From the Chair
U
Jeffrey Johnson
A. Ronald Gallant Distinguished Professor; Department Chair
UNC’s first professor of chemistry and mineralogy,
Denison Olmsted, arrived on campus in 1818. That
event marked the beginning of a two-century story
of the department that was commemorated during a
two-day celebration that took place the weekend of
April 20th and 21st, 2018 in Chapel Hill. You will find
more detail of the program inside this issue. Suffice it
to say, the event was a wonderful opportunity to wel-
come alumni and friends back to the department and I
invite you to read our synopsis on what has been a true
highlight of the year. I have had a lot of fun!
In September, I gave the first of what I hope will be an
annual “State of the Department” presentation to fac-
ulty, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and staff.
The event provided the opportunity the update the de-
partment on progress in our strategic plan and to pub-
licly recognize our graduate student award winners.
When Kevin Guskiewicz assumed the role of Dean of
the College of Arts and Sciences in January, 2016 - the same time I became chair! - all of the departments
in the College were asked to create a strategic plan. The Department of Chemistry used this charge to define
our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and to delineate our values and priorities going for-
ward. It was an extensive and fruitful exercise. I do not want to subject you to every aspect of that process,
but I would like to briefly bring into focus on one of our priorities.
We teach an amazing and diverse cohort of undergraduate and graduate students. A major long-term goal
is for our faculty to better reflect the diversity of students that we instruct. Our three new faculty colleagues
that entered the department on July 1, Jeffrey Dick, Abigail Knight, and Sidney Wilkerson-Hill, embrace our
values of inclusion and diversity, that will continue to make Carolina Chemistry a welcoming environment
where students can thrive. Also, our NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates, REU, grant was re-
newed this year. The program has supported research opportunities for students from underrepresented
groups and resulted in several “alumni” matriculating at UNC for their graduate studies. We know this work
constitutes multi-year project, but are excited about what our collective efforts and commitment can mean
for our academic community.
Continued on page 15
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