Over this academic year outstanding members of our community have been recognized by the department, the college, the university and professional societies.

Undergraduate Awards

This spring, we held our annual recognition for our undergraduate awardees, which included 28 students who received summer research awards. The complete list of awards and names of the students receiving them in 2025 is at: 2025 Awardees

 

Graduate Student Awards

Outstanding work by our graduate students has been recognized by the department awards supported by donors as well as the Rackham graduate school. See the awardees:  Fall 2024 and Winter 2025

In the 2025 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship competition two incoming graduate students won fellowships: Nishka Edlabadkar and Leonardo Birriel-Rodríguez. Another 22 students received honorable mentions.  

Rackham International Student Fellowship were received by Chun-Yi Tsai (Cernak Lab) & Yin-Jia Jhang (Nagorny Lab).  The fellowship supports outstanding international students in their studies, and only 25 Rackham graduate students are awarded this honor each year. Selected winners have a strong academic record and show outstanding academic and professional promise.                                                                             

 

Alumni

Emily Wearing (PhD 2024, Schindler) received a ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award. This award is given in recognition of the most exceptional scholarly work produced by doctoral students at the University of Michigan who completed their dissertations in 2024. Her dissertation: Development of New Visible-Light-Mediated Methods to Access Azetidines and Azetines

 

Faculty Honors

Recently, Professors Zhan Chen and Anne McNeil gave their Inaugural College Lectures. Collegiate professorships are the highest academic award from the College of Literature, Arts and Science (LSA). Both have named their professorships after emerti faculty who served as mentors and inspirations to them. Chen is the Michael D. Morris Collegiate Professor of Chemistry, Macromolecular Science and Engineering, Biophysics, and Applied Physics. McNeil is the Carol A. Fierke Collegiate Professor of Chemistry, and a professor of Macromolecular Science and Engineering, and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor.

Charles McCrory was named the 2025 John Dewey Award winner for his ongoing commitment to the education of undergraduate students within the Department of Chemistry and beyond. In particular, the College Executive Committee notes his deep and sustained commitment to the instruction and improvement of Chem 130, an early STEM course taken by many students and one that is of exceptional importance to the college.

Ted Goodson was named a Chemical Pioneer Award winner by the American +Institute of Chemists. This award honors chemists, chemical engineers, or associates with outstanding contributions impacting chemical science, industry, and/or the chemical profession.

Nicolai Lenhert was awarded the Stanley C. Israel Award for Advancing Diversity in the Chemical Sciences from the regional section of the American Chemical Society. It includes a medal and $1000 grant.

Neil Marsh has been selected to be part of the University of Michigan 2025 Roads Scholar program in June.

Ginger Shultz was named an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor

Matt Soellner was named the 2025 winner of the Class of 1923 Memorial Teaching Award for outstanding teaching of undergraduates, which recognizes individuals whose achievements foretell a prolific career as a scholar, teacher, and mentor. In particular, the College Executive Committee notes Prof. Soellner's willingness to take on the challenge of working to improve student success in Chem 210 and for developing a new drug discovery course, with a focus on topics at the frontier of practice that lead students directly into careers in the discipline. 

Wenjing Wang has been named the Isabella Karle Collegiate Professor in the Life Sciences

 

Staff

Angie Cox and Nathalie Vandecan for their selection for the 2024 William H. McMullen Staff Award for Exceptional Service and Support

  • Angie serves as our Undergraduate Coordinator and is recognized for her exceptional support to our undergraduate student population and for going above and beyond to ensure our courses and labs are full by expertly managing our many waitlists.
  • Nathalie serves as the Soellner lab manager and is recognized for her exceptional service in the Soellner lab, including her work to coach, teach and mentor lab members, as well as her efforts to make the lab more sustainable 

Adrien Chauvier  received a  2025 Research Staff Leadership Recognition Award from the U-M Office of the Vice President for Research.  He is a research lab specialist in the Walter Lab.