Dear Alumni,

Where did the time go? It seems like I just wrote to you last week but here it is another year later and it has been an exciting one for the Department. As you will read inside the newsletter, the Department was privileged to honor "The Magnificent (Los Alamos) Six" in portraits and to host a very special unveiling ceremony held September 8, 2005. Early that afternoon, my wife, Brenda, Karen Klein, and I hosted a luncheon for the portrait recipients and their families at the Whittemore House. The luncheon allowed the portrait recipients and their families to reconnect in a private setting. It also provided them the opportunity to meet the artist (Gilbert Early) and learn how he went about the process of painting the portraits from photographs. The portraits have been hung outside the great lecture hall in the Arts & Sciences Laboratory Science Building where they will be viewed by thousands of students each year. The center page of this newsletter has color pictures of the portraits and of many of the participants at the luncheon and reception.

Last fall the Department searched for a Physical Chemist to join our ranks. Professors Dewey Holten and Peter Gaspar co-chaired this search, which resulted in over 200 applications. I'm very pleased to report that we successfully recruited Richard Mabbs who joined the Department July 1, 2005. I'm also pleased to note that Richard Loomis received a promotion to Associate Professor with tenure effectively July 1, 2005. For the last couple of years Rich, as chair of the graduate recruitment committee, has devoted a lot of time to successful graduate recruitment for the Department.

Currently the Department is in search mode again as we, in collaboration with the Biology Department, are conducting a joint search for a new faculty member whose research is at the chemistry/biology interface. Professor Kevin Moeller is heading the search team. The successful candidate will hold positions in both the Biology and Chemistry Departments in Arts and Sciences, and will be instrumental in fostering new interactions between the two departments. We anticipate that relationships with the Donald Danforth Plant Sciences Center, the Biomedical Engineering Department, and the School of Medicine will be strengthened by this appointment.

The Department continues to renovate and outfit space to provide for the research needs of our faculty. A portion of the shell space on the 4th floor of the Arts & Sciences Laboratory Science Building is in the final stage of a 7500 square feet, $2,500,000 renovation for Professors John Taylor and Joshua Maurer. The project, to be completed in November 2005, creates state-of-the-art biological chemistry laboratories. The project includes 1170 square feet of shared space, 2850 square feet of space for John Taylor, and 1690 square foot of space for Joshua Maurer. The Taylor space will include an isotope lab, biochemistry lab, bacteriology lab, synthetic chemistry lab, a tissue culture lab, and student office space. The Maurer labs will include a synthetic chemistry lab, biochemistry lab, tissue culture lab, bilayer electrophysiology lab, a clean room, and student office space. Shared facilities include a microscopy lab, a cold room, conference room, administrative office, and faculty offices.

Renovation of portions of the George McMillen Laboratory on the 2nd and 3rd levels is expected to begin by the end of the year, and is expected to cost nearly $1,000,000. The work will include rooms 202, 203, and 303, comprising an area of roughly 2700 square feet. The new laboratories will house state-of-the art laser instrumentation for professors Richard Loomis for Richard Mabbs.

I look out my window this early fall afternoon, the view has changed. A new Environmental Health and Safety building is nearly completed, replacing the trailer that has for years housed the campus contract post office. But more exciting, the view suggests that the MetroLink light rail construction along Forest Park Blvd (aka Millbrook), is slowly creeping toward completion in 2006. This will be an event for celebration.

Finally, this Alumni Newsletter is your forum to communicate not only with us and we do want to hear from you, but also with each other. Drop us a line and let us know how you are and what you are doing since you left the Department. Send us suggestions of things you would like to see in the alumni issue. Karen Klein, our editor, saves each email or note she receives and includes the information in the next alumni newsletter issue. We invite you to stuff her mailbox (karen@wustl.edu) and we promise that we will share the information in the next issue with your friends. We are striving to expand this communication but will only succeed with your assistance. If you have internet capabilities, check out the Department's home page at www.chemistry.wustl.edu where you will find links to the faculty, facilities, courses, resources, bi-yearly Department Newsletters, electronic mail, and so much more including many helpful links to other science resources. Go Cards!

Sincerely,

Joseph J.H. Ackerman

William Greenleaf Eliot Professor and Chair