Stanley C. Israel Award for Advancing Diversity in the Chemical Sciences

The Stanley C. Israel Regional Award recognizes individuals and/or institutions who have advanced diversity in the chemical sciences and significantly stimulated or fostered activities that promote inclusiveness within the region. The award consists of a medal and a $1,000 grant to support and further the activities for which the award was made. The award also will include funding to cover the recipient’s travel expenses to the ACS regional meeting at which the award will be presented. Nominees may come from academia, industry, government, or independent entities, and may also be organizations, including ACS Local Sections and Divisions. The nominee must have created and fostered ongoing programs or activities that result in increased numbers of persons from diverse and underrepresented minority groups, persons with disabilities, or women who participate in the chemical enterprise.

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Awards Archive

Central ACS Region

  • 2019: Rebecca Roesner, Chair and Professor of Chemistry at Illinois Wesleyan University, was honored for her work furthering diversity and promoting inclusivity.
  • 2017: Cory Valente, Research and Development and Strategic Recruiting and Research Assignments Program leader, The Dow Chemical Company “Through his tireless passion and leadership, Cory has personally enabled a more open and inclusive culture at Dow, and elevated Dow’s advocacy efforts across both state and federal legislation for LGBT colleagues and citizens,” said Howard Ungerleider, vice chairman and chief financial officer for Dow and executive sponsor of GLAD. “He truly leads by example, setting the standard for others to emulate.”
  • 2016: Judson Haynes and Thomas H Lane
  • 2014: Amanda C. Bryant-Friedrich, University of Toledo
  • 2011: Pratibha Varma-Nelson, Professor of Chemistry and the founding executive director of the STEM Education Innovation and Research Institute (SEIRI) at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)
  • 2008: Susan Olesik, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Ohio State University

Great Lakes ACS Region

  • 2017: Jean Chmielewski, Professor of Chemistry and Bio Medical Engineering, Purdue University
  • 2011: Department of Chemistry and Physics, Chicago State University, The CSU Department of Chemistry and Physics was awarded the Stanley C. Israel Award by the American Chemical Society in recognition for institutions that have advanced diversity in the chemical sciences.

Mid-Atlantic ACS Region

  • 2018: Paris Svornonos, Chemistry Professor, Queensborough Community College
  • 2017: City University of New York, PhD Program in Chemistry
  • 2016: St. Johns University
  • 2012: Marilyn D. Gorman, a career high school chemistry teacher in predominantly urban districts, has stimulated and fostered activities that promote inclusiveness within and outside the classroom.
  • 2010: Luis A. Colón, Department of Chemistry at the State University of New York, Buffalo, Colón was honored for his efforts to increase the participation of underrepresented students in the chemical sciences. At SUNY Buffalo, Colón recruited and mentored a large number of Hispanic chemistry students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. He has also served as a mentor for the ACS Scholars Program and the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Program
  • 2008: Chemistry Department at Queensborough Community College of CUNY
  • 2005: Susan Fahrenholtz, North Jersey Section of the ACS

Midwest ACS Region

  • 2017: Jason Keleher, Department of Chemistry at Lewis University
  • 2014: Javier Vela, Iowa State University, has actively recruited minority and under-represented students including women, African Americans, Hispanics and Latinos/as. Vela’s diversity efforts include establishing a Project SEED chapter at Iowa State University.
  • 2013: Hope College Department of Chemistry
  • 2011: Alexa Serfis, Professor and Associate Chair of Chemistry at Saint Louis University

Northeast ACS Region

  • 2019: Reginald Rogers, Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical, Biological, and Chemical Engineering at the University of Missouri, is very committed to his students, field, and profession. His attention to inclusivity and improving the learning experience (in the classroom and laboratory) for all students is remarkable. Further, he is truly a teacher-scholar (and demonstrates how teaching informs research and vice versa) and has an intense commitment to student success, especially those students who are from underrepresented populations. He possesses a natural ability to tailor the teaching/learning of his students and he masterfully mentors them while being their biggest “cheerleader”. He has been actively engaged in advancing the success of underrepresented students through mentoring in the classroom, in the laboratory, and through student organizations. He has mentored at least five underrepresented minority students in his research activities over the past four years. These students have walked away gaining significant insight into the water and battery research that Dr. Rogers currently studies and its impact on society (and these students have much greater confidence and awareness as they approach the next stage of their education or begin careers). One of the greatest things about Dr. Rogers, though, is his desire to make Rochester Institute of Technology truly inclusive and serve “all” students (and faculty members, for that matter).
  • 2016: Mindy Levine, Associate Professor, University of Rhode Island.
  • 2012: Annemarie Ross, assistant professor at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology, champion of diversifying the chemical sciences. She has served as a role model for hundreds of students with disabilities whom she has helped pursue successful careers in chemistry, expert in the area of educating students with disabilities.
  • 2008: Todd Pagano, Professor of Chemistry at Rochester Institute of Technology

Northwest ACS Region

  • 2020: Marilyn Rampersad Mackiewicz, Assistant professor at Oregon State University.
  • 2019: Heritage University, Heritage University is a small university in Toppenish, Washington, with a highly diverse student population, serving 1,010 total degree-seeking students, with 70% Hispanic/Latinx and 11% American Indian or Alaska Native. It is Washington state’s only university to be designated a Hispanic-Serving Institution. Over the past eight years, Heritage University’s Department of Natural Science has invigorated its chemistry degree program, already producing four alumni, two in doctoral chemistry programs, one in a master’s teaching program, and one in pharmacy school.
  • 2016: Lawrence Duffy, a veteran chemical scientist and educator, a long time Fellow of The American Institute of Chemists, and an active member of the Editorial Review Board of The Chemist
  • 2014: J. B Alexander (Sandy) Ross, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Montana
  • 2010: Ralph Young of Washington State University won the Stanley C. Israel Regional Award for Advancing Diversity in the Chemical Sciences. Young, a member of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, was honored for his efforts and success in reaching out to the Native American community to increase the visibility of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and the participation of this group in the STEM enterprise.

Rocky Mountain ACS Region

  • 2019: Bernadette A Hernandez-Sanchez
  • 2017: Sandra Bonetti, chemistry Professor at University of Colorado at Pueblo
  • 2012: Rosemarie Depoy Walker Dr. Walker, Assistant Professor of Chemistry at MSU Denver, is the Principal Investigator and Director of the STEPS (Strides Toward Encouraging Professions in Science) program, a major National Institute of Health (NIH) Bridges to the Baccalaureate grant that has been operational since 1998 with awards totaling over $2.4 million. STEPS seeks to encourage and support underrepresented minority students from two-year colleges to persist in their education, transfer to four-year colleges in majors related to biomedical sciences, and to eventually enter careers in biomedical research. The STEPS program has played a role in MSU Denver’s success in improving the transfer rate of minority students, as well as improving the number of minority students majoring in Biology and Chemistry.
  • 2008: Maria Teresa Velez, Professor at University of Arizona

Southeastern ACS Region

  • 2018: Rigoberto Hernandez, Gompf Family Professor of Chemistry & Diversity Champion, John Hopkins University
  • 2017: Zaida Morales-Martinez, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, Florida International University
  • 2016: Gina MacDonald, Professor of Chemistry at James Madison University cares deeply about educating non-science students and in diversifying the science community. As a testimony to her commitment, over time, she has worked with a very diverse group of students in her laboratory.
  • 2015: University of Mississippi Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry was recognized for its longstanding efforts to increase participation of women and underrepresented minorities in chemistry. Of particular note was the recent hiring of the Department’s first African-American woman as an Assistant Professor in 2014, and the hiring of recent African-American graduates, Dr. Margo Montgomery-Richardson and Dr. Shana Stoddard, as Assistant Professors at Alcorn State University and Rhodes College, respectively. Also, five African-American students and one Hispanic Ph.D. student, three of whom are women, earned their chemistry doctorates from the department over a one year period during 2012-2013. The department also has a student awards celebration, which, in 2015 alone, recognized 32 female undergraduate chemistry students.
  • 2014: Dr. J. Vincent. Ortiz, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Auburn University was recognized for fostering a strong relationship between Auburn University and the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemist and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE). These efforts include founding of a student chapter of NOBCChE and service as its advisor, the establishment and renewal of an ongoing Technology-Education partnership with the national organization, and the hosting of NOBCChE’s 2011 Southeast/Southwest Regional Meeting, which set records for attendance and participation. Prof. Ortiz has also promoted diversity with the chemical sciences through a collaborative agreement with the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Iztapalapa that has led to a mutually beneficial exchange of ideas and personnel.
  • 2013: Daniel Rabinovitch Dan Rabinovich was recognized for mentoring over 50 Hispanic and African-American graduate, undergraduate, and high school research students, for working tirelessly to secure funding support for students in the SEED Program there, and for supervising many Project SEED students in his research program. He has also served as the Project SEED coordinator at UNC-Charlotte for over a decade, the National ACS Committee on Minority Affairs for eight years, three of which he chaired the Education Subcommittee, and the National ACS Committee for Project SEED for two years.
  • 2012: Christine S. Grant was recognized for her work in mentoring underrepresented students and postdoctoral fellows, as well as junior science and engineering faculty at NC State and beyond, for founding “Promoting Underrepresented Presence on Science and Engineering Faculties (PURPOSE) Institute” which celebrated over seven years of promoting careers of minority and women faculty while providing role models for students at all stages in the pipeline, and for her K-12 mentoring which includes innovative programs that mentor the parents along with each student.
  • 2011: Carol Parish was recognized for her work in mentoring underrepresented students at the University of Richmond. Hungtao Yu was recognized for his leadership in the growth and development of the Chemistry department at the University of Texas Southwestern, an historically black university
  • 2010: Angela Peters was recognized for work in mentoring undergraduate, graduate, junior faculty, post-doctoral associates, and pre-service teachers, as well as her outreach to middle and high school students, providing access to lab experiences.
  • 2009: Cornelia Gillyard was recognized for contributions to science education, mentoring, and administrative leadership, mainly at Spelman College but also within organizations such as ACS and NOBBCHE, and in programs such as NASA WISE and ExxonMobil Scholars.
  • 2008: Judith Iriarte-Gross was recognized for her leadership in science education programs that increase the numbers of girls and young women that pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
  • 2007: Gloria Thomas MaGee was recognized for her continuing role as young and energetic mentor to underrepresented minority students entering careers in science, as facilitator for these students to participate in conferences and research experiences, and as adviser to professional organizations and institutions seeking to recruit and retain minority students.
  • 2006: Georgia Tech Women in Chemistry Committee (Ms. Ashley Ringer, Chair) was recognized for the outstanding efforts of this group of graduate students to create an effective and sustainable program that raises awareness, particularly within the Metro Atlanta area, and develops solutions to challenges encountered by women and underrepresented minorities in pursuing careers in the chemical and related sciences.
  • 2005: Chris Bannochie was recognized for his leadership in establishing and fostering inclusiveness and recognition of lesbian, gay and transgender members of the American Chemical Society and the broader scientific and professional communities. His efforts and guidance are recognized, for work leading to the ACS Policy Statement of 2003-14 that recommends federal legislation to extend employment discrimination protection to include sexual orientation, gender expression and gender identity.

Southwest ACS Region

  • 2019: Javoris V. Hollingsworth, Professor of Chemistry at University of St. Thomas
  • 2017: Xavier University, Louisiana
  • 2016: Ann Nalley, Professor of Chemistry, Cameron University
  • 2014: Carolyn Burnley, Carolyn became the GHS Project Seed Coordinator in 2008 and has been serving in this role ever since. Carolyn is passionate about providing opportunities to gain exposure to science for underrepresented minority students. She started the program from scratch with no student mentors and very few high school teacher contacts. She reached out to her network and was able to get a small program together that first year. Since that time, she has grown the program to accommodate up to 20 interns per year.
  • 2013: Isiah Warner, Professor of Chemistry, Louisiana State University
  • 2012: Keith Pannell, Professor, University of Texas El Paso
  • 2011: Donna Nelson, Professor of Chemistry at Oklahoma University
  • 2011: Zakiya Wilson-Kennedy, Assistant Dean for Diversity and Inclusion, LSU College of Science
  • 2009: Antoine Carty, Professor of Chemistry at Prairie View A & M University

Western ACS Region

This page is a work in progress, intended to celebrate all recipients of the Stanley Israel Award. Are you a past recipient of the Stanley Israel Award and are missing from this list? Or, would you like us to list your award citation? Do you know of someone we have overlooked? Contact us with your information, and we will be happy to update this page.