Janet Dodd, ACS News Senior Editor

	Lerman PHOTO BY RUDY BAUM

The Council of the Royal Society of Chemistry, London, has selected Zafra M. Lerman, head of the Institute for Science Education & Science Communication, Columbia College, Chicago, to deliver the next Nyholm Lecture during the 2004-05 academic session. Over the course of two weeks, she will deliver her lecture in a number of centers throughout Britain.

Lerman was chosen for her outstanding contributions to chemical education in defining and developing methodology to use visual and performing arts activities in the teaching of chemistry. According to the Royal Society of Chemistry, Lerman is "an ebullient teacher who has pioneered new educational techniques and made science literacy available to young people everywhere and brought the joys of science to many thousands of students."

Lerman received her B.S. and M.S. in chemistry at Technion--the Israel Institute of Technology--in Haifa, and her Ph.D. in chemistry from Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. After carrying out research at Cornell University, Northwestern University, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, she joined Columbia College in 1977 as director of the science program.

The lectureship carries with it a silver medal and an honorarium of 500 (about $818). It was founded in 1973 to commemorate the name of Sir Ronald Nyholm (1917-71), professor of chemistry at University College, London, from 1955. Nyholm had taught at Sydney Technical College in 1940-51 and at the New South Wales University of Technology in 1952-54.

Research Fellowships For Educators

The National Science Foundation awarded the University of Tennessee (UT) a five-year grant of approximately $2 million to establish a Research Site for Educators in Chemistry (RSEC). The grant supports research and teaching experiences for faculty at primarily undergraduate institutions (PUI) with an emphasis on institutions in Appalachia and the Southeast. The aim is to enhance both research and teaching at these institutions, thereby improving the learning experience of students moving from PUIs to graduate school or into the job market.

Faculty members in chemistry, biology, and other environmentally related fields at regional PUIs are eligible to apply for fellowships totaling two to 15 months at either UT, Oak Ridge National Laboratories, a partner PUI, or the laboratories of designated industrial partners. Fellows do not teach during summer appointments, and for academic-year appointments, teaching loads will be limited to at most one course per semester, allowing fellows time to conduct research.

The structure of the program provides fellows with the opportunity to experience the roles of student, teacher, and researcher in different settings and to develop or reenergize research programs at their own colleges and universities. Stipends will meet conventional sabbatical supplements, plus summer and some travel support. Normal sabbatical support from the home institution is expected but not essential. Each fellow will receive a catalyst grant of up to $7,000 to facilitate the establishment of research activities in his or her home department after the fellowship period. Support is available for undergraduate students from the fellow's home institution for research participation both at the RSEC site and at the home institution upon the fellow's return.

UT serves as the center for this project, which features partnerships with the Appalachian College Association; Berea College, in Kentucky; UT Chattanooga; the University of the South, Sweanee, Tenn.; Oak Ridge National Lab; the University of North Carolina, Asheville; Procter & Gamble; the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta; the University of Minnesota; the University of Massachusetts; and Wichita State University. Additional industrial and undergraduate partners will be added during the course of the project.

For more information, contact the RSEC program assistant at (865) 974-3387, fax (865) 974-3454, or e-mail: rsec@utk.edu.

L'Oreal Announces Fellowships

L'Oreal USA has announced the creation of a new "for Women in Science" U.S. Fellowship Program. Designed to continue the legacy of support and encouragement that has become a trademark of the company's international initiative, the L'Oreal-UNESCO for Women in Science Awards, the new U.S. fellowship program will provide education and research grants to young women pursuing scientific careers.

L'Oreal USA will award five annual fellowships to young women who are graduate students or postdoctoral researchers in the natural sciences (biological and physical), engineering, computer science, or mathematics. Each recipient will be awarded a grant of $20,000. A jury primarily of "for Women in Science" North American Laureate winners will select the yearly recipients, the first of whom are scheduled to be announced in March 2004.

For more information on these fellowship opportunities, go to http://www.lorealusa.com/forwomeninscience.

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