2018 Division Award Winners

2018 ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry Award Recipients


ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry Award in Electrochemistry:

Shelley D. Minteer, University of Utah

Dr. Shelley Minteer is a USTAR Professor in both the Departments of Chemistry and Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Utah. She received her PhD in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Iowa in 2000 under the direction of Professor Johna Leddy. After receiving her PhD, she spent 11 years as a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry at Saint Louis University before moving to the University of Utah in 2011. She was also a Technical Editor for the Journal of the Electrochemical Society from 2013-2016 and is now an Associate Editor for the Journal of the American Chemical Society. She has published greater than 300 publications and greater than 400 presentations at national and international conferences and universities. She has won several awards including the Luigi Galvani Prize of the Bioelectrochemical Society, the Missouri Inventor of the Year, International Society of Electrochemistry Tajima Prize, Fellow of the Electrochemical Society, and the Society of Electroanalytical Chemists’ Young Investigator Award. Her research research interests are focused on electrocatalysis and bioanalytical electrochemistry. She has expertise in biosensors, biofuel cells, and bioelectronics.


ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry Award in Spectrochemical Analysis:

Weihong Tan, Hunan University/University of Florida

Prof. Weihong Tan earned his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry at the University of Michigan in 1992 after he earned his M. Sc. in Physical Chemistry from Chinese Academy of Sciences and B. Sc. in Chemistry from Hunan Normal University. He is the University Distinguished Professor and a V.T. and Louis Jackson Professor at the University of Florida and also a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Biology at Hunan University. Prof. Tan’s research is in the general area of Bioanalytical Chemistry, Chemical Biology and Molecular Medicine. He specializes in biosensors, spectrochemical analysis, molecular engineering. theranostics and DNA nanotechnology. He has made multiple contributions in spectrochemical analysis: ultrasensitive bioanalysis with DNA probes, ultrasmall optical biosensors, development of biophotonic nanomaterials and aptamer-based chemistry and biotechnologies. He has published over 600 peer-reviewed scientific papers. According to Thomson Reuters, he was among the small, prestigious group of Highly Cited Researchers in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. The total citations of his publications exceed 37000 with an H index of 105 (SCI Web of Science). He is currently an Associate Editor for JACS (Journal of American Chemical Society). He served as an Associate Editor for Analytical Chemistry (ACS). He is serving as either editorial or advisory board member for many journals, including ACS Nano and Chemical Sciences etc. He has received over thirty awards and honors, including NIH Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award in 2018, National Institute of Health,ACS Award in Spectrochemical Analysis in 2018, American Chemical Society, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2015, Academician of the World Academy of Sciences in Developing Countries in 2016, ACS Florida Achievement Award in 2012, Elected Fellow of The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2005, Pittsburgh Conference Achievement Award for Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy (2004) and Beckman Young Investigator Award (1997).


ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry J. Calvin Giddings Award for Excellence in Education:

Jill Robinson, Indiana University

Jill Robinson received a B.S. in Chemistry from Northeast Missouri State University and a Ph.D. in Analytical and Atmospheric Chemistry from the University of Colorado, Boulder.  Her Ph.D. advisors were Professor John Birks and Professor Kathy Rowlen, and her thesis project was the development of a portable chemiluminescence detector for measuring nitric oxide in the atmosphere and in human breath.  She was an Academic Professional Lecturer in analytical chemistry at the University of Wyoming before joining the faculty at Indiana University.  She is currently a Senior Lecturer and teaches general chemistry, analytical chemistry, and environmental chemistry.  She uses active learning methods in all her classes to promote student engagement and a deeper understanding of the subject.  She was awarded the Mosaic Fellowship at Indiana University to conduct research on effective practices in new collaborative learning classrooms.  She is also a participant in an NSF-funded initiative to develop team-based curriculum in the analytical chemistry classroom and laboratory.  The materials are published on the Active Learning Site of the Analytical Sciences Digital Library (ASDL).  She has also facilitated workshops for analytical chemistry faculty to develop curriculum materials that promote group work and critical thinking.


ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry Arthur F. Findeis Award for Achievements by a Young Analytical Scientist

Sponsored by Altria:

Abrham Abdu-Tawiah, Ohio State University

Abraham Badu-Tawiah obtained his Ph.D. (2012) in Chemistry with R. Graham Cooks at Purdue University. During that time he worked on the mechanism of desorption electrospray ionization, which led to the development of novel instrumentation for ambient ion soft landing, and ionic reactions with neutral species adsorbed on ambient surfaces. During his time at Purdue, Dr. Badu-Tawiah was awarded Andrews (2007 – 2009), Bilsland Dissertation (2011), and Lilly Innovative (2012) Fellowships. From 2012 to 2014, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University under the direction of George M. Whitesides, where his research focused on the development of methods for performing molecular recognition (immunoassay) on ambient paper surfaces for use in resource-limited disease eradication programs. In 2014, he joined The Ohio State University, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. His research group is focused on the development of new mass spectrometry (MS) based techniques for on-demand disease detection, real-time reaction screening, and quantitative chemical analysis. Within three and a half years of work as Assistant Professor, this research has resulted in more than 13 peer-reviewed publications, 16 invited talks and conference presentations, and several patents. Dr. Badu-Tawiah received Early Career Award from the Department of Energy (2016), a Research Award from the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (2017),  and Eli Lilly Young Investigator Award in Analytical Chemistry (2017).


ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry Award in Chemical Instrumentation

Sponsored by the Dow Chemical Company:

Pernendu Sandy Dasgupta, University of Texas Arlington

Purnendu K. (Sandy) Dasgupta graduated with honors in Chemistry (1968), MSc in Inorganic Chemistry (1970) from the University of Burdwan, and PhD in Analytical Chemistry (minor in Electrical Engineering) from LSU Baton Rouge (1977) while earning a diploma as a TV mechanic. He joined the University of California at Davis to study inhalation toxicology of air pollutants. In Bengali, his mother tongue, he is a published poet and a novelist. After 25 years at Texas Tech, he joined University of Texas at Arlington and became the Hamish Small Chair in Ion Analysis in 2015. He has authored ~ 450 papers/book chapters (including an undergraduate text); majority of his 29 patents have been licensed. His work has been recognized by the Benedetti-Pichler Memorial Award in microchemistry, ACS Award in Chromatography, Dal Nogare Award in Separation Sciences, Giddings Award in Chemical Education, EAS Fields of Analytical Chemistry Award, etc. He is an IEEE fellow. His work on environmental perchlorate led to public awareness and eventual regulation. He says he is a problem solver rather than a specialist. Above all, he likes building things: His website proclaims: We foster builders, not users.


ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry Award for Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Analytical Chemistry:

Cynthia K. Larive, University of California Riverside

Cynthia K. Larive is Professor of Analytical Chemistry at the University of California, Riverside, where she serves as Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor. Larive has been actively involved with the American Chemical Society over the course of her professional career and received the ACS National Award for Volunteer Service in 2015. She served as Chair of the Division of Analytical Chemistry in 2013 and has been an Associate Editor for Analytical Chemistry since 2015. Her research in bioanalytical chemistry focuses on developing analytical tools and methods for metabolomics and metabolic profiling and for the characterization of glycosaminoglycan structure and function. In particular, her lab is working to understand the metabolite transport and barrier functions of the gut epithelium and pursuing environmental metabolomics to assess metabolic biomarkers of xenobiotics as a measure of individual, population, and ecological health. Larive has also been active in efforts to improve analytical chemistry instruction, heading the Division of Analytical Chemistry Education Committee from 2003 to 2007 and promoting the adoption of active learning pedagogies through her involvement in the Analytical Sciences Digital Library (www.asdlib.org). She received the Analytical Division’s J. Calvin Giddings Award for Excellence in Education in 2007.

Scroll to Top