The 28th ORCS Conference Program and Schedule is available at this link!

The Organic Reaction Catalysis Society is pleased to announce Dr. Paul J. Chirik, Edwards S. Sanford Professor of Chemistry at Princeton University, as the recipient of the 2020 Paul N. Rylander Award for his significant contributions to the use of catalysis in organic reactions.

A native of Philadelphia, Dr. Chirik earned his BS degree at Virginia Tech and PhD at Caltech. He leads a multidisciplinary research group focused on homogeneous catalysis for more sustainable chemistry. Specific emphasis is on the application of Earth abundant rather than precious metals in catalysis and carbon-free methods for the synthesis and oxidation of ammonia. Dr. Chirik is currently the Editor-in-Chief of Organometallics.

This Award is administered by ORCS and generously funded by BASF.

The Organic Reaction Catalysis Society is pleased to announce Dr. Jerry Spivey, James McLaurin Shivers Professor at Louisiana State University, as the recipient of the 2020 Murray Raney Award for his significant contributions to advance the development and characterization of heterogeneous catalysts  for applications such as environmental catalysis and synthesis of chemical intermediates from simple carbon feedstocks such as methane.

Dr. Spivey received his BS and MS degrees from NC State University and his PhD from LSU in 1980. He worked at Albemarle (Baton Rouge) from 1974-1980, carrying out his PhD requirements and meeting the PhD residence requirement in 1978. He was Director of Process Research at RTI (1980-2000), joining the NC State faculty in 2000 and then LSU in 2003. He served as Director of LSU’s Center for Atomic-level Catalyst Design 2009-2015, a multi-organization dedicated to advancing both computational and experimental heterogeneous catalysts. He is Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (Cambridge, UK), named a Fellow in 2007, and is Editor-in-Chief of Catalysis Today (Elsevier).

This Award is administered by ORCS and generously funded by Grace Catalysts Technologies.

The Organic Reaction Catalysis Society is pleased to announce Dr. Alison Narayan, Associate Professor of Chemistry at the University of Michigan as the recipient of the 2020 Robert Augustine Award for her significant early career contributions enzymatic catalysis.

Dr. Narayan’s main research interest is identifying enzymes from secondary metabolite pathways with potential synthetic utility and developing methods based on these biocatalysts to enable access to biologically active target molecules.

Dr. Narayan holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. She completed her undergraduate studies in chemistry at the University of Michigan, where she later returned as a postdoctoral research fellow in the lab of David Sherman.

She started as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and the Life Sciences Institute at Michigan in 2015. Since this time Alison and her research group have been recognized as a part of C&ENs Talented 12, an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow, a Cottrell Scholar and as the inaugural recipient of the Life Sciences Institute Outreach award.

The Organic Reaction Catalysis Society is pleased to announce Dr. Nick Brunelli, HC Slip Slider Professorship of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at the Ohio State University, as the recipient of the 2019 Robert Augustine Award for his significant early-career contributions to heterogeneous catalysis of organic reactions.

The work of Professor Brunelli is at the interface of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. His research group investigates how to tune the molecular design of heterogeneous catalytic materials such as zeolites and mesoporous silicas to achieve highly selective and active catalysts for the conversion of biomass and the production of fine chemicals.

Jaime Blanton joined the Executive Committee of ORCS in 2013.   In her capacity on the Board she has been responsible for the exhibition (Tucson 2014) and sponsorship (Miami 2016 and San Diego 2018).  She has been a strong supporter of the continuation of an Evonik hosted hospitality suite, promotes ORCS at other tradeshows (NAM, etc.) and recruited our 2020 conference chair (Girish!).  She supports ORCS in any way it is needed from pre-conference bag stuffing to chairing technical sessions to post conference follow up on payments.  Jaime is the Director of Sales and Customer Service for Evonik Business Line Catalysts North America.  She began her career in 2003 as Project Leader for Olefin Polymerization Catalysts in Calvert City, KY in the R&D group for Business Line Catalysts.  Over the course of 13 years she continued in R&D, holding multiple positions from Application Manager for Precious Metal Powder Catalysts to ultimately Head of R&D for Evonik BL Catalysts North America.  Jaime holds a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Karl Albrecht joined the Executive Committee of the Organic Reactions Catalysis Society in 2010 as Secretary/Treasurer, a position he held through 2016.  In 2012, he served as Co-Chair of the 24^th Biennial ORCS Conference in Annapolis, MD with John Holladay. Since 2016, he has served ORCS as the Representative to the North American Catalysis Society. Karl assisted Mike Prunier with the incorporation of the ORCS organization in 2011-2012 and continues to be actively involved in the planning and execution of the biennial conferences, including organizing and administering the ORCS Student Travel Grants for students and postdocs attending the biennial conferences.  Karl is currently a Research Scientist with ADM in Decatur, IL.  Karl joined ADM in 2018 after 9.5 years at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, WA.  He holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Iowa State University and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The ORCS Organizing Committee invites you to participate in a networking golf tournament at the Queen’s Harbour Yacht & Country Club in Jacksonville, Florida on Sunday, October 25, 2020. We have reserved 4 tee times (16 players total) starting at 9:00 am.  Typical high temperatures are in the mid-70 deg F during that time of year in Jacksonville.

The golf course is approximately 6 miles from the One Ocean Resort and Spa and a 15 minute drive.  The green fee is about $75 per person, which includes range balls.  A limited number of rental clubs and transportation to/from the course are available for an additional fee. The round should take approximately 4.5 hours; we plan to be back at the One Ocean Resort by 3:00 pm, well in time to attend the opening conference reception scheduled for 5:00 PM.

Interested in attending the 2020 ORCS Golf Outing?  Email our 2020 Conference Chair Girish Srinivas directly at orcschair@orcs.org before September 25, 2020 and indicate if you will need transportation and golf club rentals.