St Louis Award festivities: symp and sup

Keith Stine, 2017 St Louis Awardee, receives award plaque from Natalie LaFranzo

The symposium arranged around Dr Stine’s research on Nanoscale Materials: Synthesis and Analysis was held on the afternoon of Friday, September 29th at the University of Missouri–St Louis. Section Chair Natalie LaFranzo opened the event with a summary of the Section’s recent activities and successes. She was followed by Prof Cynthia Dupureur, Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, who introduced Prof Stine. Keith talked about his work on the development of nanoporous gold for analytical and synthetic applications. Invited symposium speakers followed:

• Yinfa Ma, Missouri Institute of Science and Technology, spoke on the development of single-cell pH probes to investigate the cytotoxicity of nanomaterials
• Alexei Demchenko, a colleague and collaborator of Prof Stine, gave a talk on stereocontrolled glycosylation reactions and automated oligosaccharide synthesis
• Julio D’Arcy, Washington University, spoke on droplet-assisted vapor-phase polymer synthesis of conducting nanomaterials

The symposium was well attended by both University of Missouri faculty and students, along with some members of local industry and other universities. The symposium was closed by Dr. Dupureur, who directed everyone to the Chancellor’s house for a fantastic one-hour open-bar reception with appetizers.

The Award Banquet was held immediately after the reception at the Glen Echo Country Club. Section Chair Natalie LaFranzo welcomed everyone and introduced the honoree, Dr Stine, along with the symposium speakers, section officers and former St Louis Award winners who were present. Also attending was the Chancellor of the University of Missouri–St Louis, Professor of Chemistry Thomas George with his wife, Curators’ Professor of Music Barbara Harbach, who had hosted the reception after the symposium.

The attendees then proceeded to consume an excellent meal, after which Dr LaFranzo introduced UMSL Professor Emeritus Lol Barton, who commended the awardee with a glowing tribute. Dr Stine was presented with a plaque and the award check for $1,500. Keith talked briefly, at a more general audience level, on Life in Two Dimensions: Adventures in Surface Chemistry. The talk described his work on the assembly and properties of lipid bilayers and on the preparation and uses of porous gold for biotechnological applications. A very successful and entertaining evening was enjoyed by all.