters.

Val Acosta ’22 and Luis Ramirez ’21 presented a poster and slide presentation about their SCOPE 2019 research, “The Synthesis of Sulfur, Nitrogen, and Oxygen Containing Ligand–Metal Complexes,” at the Capital of Texas Undergraduate Research Conference, at the University of Texas at Austin, on November 16.

Professor of Chemistry Emily Niemeyer, Mei Earling ’16, and Triston Beadle ’18 published an article in the September 2019 issue of the journal Plant Foods for Human Nutrition.The article, titled “Açai Berry (Euterpe oleracea) Dietary Supplements: Variations in Anthocyanin and Flavonoid Concentrations, Phenolic Contents, and Antioxidant Properties,” was based on Earling and Beadle’s chemistry capstone projects. The research was completed with support from the Robert A. Welch Foundation and Southwestern’s Dishman endowment and Faculty–Student Projects fund. You can read it here.

Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Maha Zewail-Foote recently published an article on using computer simulations to teach chemical kinetics in the journal Trends in Chemistry. Southwestern graduate Jace Venters ’13 is a coauthor on this paper. 

The American Chemical Society student group received an award and plaque from the American Chemical Society for 2017–2018, which read, “In recognition for your commitment and achievement, this Honorable Mention award is presented to the Southwestern University Student Chapter 2017–2018.”  Director of General Chemistry Labs Willis Weigand and Assistant Professor of Chemistry Mike Gesinski are the faculty advisors for the group. The current officers of the group are Julianna Mouat ’20, president; Ethan Iverson ’20, vice president; Rachel Brasher ’21, treasurer; Abby Musyoka ’21, secretary and historian; and Ashley Chavana ’19, social outreach.

Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Maha Zewail-Foote was invited to give a research seminar at New England Biolabs, Inc., a recognized world leader in developing innovative products for the life-science industry, including genomic research.