Welcome to the Department of Chemistry

Portland State University is the only institution in Portland to offer a Ph.D. degree in Chemistry.

Please explore this page and its links to get a feel for what exciting research and coursework is ongoing in the department. We invite you to check out:

The department is currently seeking graduate students for Fall 2009, deadline for application is February 1, 2009. Please click here for a quick link to the Ph.D. application procedure .

Quick Contacts:
Sinnamon Tierney - Department Manager, Research Administrator and Graduate Admissions Coordinator - 503-725-8904 email: tierney@pdx.edu
Elisa Cooper - Chemistry General and Organic Lab Coordinator - 503-725-8987 email: ecooper@pdx.edu


News and Announcements

November 2008

The Department of Chemistry is pleased to announce Dr. James F. Pankow has been asked to serve as one of the University Fellows for the Sustainability Center. He will serve alongside two other Fellows for the Sustainability Center, Dr. Sergio Palleroni, Architecture and Dr. Dave Ervin, Environmental Science & Resources. The Fellows will help guide PSU in sustainability initiatives, including Urban Transportation, Photovoltaic Solar Energy, Aerosols & Climate, and Renewable Enegy.

September 2008

The Department of Chemistry is please to announce and welcome the addition of two new faculty members who arrived Fall 2008.

Dr. Andrea Goforth, an ONAMI Signature Research Fellow whose research involves advancement of the field of bionanotechnology by the development of novel, nanometer sized inorganic imaging agents.

Dr. Mark Woods, whose primary research is involves the design and chemical synthesis of targeted contrast media for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Dr. Woods also works at the Advance Imaging Research Center (AIRC) at Oregon Health and Sciences University.

PSU Chemist, Dr. Robert Strongin uses Dyes in Biomedical Applications of Near-IR imaging
http://pubs.acs.org/isubscribe/journals/cen/86/i38/html/8638sci1.html

Chemistry Tenure-Track Faculty Opening in Environmental Chemistry or Renewable Energy, beginning Fall 2009

August 2008

The Department of Chemistry is pleased to welcome Dr. James F. Pankow. Dr. Pankow will start at PSU in September. He has a split appointment between the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science (MCECS) and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS).

July 2008

Dr. Robert Strongin's research on new fluorophores is published as an open access article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA: http://www.pnas.org/content/105/26/8829.full.pdf+html?sid=1c3d65c4-c28a-4fca-bd68-6bea929e2933

Dr. Shakar Rananavare's discovery of a nanofilm-based room temperature sensor for chlorine is featured by Institute of Physics at their website: http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/34537;jsessionid=C52A57005818F68979028B5A517CC72F

Dr. Robert Strongin is named a Sigma Xi Distinguished National Lecturer for the term 2009-2010.

June 2008

Dr. Mingdi Yan was just awarded a 5 year National Institute of Health R01 Grant for $1,410,440. Project titled: Photogenerated Carbohydrate Microarrays.

May 2008

Dr. Mingdi Yan's patent "Patterned Polymeric Structures, Particularly Microstructures and Methods For Making Same" is licensed to SuSoS AG, Dübendorf, Switzerland.

Dr. David Peyton and Dr. Robert Strongin each receive Outstanding Researcher Awards from the Sigma Xi Columbia-Willamette Chapter.

April 2008

Dr Kevin Reynolds is elected to the Board of Directors for the Society of Industrial Microbiology.

March 2008

The PSU BioAnalytical Mass Spectral Facility web site is now available.

December 2007

Chemistry Faculty member, Shankar Rananavare is the recipient of an NIH grant subcontracted by OHSU. The project is titled "Interfacial Phase Behavior of Pulmonary Surfactants". Dr. Rananavare is collaborating with Dr. Stephen Hall at the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Laboratory at OHSU. The project will last four years and is for over $235,000.

November 2007

The Antimalarial Hybrid designed by Dr. David Peyton was acknowledged in Chemical & Engineering News, November 12, 2007 edition under "Drug Hybrids enter the Fray".

The Department of Chemistry acquires a New Mass Spectrometer The Mass Spectrometer is a Bruker micrOTOF-Q. It features precise mass determination capabilities (20-40,000 m/z range), MS/MS and SigmaFitTM isotopic analysis, making it possible to determine the formula of small molecules, perform metabolic studies, analyze complex mixtures and digests, and evaluate intact proteins.

October 2007

Dr. Robert Strongin was awarded $168,904 from Department of Justice. The project is titled "Developing Fluorogenic Reagents for Detecting and Enhancing Bloody Fingerprints"

PSU Ph.D. Student, Aaron Burton was awarded a NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship, renewable for three years. Project titled "Selection in Vitro of a Ribonucleotide Reductase Ribozyme".

September 2007

Dr. Niles Lehman was awarded a NASA grant for nearly $400,000 over three years. The project is titled " A Self-Assembling Collectively Autocatalytic Set of RNA Oligomers".

June 2007

May 2007

April 2007

March 2007


 
September 18, 2008: Entrance Examinations for new graduate students begin; SB1, room 304
Se ptember 20, 2008: Welcome gathering for faculty and students. Location TBA
Se ptember 22, 2008: Advising and orientation for new graduate students begins