Student Awarded Prestigious Chemistry Fellowship

St. John Whittaker, a junior majoring in biochemistry, environmental science, and philosophy, is one of 12 students nationwide to receive a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) from the American Chemical Society’s Division of Organic Chemistry. 

Whittaker will receive $5,000 to conduct research this summer with Dr. Arthur Catino, assistant professor of chemistry and co-director of the environmental science program. 

To receive this award, St. John submitted a 5-page research proposal outlining his plans to prepare chiral tetraphenylmethanes.  Tetraphenylmethanes are important molecules used in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), organic solar cells, hydrogen storage devices, and drug delivery.

St. John began doing research in Dr. Catino’s laboratory during his sophomore year and is already a co-author on a publication in Tetrahedron Letters­.  DOI is here.

At the end of August, St. John and the other awardees will travel to Merck Research Laboratories (Boston, MA) to tour the campus and present their research.

For more information about this award and a list of previous awardees, click here.