On November 1, 2024, Dr. Timothy Wencewicz, Professor of Chemistry at Washington University, was selected as the 54th annual St. Louis Section ACS Awardee. The award was given to Wencewicz for his outstanding contributions to the chemistry profession and potential to advance the chemical profession. The symposium, organized by Wencewicz and Dr. Jen Heemstra, focused on “Making and Breaking Antibiotics: Nature’s Way.” Dr. James Bashkin, Chair Elect of the St. Louis Section of the ACS, introduced Wencewicz’s scientific, teaching, departmental, university, and outreach activities. He gave a talk on “Antibiotics and Enchanted Rings,” discussing the role of unique types of rings in antibiotic action. Dr. Gautam Dantas, Conan Professor of Laboratory and Genomic Medicine, and Dr. Andrew Gulick discussed “Understanding, Predicting, and Combating Antibiotic Resistance Evolution Across Diverse Habitats.” The symposium concluded with a talk by Dr. Paul Hergenrother on “How to develop new antibiotics for drug-resistant infections.”
Photos from the symposium. Left: Symposium Participants: Andrew Gulick, James Bashkin, Tim Wencewicz, Jen Heemstra, Paul Hergenrother and Gautam Dantas Right: audience members at coffee break. (Photos courtesy of James O’Brien).
A symposium was held at the Glen Echo Country Club, attended by over fifty guests. The banquet began with an open wine and beer bar hour, featuring appetizers like candied bacon. Dr. James Bashkin, chair of the St. Louis ACS Section, introduced Dr. Wencewicz and his wife Rachel, and their children, Grace and Lucy. Dr. Bashkin thanked the speakers and introduced elected members of the local section and former St. Louis Section ACS award winners.
Dr. Wencewicz presented his award talk, “Whither Antibiotics,” detailing the battle between antibiotics and antibiotic resistance organisms. He shared the story of how beer may have saved early civilization due to the presence of the powerful antibiotic tetracycline, which must have come from a contaminating organism. Dr. Wencewicz’s career began at Southeast Missouri State University, where he obtained a BS degree in Chemistry and Applied Mathematics. He then obtained a PhD from the University of Notre Dame, inspired by Professor Marvin J. Miller. He was able to convince Professor Chris Walsh at Harvard Medical School to take him on as his last postdoc to study natural product biosynthesis and antibiotic resistance before starting his career at Washington University.
Dr. Bashkin thanked everyone for attending and the staff and chef of the Glen Echo Country Club for the fine service and dinner. Many stayed on to reminisce long after the event.
Photos from the Banquet. Top. Left. Tim Wencewicz accepting award from St. Louis Section Chair James Bashkin. Right. Former students Dr. Erin Gemmell and Dr. Luting Fang. Middle. Left. Dr. Wencewicz presenting his talk on “Whither Antibiotics?” Right. Attendees attentively listening to Dr. Wencewicz’s presentation, including family members, friends, speakers, students and local section members. Bottom. Left: Dr. Wencewicz with group members and other students from the Washington University Department of Chemistry. From left to right: Steven Le, Prasanth Thota, Weina Cheng, Carlos Bean Chavez, Kavya Rokkam, Eyob Tewelde, Tim Wencewicz, Adam Balutowski, Anika Chand, Ruihao Li, Savannah Scruggs, Evan Schultheis. Photos courtesy of James O’Brien.
“Computers and the physics of complex biological systems”
