2001 - California State University, Long Beach Department of ...

Fall 2001 • Number 26Join the FacultyPhoto by Victoria SanchezDr. StephenMezykDr. Stephen Mezyk comes tous by way of the University ofNorth Carolina at Wilmingtonwhere he was research associateprofessor. He received his BSc andPhD in Chemistry, both from theUniversity of Melbourne, Australia.Following completion of hisPhD he was a postdoctoral fellowat the University of Calgary, Canada,the University of Saskatchewan,Canada and Notre Dame University.Prior to taking the position atUNC Wilmington he was a researchscientist for eight yearswith Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.While withthe AEChe investgatedthefree radicalchemistryofiodinecontainingcompoundsinwater, the supercritical fluid radiolysisof perfluorocarbons andwater, and studied aqueous corrosionchemistry.During his appointment at UNCWilmington he taught courses inspectroscopy and kinetics, advancedquantitative chemical analysis anda general chemistry course.He has received funding totalingover $1.3 million to supporthis research activities during hisscientific career. Dr. Mezyk hashad over 40 publications appear inscientific journals such as J. Phys.Chem., Can. J. Chem. and J. Chem.Soc. Faraday Trans.When asked what attracted himto Cal State Long Beach, he said,“I felt [the department offered] anexcellent opportunity for me topursue my research goals of doingbasic physical/analytical chemistrystudies in support of important environmentalproblems, while stillallowing me to enjoy undergraduateteaching. I wanted to be ableto do collaborative work withestablished scientists in a departmentthat had the equipment resourcesthat I require. And, havingtraveled extensively around NorthAmerica, I really liked the idea ofbeing located near a major citywith a climate that one couldenjoy all year round.”Dr. ChristopherR. BrazierDr. Christopher R. Brazierjoined the tenure-track faculty inthe area of physical chemistry thisfall. Dr. Brazier received his BScDegree (1st Class Honors) inChemistry with an emphasis inmathematics at the University ofSouthampton, Southampton, Englandand his PhD in Chemistry,also at the University of Southampton.His thesis work involved thespectroscopy of gas phase free radicals.Following receipt of the doctorate,he served as a postdoctoralresearch associate and researchscientist at the University of Arizonawhere he performed extensiveresearch on the chemistry andlaser spectroscopy of alkaline earthorganometallic free radicals, helpingto establish a new field of gasphase inorganic chemistry. Dr. Braziercomes to us directly from CSUSan Bernardino where he servedas a full-time lecturer for threeyears in the Department of Chemistryand was responsible forteaching beginning chemistrycourses, quantitative analysis, instrumentalanalysis and a numberof general education courses inchemistry. Prior to his appointmentat CSUSB he was a researchscientist at Hughes STX, PhillipsLaboratory at Edwards Air ForceBase where he studied rocket fuelchemistry and technology. He observedthe AlC molecule for thefirst time through spectroscopicmeans. He plans to pursue his interestin spectroscopic techniquesto determine properties of smallmolecules.Dr. Brazier is the author of 45articles published in professionaljournals and has given 41 presentationsat scientific meetings.Dr. Brazier states, “I have beenteaching in the CSU system forfour years now and really appreciatethe wide variety of studentsthe system attracts. At Long BeachI am looking forward to workingwith graduate students and educatingthe next generation of chemistryresearchers for academe orindustry. I consider it a privilegeto help educate some of the bestand brightest students being recruitedthrough the President’sScholars program.” ■Faculty and StaffDr. Stephen Mezyk (at left) andDr. Christopher BrazierContinued from page 6lished a research collaborationwith Dr. Marcin Majda from theUniversity of California, Berkeley.We will investigate the propertiesof phospholipid monolayers and bilayerson solid substrates. We havereceived an ACS-PRF grant for thiscollaboration. In the fall I will alsostart collaborating with Dr. ChristopherChidsey from Stanford University.My lab will investigate theelectronic conductivity of molecularwires synthesized by Dr. Chidsey.I have written three researchproposals: for the ACS-PRF, theResearch Corp. and the DreyfusFoundation. I am extremely gratefulto Dean Glenn Nagel and ChairNail Senozan for constant supportand help in these activities.In January I attended the GordonResearch Conference on Electrochemistryin Ventura and presenteda poster concerning the tunnelingjunction method. In the fall of2001 I will attend two additionalconferences and will present aninvited lecture at the Symposiumon Interfacial Electron Transfer (apart of the American Chemical Societymeeting in Chicago). I willalso present my research results atthe 200th meeting of The ElectrochemicalSociety in San Franciscoin September of 2001. In addition,I was invited to serve as a co-chair(with Dr. K. Kolb from the Universityof Ulm) of the session titled“Electrochemical Surface Scienceand Thin Organic Films.”I really enjoyed teaching Chem251 (Quantitative Analysis) thisspring. We are working with Dr.Dennis Anjo to add some new experimentsto the Chem 251 Laboratoryand to develop a computerlab experiment in statistical analysisof experimental data. I alsocontributed a small section to Dr.Ken Nakayama’s NSF proposalfor the purchase of an NMR upgrade.This fall I will be busy developingand teaching a completelynew graduate course in electrochemistry.In addition to the above activities,I serve as a peer reviewer fortwo international journals: Langmuirand the Journal of ElectroanalyticalChemistry.Ximeng WangI am a visiting lecturer assigned toteach Chemistry 111B and also todo research with Dr. Lijuan Li. Iam supervising four students involvedin research in her laboratory.My work is on “The NovelSystem Displaying Metal-Metal Interactionsand Electron Transfer ina Molecular Wire” and “Synthesis,X-ray Crystal Structure and Propertiesof Fe(NO) 2 L 2 (L = imidazoleor 5,6-dimethylbenzimidazole),Implications for Nitrosyl Non-Heme-Iron Complexes.”I formerly worked at Kent StateUniversity in Ohio; Clark AtlantaUniversity in Atlanta, Ga; Universityof Bristol in the UK; and Universityof Hong Kong. ■7FacultyE-mail AddressesShould you wish to correspond with Chemistry/Biochemistryfaculty, their e-mail addresses are listed for your use.They would be happy to hear from you.Roger Acey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .racey@csulb.eduDennis Anjo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .danjo@csulb.eduPeter Baine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pbaine@csulb.eduRoger Bauer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .rbauer@csulb.eduStuart Berryhill . . . . . . . . . . . . .sberryhi@csulb.eduChristopher Brazier . . . . . . . . . . .cbrazier@csulb.eduPaul Buonora . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pbuonora@csulb.eduJeffrey Cohlberg . . . . . . . . . . . . .cohlberg@csulb.eduDorothy Goldish . . . . . . . . . . . . .goldish@csulb.eduEdwin Harris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .eharris@csulb.eduLijuan Li . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .lli@csulb.eduRobert Loeschen . . . . . . . . . . . . .loeschen@csulb.eduMarco Lopez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .lopezm@csulb.eduTom Maricich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .tmaricic@csulb.eduKen Marsi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .kmarsi@csulb.eduStephen Mezyk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .smezyk@csulb.eduKen Nakayama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .nakayama@csulb.eduDouglas McAbee . . . . . . . . . . . . . .dmcabee@csulb.eduMargaret Merryfield . . . . . . . . . .mmerry@csulb.eduHenry Po . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .hppo@csulb.eduNail Senozan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .nsenozan@csulb.eduKrzysztof Slowinski . . . . . . . . . .nkslowin@csulb.edu