Alumni

If you are a Graduate of the Worcester State College Chemistry Program please contact Dr. Alan Cooper.

We would like to hear from you.  We would appreciate your comments about the WebSite.

 

CHEMISTRY DEPARTMENT PICNIC

The Chemistry Department's annual "Welcome Back" Fall Picnic will be held Saturday, September 28th (2002) at 1:00 pm at Rutland State Park.  (Rain date Saturday, October 5, 2002.)

All WSC Chemistry Majors and Minors are welcome.  Chemistry Alumni are especially welcome.  Let's start the year off with some fun, socializing and volleyball.  The Chemistry Club and Faculty invite you, your families and significant others to join us for a barbecue.

For directions and further details contact Dr. Anne Falke.
e-mail:  afalke@worcester.edu

 

Congratulations Mark Siemaszko

The front page article 'Pied Piper' Teacher Motivates Students appeared in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette Monday, May 7, 2001.  The article highlights Mr. Siemaszko as the man behind the regional robotics crown.  Mr. Siemaszko is currently Science Department Chairman at Leominster High School.  The article goes on to describe Mark's accomplishments and innovations in science teaching.

          News from Bob Hart, Class of 1972

Dr. Cooper received an e-mail from Bob recently.
"I graduated from the Chemistry program at WSC in 1972. Was browsing the web and saw your request for contact with graduates of the program. Nice site. I was quite impressed with your photograph... the years have treated you well.  After graduation, I took a job with the US Food and Drug Administration. I am still with them (approaching 29 years!!)... although now working in Buffalo, NY. I am the Director of Import Operations Branch, responsible for the agency's review of 300,000+ entries of regulated articles (foods, drugs, medical devices, cosmetics, biologics) which enter Ports of Entry along the Northern Border of NY. I still use the science knowledge I learned at WSC on a daily basis, although a large proportion of my job deals with legal procedures dealing with enforcement of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. I also teach new hires at FDA's national training courses. Guess I should have taken some formal law courses as well. I married Rosemary Giroux in 1974... she was in that infamous biochemistry class as well. We have 3 sons, 25, 23, and 20. Rosemary teaches honors biology at a nearby high school."

 

Congratulations Steve Davis, Class of 1992

We heard from Steve Davis, Class of 1992 via an e-mail message on December 10, 2000.

Steve recently completed his doctoral work . We quote from his email message: "I received my Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences from the Food Science & Human Nutrition Department at the University of Florida. I enrolled in the program in August 1994 after spending two years as a general/organic chemistry laboratory supervisor at Holy Cross from 1992-1994. The title of my dissertation is "The Roles of Metallothionein Expression and Dietary Zinc in Zinc Metabolism and Cytoprotection in Metallothionein Transgenic and Metallothionein Knockout Mice". The project looked at two things: (1) the role of metallothionein expression (metallothionein is a zinc-binding protein) in zinc metabolism, and (2) the potential roles for supplemental dietary zinc and metallothionein expression in protection against oxidative stress. The project was a mix of nutrition, physiology, biochemistry and molecular biology. Some in vivo work, and some cell culture -- a fairly rounded experience. I recently accepted a postdoctoral reseach position studying the effects of dietary folate and vitamin B6 intake on one-carbon metabolism in people who do or do not carry a mutation for the gene encoding methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR). MTHFR is a folate- and B6-dependent enzyme that is responsible for converting homocysteine (an amino acid produced through one-carbon metabolism) back to methionine by methyl group donation. Homocysteine is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and its level in the blood increases with folate or vitamin-B6 deficiency. We are studying whether folate or B6 deficiency in combination with the MTHFR mutation results in even greater omocyteine levels, and which pathways are involved. We will use stable isotopically-labeled amino acids to study remethylation of homocysteine using GC-MS (positive chemical ionization).

Not much molecular here aside from genotype determinations (which I hope to delegate to someone else), but some chemistry, biochemistry and nutrition. I'm looking forward to the work.

I'm interested in hearing about the direction that the department is headed in these days, and how some of my old classmates are doing. Have you ever thought of putting together an alumni email directory for the department? It would give some of us grads a way to reconnect with others, and might give your current students a resource for their career plans. Just a thought.

Send me an email when you get a chance. Thanks, Steve Davis - WSC Class of 92!"

If you are an alumnus what do you think of Steve’s suggestions? Please let me know your thoughts on these matters. Alumni e-mail directory and alumni resource directory for current students as they plan their careers in chemistry. Please let me know and I’ll start keeping a list.

Thanks.

Dr. Cooper

 

DEPARTMENT PICNIC SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 24, 2000

The Chemistry Department held its Annual "Welcome Back" Picnic, September 24th,  at Rutland State Park.    A good time was had by all.  The volleyball matches were exciting.  WSC alumni who graduated as chemistry majors are especially welcome to the Department Picnics.  If you are in the area in September please let us know.  For further details including directions please contact either Dr. Anne Falke or Dr. Alan Cooper.


June 1, 2000.  In an e-mail Joe McNamara, Class of 1999, indicated he received his Masters degree in Polymer Science and Engineering at UMass Amherst.  He is now working on his Ph.D. degree.  His research project concerns polyelectrolytes and is part of the Chemistry Biology Interface program..   

Angela Zapata, Class of 1993, and Dennis Coughlin, Class of 1992, came by the Department May 23, 2000.  Angela recently received her Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from Tufts University.   Her doctoral thesis is entitled "Development and Performance Enhancement of a Capillary Microwave Induced Plasma Spectrometer for Gas Chromatographic Detection."  Dennis is entering his fourth year in the medical program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.    Angela and Dennis recently returned from a trip to Nepal.

Dennis Botelho, Chemistry Major, WSC Class of 1982 and his brother, Kevin Botelho, a WSC grad, Nursing, arrived unexpectedly at the Department Picnic held on September, 26, 1999 at Rutland State Park, much to the delight of the faculty members.   Dennis gave an impromptu talk to the undergraduates about the virtues of the chemistry major and life after graduation from college. Dr. Botelho earned his MD degree from the Ross University School of Medicine and is now practicing medicine in Rhode Island.

Sean McCarthy, Chemistry Major, WSC Class of 1999, is enrolled in the Ph.D. Program in Chemistry at the University of  Vermont.

Here is an announcement about one of our alumni that appeared in the Communique.

Dr. Reza Namin '82

1998 WSC Alumni Award

Dr. Cooper congratulating Dr. Namin 

Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Education:

Dr. Reza Namin '82 has an impressive career in the field of education, primarily promoting the teaching of math, science, and technology. Currently, he is the chair of Curriculum and Instruction, teacher of chemistry, IPS, at Ayer High School in Ayer, MA. Prior to that, he was the director of Information and Technology and a teacher of chemistry at Providence Country Day School in Rhode Island. At the University of Maine, he was a Visiting Scholar, professor of chemistry. For more than ten years he has shared his expertise as an adjunct instructor of chemistry and math at Worcester State College.

He continues to work as an educational consultant. Since 1995, he has worked with Harvard University's Project Zero, Teaching for Understanding, as well as served as a participant in Frontiers of Science Education funded by Tufts University and Wrights Foundation. He was nominated for the Presidential Award for Excellence in teaching Math and Science and for the Theodore William Richards Award for Excellence in Teaching Chemistry, United State Army Research, Natick, MA. He is serving on the National Assessment and Educational Standards Committee in Math, Science & Technology. He also contributed to the Mass Education Act of 1993 Reform Superintendent Advisory Board during 1995-1996.

Reza received his B.S., MEd., and CAGS from WSC. He received his Ph.D. in Mathematics and Science Education from Walden University in Minnesota and a Certificate of Advanced Studies in 3-D Geometric Modeling, Scientific Visualization at Brown University, Rhode Island. He also received Principal Certification at Mass School Principal Association in Marlboro, MA. He is an athlete and a scholar, having been inducted into the WSC Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995. He also was named New England Coach of the Year at Holy Cross College, NCAA, Div. 1 in 1991.

 

Here is an announcement about one of our alumni that appeared in the Communique.

Joseph McNamara

Joe McNamara is a recent graduate who is now in the graduate program in polymer science at the University of Massachusetts.  This article about Joe appeared in the Communique while Joe was still an undergraduate.

Joseph Edward McNamara, a WSC junior majoring in chemistry, was one of twelve individuals chosen nationally for a prestigious academic fellowship. McNamara's fellowship, valued in excess of $10,000, allows him to attend the '98 Summer School in Nuclear and Radiochemistry at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

As a recipient, McNamara will participate in a six-week school, from June 15 through July 24, 1998, on Long Island, NY. His studies will consist of both lecture and laboratory work on the fundamentals of nuclear science and its applications to nuclear medicine and related fields.

"Mr. McNamara will also have the opportunity to meet and interact with prominent research scientists working in nuclear and radiochemistry," said Professor Emeritus Joe Peterson, National Director of ACS Summer Schools in Nuclear and Radiochemistry. "He will be encouraged to join a research project during the following summer at a university or federal research institution. He will receive considerable personal assistance in securing summer research positions and admission to Ph.D. or M.D. programs in nuclear science at leading universities."

"This is a great opportunity for me," said McNamara. "I am considering going to medical school and I'm interested in nuclear medicine, working with biomedical imaging systems. I will also be looking at some graduate programs in medical physics."

"We're very pleased that Joe won," said Dr. Alan Cooper, professor of chemistry and Joseph McNamara's advisor. "He is an outstanding student and we're pleased that he chose chemistry as a major. I know this will be a positive influence on him and help him with his career goals. He would then join other successful WSC students who have gone on to medical or graduate school."

McNamara is the son of Joseph McNamara Sr. a local contractor, and Ruth Siebert from Southwick. He graduated from Worcester Academy in 1984. He has been working in the residential construction field for over ten years. He transferred to WSC last year as a sophomore.

ACS Summer Schools in Nuclear and Radiochemistry was founded by the Division of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology of the American Chemical Society (ACS) as an educational outreach activity to promote interest in nuclear science and to provide trained personnel to meet national needs in nuclear research, the nuclear power industry, nuclear medicine and radiopharmaceuticals and the federally funded national laboratories. The fellowship includes transportation to and from the school, room and board, books, laboratory supplies, and the costs of instruction and tuition fort he six units of transferable college credit awarded through the ACS accredited chemistry program at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Funding is provided by the U.S. Department of Energy and administered through the ACS.

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