Ole Miss Forensic Chemistry graduate Melissa McFeeters (Class of 2013) recently accepted a position as chemist at the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Department in Texas.  Melissa will work in controlled substances and toxicology.  The Brazoria County Sheriff’s Department is the oldest law enforcement agency in Texas. The area was initially colonized by Stephen F. Austin and 300 Settlers in 1821. The first sheriff was elected in 1836 and commanded a Calvary company during the battle of San Jacinto.  Brazoria is a rural county located south of Houston and just west of Galveston.

A recent paper from the Dass group in The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters (JPCL), “X-ray Crystal Structure and Theoretical Analysis of Au_25-xAg_x(SCH₂CH₂Ph)₁₈^– Alloy” has been identified by Thomson Reuters as a “Highly Cited Paper,” meaning that it is in the top 1%.

Based on data from the UM Office of Institutional Research & Assessment. From HottyToddy.com

Chemistry was recently cited as the best Ole Miss major to finish in four years.

Graduating from college in four years with a degree in hand is something that many parents want their children to accomplish.  So, what big programs at Ole Miss do the best job of getting students to finish in four?  According to HottyToddy.com, the top three majors are chemistry, social work, and exercise science.

“It is a team effort. Graduation rates are rising for a number of reasons. For example, our successful students rise to the challenge of the major and do not accept setbacks easily as a reason to give up or change to another major.   They network with each other to create a strong support system,” said Associate Director of Forensic Chemistry Kerri Scott.

Social work is also one of the Top 3 and has been for the last three years.  Remy Dargin is a senior, majoring in social work. She not only expects to graduate at the end of four years and feels that getting a job in social work may be quite easy.  “There are constantly increasing social problems and poverty rates are consistently increasing, and there is always a need for people to be helping out other people,” said Dargin.

Nearly 62 percent of social work majors who entered the program in August 2010 had graduated by May 2014 – a percentage that’s been increasing every year for the past three. However, the No. 1 major for four-year graduation rates in programs with more than 500 majors is chemistry. For the class that entered in 2008, 62.1 percent graduated in four years, by 2010, fully three quarters, 75 percent, got their degree in May 2014 “on time,” as some describe it.

Rounding out the Top 3 is exercise science, which ranks third when it comes to graduating the largest percentage of students in the four year time span. For this program, too, the percentage has increased every year for the past three, for freshmen who entered in 2010, 62.5 percent left campus with their degrees in 2014.

“I planned to graduate in four years because I dedicated my time doing internships and gaining experience in and out of the classroom to assure I graduated within four years,” exercise science graduate Jason Anderson.

The less time it takes to graduate, the better, for obvious reasons. Students who finish in four years typically spend less money and take out fewer loans than students on the five or even six-year plan. Plus, they get into the working world faster and start earning money.

“Working as a trainer is not something I was unprepared for. I feel I did my best as a student at Ole Miss to make a promising future for myself in my field,” said Anderson.

The four-year graduation rate for Ole Miss as a whole is 33.9 percent, which means it was tied at the 78^th spot in the nation among public universities.

Robert Mantz (left), chair of the Physical and Analytical Electrochemistry Division of the Electrochemical Society, presents Charles Hussey (right) with the society’s Max Bredig Award in Molten Salt and Ionic Liquids.

A University of Mississippi professor’s lifetime of successful research in molten salt and ionic liquid chemistry has brought him the ultimate international honor in his field.

Charles L. “Chuck” Hussey is the 14th recipient of the Electrochemical Society’s Max Bredig Award in Molten Salt and Ionic Liquid Chemistry. The UM chair and professor of chemistry and biochemistry was presented the award this month at the 226th annual ECS convention in Cancun, Mexico.

“This is the highest international recognition that is given to people working in my particular research area,” Hussey said. “The society held a special session in the molten salt symposium at the meeting in my honor and hosted an award dinner, where I was presented with the recognition. I was very surprised and pleased to receive this honor.”

Paul A. Kohl, the society’s president and the Hercules Inc./Thomas L. Gossage Chair and Regents Professor of Electrochemistry at Georgia Institute of Technology, said his colleague is most deserving of the honor.

“An intellectual leader in this unique field for more than 30 years, Professor Hussey has made significant contributions to both the fundamental understanding and applications of molten salts and ionic liquids,” Kohl said. “He is a model and inspiration for many of us.”

UM administrators also praised Hussey’s achievements.

“The chemistry department has flourished under his leadership,” said Richard Forgette, professor of political science and interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts. “We are proud of his many accomplishments and grateful to have him as a colleague.”

The Bredig award is external validation of Hussey’s noteworthy accomplishments, Provost Morris Stocks said. “He is an outstanding faculty member and a distinguished scientist who strengthens our learning community.”

Bredig, for whom the award is named, was a pioneer in the study of phase equilibria, thermodynamic phenomena and transport properties of molten salts. A researcher at the Fritz Huber Institute in Berlin and the James Franck Institute in Gottingen, he conducted the first X-ray and neutron diffraction studies on molten salts while employed at Oak Ridge National Laboratories. The award was initiated in 1987 by the late Gleb Mamantov, professor and chair of chemistry at the University of Tennessee, with support from ARCO Metals and ALCOA. Mamantov was himself the fourth recipient of the award.

Hussey earned his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees in chemistry from UM in 1971 and 1974, respectively. From 1974 to ’78, he was a research chemist and active duty military officer at the Frank J. Seiler Research Laboratory (Air Force Systems Command) at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Hussey joined the UM chemistry department as an assistant professor in 1978. Concurrently, he served as a member of the U.S. Air Force Reserve and was assigned to the Battery and Propulsion Directorate, Wright Laboratory, Air Force Materiel Command, retiring in 1994 as a lieutenant colonel. He was promoted to professor in 1987 and became department chair in 1997.

During his academic career, Hussey has served as vice chair and chair of the Gordon Conference on Molten Salts and Liquid Metals, as a consultant for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, as a member of the National Research Council Committee on Electrometallurgical Techniques for DOE Spent Fuel Treatment, as a member of the University of Chicago Review Committee for the CMT Division of Argonne National Laboratory and as a member of the Board of Visitors for the Army Research Office.

An ECS fellow, Hussey has been a member of the organization’s editorial board since 2000. As an associate editor and technical editor, he has handled manuscripts in many topical areas for the Journal of The Electrochemical Society and ECS Electrochemistry Letters, but mainly those articles involving electrochemical and electro-less deposition and electrochemistry in molten salts and ionic liquids.

He also organized ECS symposia about electrochemistry in molten salts and nonaqueous solvents and the electrochemistry and spectroscopy of surface-bound molecules. Hussey’s scientific research with molten salts and ionic liquids has been directed at the electrochemistry and spectroscopy of d- and f-block elements, the electrodeposition of aluminum and corrosion-resistant aluminum-transition metal alloys and the electrochemical treatment of spent nuclear fuel. He also has published extensively about the physical and transport properties of molten salts and ionic liquids.

More than 25 students have earned advanced degrees in his laboratory, and many of them hold significant positions in industry or academia.  For more details see the official Ole Miss news story.

John Wiginton, Instructional Assistant Professor & Director of Undergraduate Laboratories

The Mississippi Science Teacher’s Association has selected John Wiginton, Instructional Assistant Professor & Director of Undergraduate Laboratories, as the 2014 Mississippi Outstanding College Science Teacher.

Wiginton will receive a plaque Oct. 21 at the MSTA’s annual convention awards banquet in Jackson. The organization uses its annual convention to allow teachers to present ideas to fellow teachers and to glean information and ideas from each other to better equip themselves for their classroom.

“I am excited and humbled to receive this award,” Wiginton said. “I used to think that the Teacher of the Year was the ‘best’ teacher of the year, but I’ve since come to understand that many of the best educators are far too humble to recognized easily. There are many more individuals far more deserving than I am.

“It is a supreme honor to be included in the same group with such awe-inspiring and selfless individuals.”

The honoree began teaching non-majors chemistry lecture courses at Ole Miss as an instructor in 2003. After Wiginton received his doctorate and was promoted to instructional assistant professor in 2008, he added General Chemistry, Chemistry for Teachers I and II, and Graduate Chemistry for High School Science Teachers I. He has been a laboratory manager since 2003 and the director of undergraduate labs since 2010.

“As the director of our undergraduate laboratory program, Dr. Wiginton has responsibility for 56 sections of laboratory courses,” said Charles “Chuck” Hussey, chair and professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the university. “He works hard to keep abreast of the latest developments in laboratory instruction and has worked with prominent publishing companies to write laboratory manuals for his courses. His hard work is very much appreciated, and we are glad to see him recognized with this award.”

Wiginton reflected upon his teaching career.

“I come to work every day excited about the possibilities and leave every day feeling like I have done good, meaningful work,” he said. “Receiving awards is motivating to be sure, but none of us do what we do for the recognition. We do it because we love and care about our rising generation.

“At then end of the day, my reward is seeing my students graduate and become successful individuals and colleagues.”

MSTA award recipients are nominated by peers, students and parents. At the close of the annual convention, MSTA recognizes seven teachers. The Distinguished Science Teacher is one who has previously won an award from MSTA and has continued to be an exemplary teacher. An Informal Science Teacher award is presented to a person who is not employed as a science teacher, but who has contributed to science education in some manner.

Awards are presented for an outstanding new science teacher at any educational level, and for an outstanding elementary teacher, an outstanding middle school teacher, an outstanding high school teacher and an outstanding college teacher.

Charles Hussey, UM chair and professor of chemistry and biochemistry, saw his “Portable Aluminum Deposition System” named to R&D magazine’s “Top 100” most innovative technologies introduced in 2013. The award is considered the “Oscar” for inventors. Hussey worked closely with postdoctoral research associate Li-Hsien Chou to develop PADS.

A revolutionary aluminum plating process developed at the University of Mississippi has been recognized as one of the most technologically significant products of 2014.

The Portable Aluminum Deposition System, or PADS, invented in the laboratory of UM chemistry chair and professor Charles Hussey, is a winner in R&D Magazine‘s 52nd annual R&D 100 Awards. The international competition recognizes excellence across a wide range of industries, including telecommunications, optics, high-energy physics, materials science chemistry and biotechnology. The award is considered to be the “Oscar” for inventors.

The work in Hussey’s lab is part of a larger project and carried out in collaboration with Sheng Dai and other scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the United Technologies Research Center. At UM, Hussey worked closely with postdoctoral research associate Li-Hsien Chou to develop PADS. This aluminum plating technology is expected to replace hazardous coatings such as cadmium, thereby potentially strengthening the competitiveness of American manufacturing companies worldwide and cutting the cost of aluminum plating by a factor of 50 to 100.

PADS allows manufacturers to safely conduct aluminum deposition in open atmosphere for the first time. Aluminum cannot be plated from water or most other solvents, so a special electrolyte that enables the safe plating is a critical part of the device.

“As basic scientists studying fundamental process and phenomena, so much of what we do is not immediately useful or obvious to society,” Hussey said. “Here, we have made something unique and obviously useful. This is very satisfying.”

Chou, who earned her doctorate under Professor I-Wen Sun at National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan, is Hussey’s “academic granddaughter” because Sun is one of Hussey’s first doctoral graduates, having earned his Ph.D. at UM in 1989.

Winning the R&D award is a dream come true for Chou.

“Every scientist dreams one day to develop a useful product with their name on it, and we did,” Chou said. “I am so happy we can bring this recognition to Ole Miss.”

Hussey said he is pleased with his Chou’s contributions to the project.

“I am very proud of her and hope this will benefit her career,” he said. “After all, this is really what we do or should be doing in academia, developing people and helping them to be successful in their careers and lives.”

The judges were impressed by the development of a process to use air-sensitive ionic liquids in the open atmosphere to make an air-stable plating system.

“The availability of air-stable plating systems allows the technology to be used in the field, giving PADS a competitive advantage,” said Paul Livingstone, senior editor of R&D Magazine. “The technology’s lower cost of use and prospect for displacing toxic corrosion protection alternatives were additional factors that contributed to the selection of this winning technology.”

Research on the technology was stimulated by a research contract from the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense to UM through ORNL. Plated aluminum is a protective coating and offers corrosion protection to any underlying metal.

Hussey has worked on ionic liquid projects for many years, including various U.S. Department of Energy projects involving the development of ionic liquid-based processes for the treatment of spent nuclear fuel.

The 2014 R&D 100 Awards banquet is set for Nov. 7 at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas.

For a full list of this year’s winners, visit http://www.rdmag.com/award-winners/2014/07/2014-r-d-100-award-winners. For more information on this story visit OleMiss News.