LVACS Organic Chemistry Scholarship

The Lehigh Valley Section of the American Chemical Society’s Scholarship for Organic Chemistry Competition takes place on Saturday April 30, at Cedar Crest College, 100 College Drive, Allentown, PA, 18104, 9:00 AM-10:30 AM in Alumni Hall, room 212. The competition entails taking the ACS Organic Chemistry Examination (50%), a letter of recommendation from the student’s organic chemistry professor (10%), and an essay on a topic in organic chemistry (40%). The value of the scholarship is $1000. Additionally the top essay will receive $100. Details for the letter and the essay follow below. The student should be below the junior level currently enrolled in organic chemistry attending college at an institution in the section. The student also must be a chemistry biochemistry or chemical engineering major. Students should indicate their interest in the scholarship in advance to Julie B. Ealy or Carol Libby at the addresses below.

Julie B. Ealy

Penn State University

8380 Mohr Lane, Academic Building

Fogelsville, PA 18051

Email: jbe10@psu.edu

           Carol Baker Libby, Ph. D.

Department of Chemistry
Moravian College
1200 Main Street
Bethlehem, PA 18018

Email: cblibby@cs.moravian.edu

Letters of Recommendation.

When writing a letter of recommendation on behalf of a student who is applying for Lehigh Valley ACS Scholarship, please speak to the student’s skills in lecture and laboratory from Organic Chemistry I and Organic Chemistry II. In addition to performance on written exams and a course grade for Organic Chemistry I, it would be helpful to comment on the student’s proficiency in organic lab and his or her participation in recitations. We would also like, if possible, the letter to address the students’ quantitative skills by commenting on their performance in quantitative analysis or its local equivalent. Please place your letter of recommendation in a sealed plain envelope and place your signature over the seal. The student will be required to bring the sealed letter to the ACS Organic Chemistry Standardized Exam on April 30, 2004.

Essays.

              The student should choose a molecule, a group of molecules or a process in organic chemistry. The essay should address the development of the molecule or process including its synthesis or structural elucidation for a molecule or a representative molecule of a group or a number or examples and mechanism for a process. Judicious use of structures is expected. The essay should address the impact of the molecule or process on society, and the student’s personal interest in the process or molecule. The essay should run approximately 3 pages ± a quarter page of text not including figures in times new roman 12 point font or equivalent with 1 inch margins on all sides. The students name a brief title and page number should appear in the header of each page. An additional page with references should be included. References should be presented as end notes according to the style of the Journal of Biological chemistry (See http://www.jbc.org/misc/ifora.shtml).

           The essay will be rated on:

·Ease of reading, including grammar, spelling, and logical flow of the material, 20%

·Appropriate depth of coverage on the development of the molecule 40 %,

· Appropriate depth of coverage on the impact on society and student’s interest. 30 %

·Appropriate use of references 10%

·Adherence to the formatting rules provided. 5%