The College of Science is excited to join the UNT Department of Chemistry in celebrating our Spring 2020 Honors Award recipients.

Robert Wade Brown Award for Service to the Chemistry Department:
Rachel Fischer, Senior in Biochemistry and Forensic Science Certificate
Rachel is always up for a challenge or volunteer task. In addition to performing research in Dr. Bill Acree's lab for 2 years, she has graciously given much of her time to the department and its associated programs.

Matthew Tienmann, Graduate Student
During his four years at UNT, Matt has become the "go to" student whenever faculty, staff and students need help. The selfless generosity of his time and dedication to helping others made him the outstanding choice for the award for Service to the Department.

Herman & Clota Vaughan Award:
Julia Kitchen, Sophomore
Julia's dedication to her classes and involvement in Department activities is indeed OUTSTANDING!

J.L. Carrico Award:
Makayla Williams, Senior
This is the department's oldest and most prestigious award, given for outstanding performance by a senior Chemistry major. We are proud of Makayla's dedication and hard work to achieve her degree!

Paola Woo, Senior
Paola is much deserving of the department's oldest and most prestigious award! She has exemplified outstanding performance by a senior Chemistry major during her education at UNT.

James J. and Ruth I. Spurlock Scholarship Award:
Imesha Weligamage De Silva, Graduate Student
Imesha has received the award for Outstanding Research Achievement! Facing the challenges of research with good humor, she is skilled in solving issues with her colleagues and making strides forward in her field.

R.B. Escue Chemistry Education Research Scholarship:
Fatima Anwar, Graduate Student
Fatima has gone above and beyond this semester in modifying and creating course content so that it could be readily grasped by students during this uncertain time. She truly exemplifies an outstanding emphasis in teaching.

Jose Cortes Vazquez, Graduate Student
Jose is a patient, prepared and dedicated educator. He takes the time to work through each lab himself before executing it as a TA for his section. Students in Jose's section have flourished under his direction! We are thankful for his contribution to our Department.

Ed and Julia Hodges Memorial Scholarship:
Emmett Leddin, Graduate Student
This scholarship recognizes students for outstanding academic endeavors, with a focus upon research accomplishments. Emmett's computational chemistry research on enzymes have been published three times in the past two years at UNT, as well as being presented at several local and national conferences.

Ting Han, Graduate Student
First year student, Ting, received the Hodges Memorial Award for outstanding academic endeavors, focusing on research accomplishments. His research in organic synthesis has led to several published papers and three patent applications in China. We look forward to all that he will accomplish during his time at UNT.

Austen Moss, Graduate Student
Austen's passion for organic materials research has led to several publications, presentations and projects during his time in the Department. His goal is to continue to address current alternative energy and materials research issues while advancing the next generation to enter STEM fields.

George Vaughan Memorial Award:
Tengteng Lyu, Graduate Student
Tengteng has received an award given to the outstanding first year student in the department! Her passion to teach, her interest in research and dedication to excellence in all things has been apparent over the last year.

Tina Mewhinney Scholarship for Ph.D. Studies in Chemistry Education:
Melissa Collini, Graduate Student
Melissa is pursuing research in Chemistry Education regarding attitudes and misconception in organic chemistry. Her desire to foster an interest in chemistry and to make it accessible to anyone inspired her to create one of the top-ranked chemistry podcasts in the United States.

John A. Altermann and Katherine M. Bradford Scholarship:
Erik Vazquez Montelongo
This award is for overall achievement within the Department. Graduating this spring, Erik produced numerous publications and presentations, contributed significant content to his research field, and mentored numerous students during his time at UNT.

Departmental Seminar Day Award Winners

First Place, Third Year Talks:
Mark Hix, Graduate Student
E.H. Nisala Fernando, Graduate Student
Emmett Leddin, Graduate Student
Austin Moss, Graduate Student

Second Place, Third Year Talks:
Camila Anguiano Virgen, Graduate Student
Ashish Shivaji Salunke, Graduate Student
Adaeze Osonkie, Graduate Student
Jacob Fripp, Graduate Student

We invite all members of the UNT community to follow along as we celebrate the academic accomplishments of our students on Twitter via @UNTscience or #COSHonors2020!

Many have asked how they can help us support our community during these challenging times, so the university created a fund to help students who have immediate and pressing needs related to COVID-19. You can make a gift to the fund at http://one.unt.edu/untcares.

If you're a UNT student who needs financial support, apply here: https://www.unt.edu/staygreen