Foundation News

Climate, Energy, and the Changing Environment: A Dreyfus Foundation Symposium on Environmental Chemistry Research

Agenda:

Session I, Chair: Francois Morel, Princeton University

James Anderson, Harvard University
Strategic choices for global energy: Constraints from feedbacks in the climate system

Kimberly Prather, University of California, San Diego
New insights into the role of aerosols in climate change

Dianne Newman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
From iron oxides to infections: Roles for redox-active antibiotics in microbial survival and development

Session II, Chair: Beatrice Renault, New York Academy of Sciences

Paul Anastas, Yale University
Transformative innovations in green chemistry needed for sustainability

Eric Jacobsen, Harvard University
Selective yet general catalysts

Session III, Chair: John Seinfeld, California Institute of Technology

Nathan Lewis, California Institute of Technology
Artificial photosynthesis: Fuel from the sun

Daniel Nocera, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The chemistry of renewable energy

Session IV, Chair: John Brauman, Stanford University

Ralph Cicerone, National Academy of Sciences
Putting science to work in developing science policy

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Dr. Joshua Lederberg, 82

Dr. Joshua Lederberg passed away on February 2, 2008. Dr. Lederberg was a member of the Board of Directors of the Foundation since 1983. He also served as founding Chairman of the Foundation's Scientific Affairs Committee, which is charged with developing and overseeing the scientific programs of the Foundation. The Board and staff will miss Josh's wise and caring counsel.

Related links for Dr. Lederberg:

Biography from the Nobel Prize Web site: http://nobelprize.org
The Joshua Lederberg Papers : http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/BB/
New York Times Obituary: http://www.nytimes.com/

Dr. Richard Zare Named Advisor to Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation

Dr. Richard N. Zare, the Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professor in Natural Science at Stanford University, was named an Advisor to the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation in January 2008. Dr. Zare is renowned for his research in analytical and laser chemistry and has received numerous prizes and awards.

Related links:

Feature article on Dr. Zare from the November 1, 2007, issue of Analytical Chemistry: Download (PDF, 2.1mb)
Zare Group Web site: http://www.stanford.edu/group/Zarelab/

Dr. John D. Roberts Is Five-time Senior Scientist Awardee

Dr. John D. Roberts, emeritus professor at California Institute of Technology and Honorary Advisor to the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, has been a leader in the field of physical organic chemistry for over 50 years. In recognition of his achievements, Dr. Roberts has received many awards, including the National Medal of Science in 1990. In 1998, Chemical and Engineering News named him one of the 75 most influential chemists of the previous 75 years.

For several years, Dr. Roberts has been mentoring young students during the summer as part of CalTech's Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program, an intensive ten-week course that is, for many students, their first research experience. Student participants are selected from a nationwide pool of applicants. One of the SURF researchers, Phillip Deutsch, worked with Dr. Roberts' group while a high school student and was subsequently a finalist in the 2004 National Intel Science Search. Deutsch also won the 2004 California Science Fair, for which he received a $10,000 award. He is now a student at CalTech.

Dr. Roberts notes, "Our undergraduate research program on conformational analysis has been supported by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation's Senior Scientist Mentor Program for several years now." The Senior Scientist Mentor Program provides emeritus faculty in the chemical sciences with $20,000 to support their research with undergraduates, and has made over 100 awards since its inception in 2000. Dr. Roberts is a five-time award winner in the program.

Related links:

John D. Roberts' Web site: http://www.cce.caltech.edu/faculty/roberts_j/index.html

Dr. Matthew Tirrell, Dean of the College of Engineering at UC Santa Barbara and Advisor to the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Wins the American Institute of Chemical Engineer's William H. Walker Award

Press release: http://www.engineering.ucsb.edu/news/145/