BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Ronald Grider, an Illinois Wesleyan University senior from Peoria, Ill., has been named a 2012 Collegiate Scholar of the Year by the Illinois Heartland Section of the American Chemical Society (ACS).
Recipients of the prestigious award are determined by their grade point average and contribution to research in the field. Grider will be honored at the annual ACS banquet in Peoria on April 10 and will receive a certificate and $200 award.
Grider has been a member of the ACS Scholar’s Program for the past three years, as well as participated in numerous research projects. On campus, he conducted a research project with Chair and Associate Professor of Chemistry Rebecca Roesner on synthesizing a macrocyclic “host” molecule for a polyoxometalate “guest.” Most recently, Grider worked in the research lab of Chair and Associate Professor of Biology David Bollivar in determining the biosynthetic pathway of bacteriochlorophyll.