Contact: Sarah Nicholas

STARKVILLE, Miss. ─ A senior member of the Mississippi State Department of Chemistry has been named Chemist of the Year by the Mississippi Section of the American Chemical Society.

Dongmao Zhang, an associate professor of chemistry, is receiving the prestigious award today [Oct. 26] during the 2017 state’s ACS banquet on the campus of Mississippi College in Clinton. 

“This [distinction] came as a pleasant surprise,” Zhang said.  “This is an honor I have to share with the graduate and undergraduate researchers in my group, and my colleagues in the Department of Chemistry at MSU.”

Zhang said his work would be impossible “without the hard work of the students in my group.” 

He added, “Our colleagues in the department have been very supportive of each other’s research, and my group has benefited tremendously from the collaborations with multiple research groups both inside and outside the Department of Chemistry,” Zhang said.

Upon learning of Zhang’s award, Department Head Dennis Smith called it a “privilege” to announce the award to the MSU community.

“In the wake of Dr. Zhang’s recent international accolades, this home state recognition from our local ACS section and Mississippi chemistry brethren is a special testament to his excellent work and to our department,” Smith said.

In August, Zhang was added to a group of researchers from around the world cited by name in the Journal of Physical Chemistry C. The others work at institutions of higher learning in China, England, Germany and India.

Smith said Zhang’s recognition is a “well-deserved honor in which our department and MSU are so fortunate to share.”

Zhang joined the MSU faculty in 2008 and currently is investigating nanoparticle interfacial interactions, optical spectroscopy and analytical method design. After graduating in 1987 from China’s Wuhan University, he earned a doctorate in 2002 from Purdue University in Indiana.

Because he has been named Chemist of the Year, Zhang has been invited to present his award address as keynote speaker at next year’s state ACS awards banquet. The 2018 event will be held at Mississippi State University, hosted by the chemistry department.

For more on Zhang and his research, see www.chemistry.msstate.edu/people/faculty/dongmao-zhang.

The chemistry department is part of the College of Arts and Sciences, MSU’s largest academic unit, including more than 5,200 students, 300 full-time faculty members, nine doctoral programs and 25 academic majors offered in 14 departments. Complete details about the College of Arts and Sciences and its Department of Chemistry may be found at www.cas.msstate.edu and www.chemistry.msstate.edu.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.