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Congratulations to the 2024 winner of the DivCHED International Travel Award, DivCHED Member Dr. Bratoljub Milosavljevic, Penn State University

Dr. Milosavljevic will be traveling to the 27th IUPAC International Conference on Chemical Education, Pattaya, Thailand, July 15-19, 2024 to present the talk “Redesigning Chemistry Laboratory Teaching for Completing/Finalizing Education of Chemistry Undergraduate Students”.
About the DivCHED International Travel Award
The Division of Chemical Education funds a Travel Award each year in support of a division member who presents and fully participates in an international chemical education conference held outside the U. S. The awardee will have the responsibility to communicate information and insights gained at the conference to the membership through available DivCHED publications and by postings on the DivCHED Website. Apply here for the 2025 award.

Sally Hunnicutt, Board of Publication Nominee

Sally Hunnicutt, Ph.D., Board of Publication Nominee

Professor, Department of Chemistry Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs

Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, Virginia

R1 University

Professor Sally S. Hunnicutt’s career at VCU has been split evenly among research, teaching, and service. Conducting research focused on pedagogy and faculty development, she obtained funding from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, and SCHEV. She taught courses for majors and non‐majors, large and small courses, and lecture and laboratory courses. With financial support from the NSF, she worked with colleagues from across the U.S. to develop new guided inquiry physical chemistry laboratory experiments and build a vibrant community of physical chemistry instructors. VCU recognized Dr. Hunnicutt with its Distinguished Teaching Award in 2015.

Currently she is an Associate Dean in the College of Humanities & Science, focused on faculty affairs and on the design, construction, opening, and operation of a new instructional laboratory building. Sally is happy to serve the Richmond community as a member of the Blue Sky Fund board, and the professional community as a former steering committee member of The POGIL Project and reviewer for journals and for NSF proposals. In particular, Sally especially enjoys developing and facilitating faculty workshops. From 2007‐08 to present, she facilitated over 40 workshops – at VCU and across the U.S. – with over 1000 participants. These workshops provided a fantastic opportunity for mentoring, for promoting diversity and equity, and for sharing sound teaching and research practices among faculty. Sally and her husband, Mike, enjoy hiking, climbing, and mountain biking, especially when joined by their two sons, Patrick and Nathan.

Congratulations to the 2024 National ACS Award Recipients

The recipients will be honored at the award ceremony Tuesday, March 19, 2024, in conjunction with ACS Spring 2024 in New Orleans. 

ACS Award for Achievement in Research for the Teaching and Learning of Chemistry, supported by an endowed fund established by the ACS Exams Institute: Georgios Tsaparlis, University of Ioannina 

James Bryant Conant Award in High School Chemistry Teaching, supported by an endowed fund established by the Journal of Chemical Education and the Chemical Education Xchange: Laura J. Trout, Lancaster Country Day School 

George C. Pimentel Award in Chemical Education, supported by an endowed fund established by the ACS Division of Chemical Education and the Board of Publications that supports the Journal of Chemical Education and Chemical Education Xchange: Donald J. Wink, University of Illinois Chicago

Paulette Vincent-Ruz (she/ella), Councilor/Alternate Councilor Nominee

Dr. Paulette Vincent-Ruz, Councilor/Alternate Councilor Nominee

Assistant Professor
New Mexico State University
R1 Research Institution

Paulette Vincent‐Ruz (she/ella) is an Assistant Professor in Chemistry Education Research at New Mexico State University. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico and obtained her Ph.D. in Learning Sciences and Policy from the University of Pittsburgh, School of Education. Her research perspective is informed by her background. She identifies as a Queer Latinx cis‐woman of color, born and raised a settler colonialist on the rightful lands of the Mexica Tribes. Her research seeks to build an understanding of the systemic disadvantages that hinder the success of marginalized students and their effect on student's chemistry attitudes, opportunities, and learning by using equity centered theories and methodologies. Her unique combination of Chemistry disciplinary knowledge and educational theory earned her the American Chemical Society's recognition as a Future Leader in Chemistry, the first time this was awarded to a chemistry education researcher. She was also the recipient of the Distinguished Student Leadership Award, the highest award designated for students at the University of Pittsburgh School of Education. 

Dr. Vincent‐Ruz is currently a member of the Early Career Chemistry Education Scholars Committee. She is also a founding member of the AERA Division for Critical Quantitative Methods. As a junior scholar she has published ten peer‐reviewed articles, seven with her as corresponding author. Furthermore, given her expertise in equity topics she has been invited to give nine talks at Departments of Chemistry, including Portland State University, over the last 2 years. Therefor Dr. Vincent‐Ruz's research interests, skill set, professional experience, and personal history align uniquely with the vision of this position.

Alexey Leontyev, Councilor/Alternate Councilor Nominee

Dr. Alexey Leontyev, Councilor/Alternate Councilor Nominee

Assistant professor
North Dakota State University  
Comprehensive 4‐year University

Dr. Alexey Leontyev is an assistant professor at the department of chemistry and biochemistry at North Dakota State University. He received his Ph.D. in chemistry education from the University of Northern Colorado in 2015 and then taught organic chemistry at Adams State University until 2018. At NDSU, he conducts research on the effectiveness of assessment practices and instructional methods in organic chemistry with a particular focus on green chemistry. Alexey is a 2023 recipient of the American Chemical Society’s Committee on Environmental Improvement Award for Incorporating Sustainability into Chemistry Education. 

Alexey regularly teaches large enrollment organic chemistry courses using the Learning Assistants model and coordinates organic chemistry laboratories. He actively incorporates green chemistry into the organic curriculum. Alexey is a core faculty member of the interdisciplinary STEM Education Ph.D. program at NDSU. He is deeply involved in mentoring summer undergraduate students participating in two REU programs at NDSU, Growing up STEM (an REU program in DBER) and Green Chemistry REU. He is a member of the OrganicERs leadership board, a community of practice advocating for evidence‐based practices in teaching organic chemistry and the Green Chemistry Teaching & Learning Community Leadership Council. At DivCHED, Alexey has been a member of the International Activities Committee since 2016 and has organized several symposia on international perspectives in chemistry education. Alexey started his first term on the Chemical Education Research Committee in January 2023. Alexey served on the ACS Exam Committees for the General Chemistry 2021 exam and is currently serving on the Condensed General, Organic, and Biochemistry 2025 exam. As Councilor/Alternate‐Councilor candidate, Alexey is committed to transparency of the decisions made by DivCHED and increasing the division's visibility within the broader chemistry community.