The University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Department of Chemistry held its annual Student Awards Ceremony on Thursday, April 24, 2025, celebrating more than 150 undergraduate and graduate students. Because of generous donations from many benefactors, the Department of Chemistry awarded $422,974 in student support and research scholarships. Individual recipients were granted between $250 and $10,000 in scholarship awards. A full listing of award winners can be found in our online program.
Professor JR Schmidt, associate chair for the undergraduate program, noted that these awards were made possible by donations to the Department of Chemistry. “We are fortunate to have such strong support for our students and their pursuits in research,” explained Professor Schmidt.
Ten undergraduate students were awarded summer scholarships, primarily to support research. Thirty-four undergraduate students received scholarships for support during the academic year. Undergraduate research at the Department of Chemistry is a growing program and 130 undergraduate chemistry students are participating in research this year.
Additional undergraduate awards, presented by Lecture Demonstrator Jim Maynard and Instructor and Instructional Coordinator Liana Lamont include the Alpha Chi Sigma Alumni Endowed Scholarship intended to support undergraduate students in chemistry, biochemistry, and chemical engineering at the UW–Madison, American Chemical Society local and national awards, The Lindsey T. Plank and Richard H. Putze Memorial Scholarship for students involved in chemical demonstrations, and the Stephen D. Morton Research Award for mentorship. At the campus level, nine undergraduate chemistry students earned Hilldale Undergraduate/Faculty Research Fellowships, and four undergraduate chemistry students earned Sophomore Research Fellowships. One chemistry undergraduate student one the Barry Goldwater Scholarship.
Professor Bob Hamers granted 29 Department of Chemistry graduate students fellowships or scholarships for student support or research. Seven graduate students earned Graduate Research Excellence Awards funded by the generous support of Wayland E. Noland and Charles P. and Martha L. Casey.
Ten fall 2024 Pei Wang Fellowship recipients were also recognized at the spring event, along with the Charles P. and Martha L. Casey Award for Inorganic Recruits and awardees of the Belle Crowe Fellowship.
Becca Fenselau, co-president of the Graduate Student Faculty Liaison Committee (GSFLC), named the winners of their GSFLC Mentor Award. This award was given to 11 graduate students, five post-doctoral researchers, and two faculty/staff members.
The spring awards are coordinated by the Undergraduate Fellowships and Scholarships Committee which includes Thomas Brunold and Pamela Doolittle (co-chairs of the Undergraduate Fellowships and Scholarships Committee), Liana Lamont, Susan Schueneman, Bryan Wakefield, Mark Wendt, Katie McCullough, JR Schmidt (chair of the undergraduate program) Additional reviewers were Jeff Bartz, Stephen Block, Rie Takagi Fredrickson, Heike Hofstetter, Zoe Todd, and Tina Wang. The graduate awards are coordinated by the Graduate Program Oversight Committee, which includes Tehshik Yoon (associate chair of the graduate program), Francisca Jofre, John Berry, Etienne Garand, Robert Hamers, Song Jin, Sam Pazicni, and AJ Boydston. Project and event support was provided by Kayla Driscoll, Patrick Egan, Erin Hale, Kimberly Hazen, Maddy Henkel, Andrew Hinz, Laura Reade, Becca Moy, and Rosemary Wonnell.