BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University’s Professor of Chemistry Ram Mohan has been named the 2011 Chemist of the Year by the Illinois Heartland Section of the American Chemical Society (ACS). Mohan, who holds the Earl H. and Marian A. Beling Professorship in the Natural Sciences at Illinois Wesleyan, will be honored at the annual ACS banquet in Peoria, Ill., at a banquet on March 3.
The award is presented to those who actively use chemistry in a positive way. Mohan’s research focuses on developing environmentally friendly organic synthesis using bismuth compounds. Bismuth and its compounds are remarkably non-toxic and attractive from a green chemistry perspective.
“The research Ram Mohan is conducting is doing good for the public and for the scientific community,” said Narayan Hosmane, a distinguished research professor at Northern Illinois University who nominated Mohan for the award. “I have the chance to work with Nobel Laureates and professors across the nation, and Dr. Mohan is one of the most productive faculty members I have met, and in an area not generally touched by chemists – green chemistry.”
Illinois Wesleyan Chemistry Department Chair Rebecca Roesner referred to Mohan as a brilliant lecturer and a dedicated mentor. “It is gratifying to see someone who has worked so hard for his students and contributed so much to the profession of chemistry be recognized with this special distinction,” she said.