Our 2023 Alumni Lecture speaker, Dr. Stefanie Milam, is a Planetary Scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland and serves as the James Webb Space Telescope Deputy Project Scientist for Planetary Science. She works in the Astrochemistry Laboratory at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and is an expert in rotational spectroscopy, observations, and laboratory modeling of astrochemistry and molecular astrophysics of the interstellar medium, evolved stars, star formation regions, and comets.

Actinide elements show a great diversity in their chemistry due to the complex structure of 5f electron shells and delocalization of 5f-electrons within the early actinide family. One of the most remarkable properties of the early actinides is a multi-valence accompanied by a great coordination diversity. For example, uranium demonstrates oxidation states from +2 to +6 in the solid state, where +4 and +6 are the most common and stable.

Dr. Jeffrey S. Pilgrim, winner of the 2023 UGA Chemistry Distinguished Alumnus Award, is President and founder of Vista Photonics, an optical instrumentation company located in Las Cruces, NM. He formed the corporation in June 2003 to develop and commercialize optical gas sensing technologies and instrumentation. Before starting Vista Photonics, Dr.

In recent years significant progress has been made towards understanding the molecular and cellular mechanism by which cells “feel” their environment. There exists a complex relationship between the behavior of a cell, its physical properties, and its surrounding environment.

In 2021, Americans spent $525 million on oral solid dosage forms, of which tablets made up 53.1% of the market. (1). Tablets are the most popular drug delivery method because of the relatively low cost of ingredients, ease of manufacturing, and high patient compliance (1).

Amanda Frossard, Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry, was awarded an CAREER award from the National Science Foundation (NSF). This is the most prestigious award given by NSF to early career faculty. This award includes five years of funding to support Dr. Frossard’s research and teaching in the field of atmospheric chemistry. Her work will focus on understanding the chemical and physical properties of surfactants in atmospheric aerosol particles and measuring the influence of surfactants on aerosol particle hygroscopic growth.

Dr. Kelly Hines, Assistant Professor in the UGA Department of Chemistry, will receive an ASMS Research Award at the 71st Annual Meeting of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry.

The Department of Chemistry will host its annual Alumni Weekend event on April 14 and 15, to include tours of the new STEM facility, the Alumni Lecture, Awards Banquet, and Golf Scramble. The 2023 Chemistry Alumni Lecture will be given on Friday afternoon April 14 by Dr.

The size and composition of atmospheric aerosol particles modulate their interactions with solar radiation, and thus their influence on climate and visibility. The radiative effects of aerosol particles remain a large uncertainty in accurately modeling and predicting current and future climates. Recent work has demonstrated the presence of organic surfactant molecules in atmospheric aerosol particles, and their sources and transformations in the atmosphere are currently being studied.

Richard A. Dluhy,¹ Amareshwari Konutham¹, Shaiju S Nazeer¹, 
Joo-Yeun Oh², Amit Gaggar², and Rakesh P. Patel², 

¹Department of Chemistry, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294
²Department of Pathology and Center for Free Radical Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294