Chemistry's Reineke Named Sloan Research Fellow

Theresa Reineke, UC assistant professor of chemistry, is among 118 young scientists recently named a 2007 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow.

Sloan Research Fellowships were established in 1955 by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to provide financial support and recognition for young scientists and scholars. Scientists in the United States and Canada are eligible for the $45,000 awards, given for a two-year period.

First given in physics, chemistry and mathematics, the Sloan program has been expanded to seven fields of science, adding neuroscience, economics, computer science and computational and evolutionary molecular biology.

Theresa Reineke, assistant professor of chemistry.

The honor is "one of the most prestigious awards for a young faculty member to receive," said William Heineman, Distinguished Research Professor.

"The competition is extraordinarily stiff with most of the awards going to young faculty at the most prestigious universities."

Reineke, a materials chemist with research interests in polymers for biomedical applications and light-emitting materials, said the honor is very important for her and her research group.

"It shows my students that their work is definitely being recognized by the scientific community," said Reineke, who was named the department's first Lowenstein Scholar in 2006. "All of my colleagues, both in the Chemistry Department and many other departments, have given me fantastic support. I am very grateful and thankful to have such great mentors and friends at UC."

Mentoring by established faculty during the doctoral, postdoctoral and assistant professor years of a career "certainly contributes in many ways to success in academics," said Heineman, who helped prepare Reineke's nomination package.

"Mentoring can be especially important in ensuring that good young faculty get the awards they deserve," he said. "Established faculty know which awards to go after and how to assemble a solid nomination package. Postdoctoral, doctoral, and other established mentors play an important role in the nomination through the letters of recommendation that they write in support of the nominee. Strong supporting letters are critical to a successful nomination."

The fellowships are undesignated so that Sloan Fellows "can be encouraged to explore new high-risk, high-reward areas of interest," said Pat Limbach, acting Chemistry Department head.

"As the Sloan Fellowships are extremely competitive, with only 23 such fellowships awarded in all fields of chemistry this year, it is clear that the broader scientific community views Theresa as a researcher having not only demonstrated success, but even greater promise," he said.

Limbach said the department's goal is certainly that "such awards and recognition become more and more commonplace as our departmental reputation and scholarly output continues to rise."

"As a department, clearly her colleagues are proud of her accomplishments, and our goal is to develop and sustain the creative environment for all of our faculty to succeed," he said. "To be grouped with the Berkeleys and MITs also illustrates the talent level of this department and its ability to be competitive as a research institution. Such accomplishments and recognition are only possible within a supporting environment that encompasses students, staff, faculty and the administration."

According to the Sloan Foundation, 35 past Sloan Fellows have become Nobel Laureates. The Foundation was established in 1934 by philanthropist Alfred P. Sloan, then-president and CEO of General Motors Corp.