David Berkowitz, Willa Cather Professor of chemistry at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, has been named a fellow of the American Chemical Society (ACS) for his outstanding contribution to science or the profession and service to the organization.
"It has been a privilege to work with a very talented group of undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows here in the Department of Chemistry in the University of Nebraska–Lincoln's College of Arts and Sciences for my entire career," he said. "Their cutting edge research at the chem-bio interface is recognized by this award; I am very proud of them and of this recognition."
Top row (left to right): graduate students Aina Antony, Gaurav Kudalkar, Chris Albert, and Chathurika Usliyanage, and researcher David Berkowitz. Bottom row (left to right): undergraduate Lauren Moon, graduate students Jared Hass and Jonathan Baine, and Martin Osinde (postdoctoral fellow).
Berkowitz joined the department in 1991 and served as chair from 2013 to 2016. He is an expert in synthetic organic chemistry and chemical biology. He previously served as director of interdisciplinary therapeutics research in the Office of Research and Economic Development and as director of the National Science Foundation's chemistry division.
Most recently, he serves as co-principal investigator of a $24.5M project funded by the Defense Health Agency for the development of a first-of-its-kind prophylactic to help protect U.S. troops from the effects of acute radiation syndrome.
"On behalf of the college, we want to congratulate Dr. Berkowitz on this outstanding recognition," Mark Button, dean of the college, said. "We are pleased that the state of Nebraska's first ACS fellow is part of our college."
Berkowitz has received numerous awards and honors, including the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship in 1997 and a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Fellowship in 2008. He is a member of the Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has served as a visiting professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology and University of Rouen and Paris-V in France.
Berkowitz was nominated by Scott Gilbertson of the University of Houston on behalf of the Division of Organic Chemistry at ACS withsupporting letters from Theodore 'Ted' Goodson III of the University of Michigan and Raychelle Burks of American University.
Fellows will be recognized at an awards ceremony at the ACS Fall 2024 event in Denver.
