Powell Seminar Series
The Department of Chemistry hosts the Powell Seminar Series. Presenters are either current UR students or experts who have been invited to campus to discuss their work with our students and faculty. These talks offer valuable information on research, graduate schools, and the chemical industry, as well as offering opportunities for networking.
This annual lecture series is incorporated into our Chemistry Seminar academic course for juniors and seniors. Students who are not registered for the course are still welcome to attend the presentations.
Presentations are held on Fridays at 1:30 PM in Gottwald Auditorium during the academic year.
FALL 2026
Friday, August 28
John Boyd (UR Student Learning Center)
Intro to Chem 322/421/422 and Speech Center
Friday, September 4
Brandy Ewell (UR Career Services)
Career Services for Chemistry
Friday, September 11
Heather Ervin (UR Science Librarian)
Using Zotero for Citations
Friday, September 18
AXE Research Seminar
Professor Bryce Nicholls (UR)
Nature Reimagined: An Introduction to Biocatalysis
Professor Jonathan Raybin(UR)
The Hidden Structure of Soft Materials
Friday, September 25
Professor Doug Kojetin (Vanderbilt)
Nuclear Receptor Function Made Crystal Clear with NMR Spectroscopy
Friday, October 2
Professor Amanda Jone (Wake Forest)
Mechanism and Phosphine Ligand Design in Homogeneous Gold (I) Catalysis
Friday, October 9
No seminar
Friday, October 16
Professor Chris Shugrue (UR)
Development of Mild and Selective Modifications of Peptides
Friday, October 23
Professor Mir Bowring (Reed)
Organometallic Mechanisms: Strangely Speedy Isotopes and Catalysts for Alternative Fuel
Friday, October 30
Professor Kelling Donald (UR)
Let the Weak Say I am Strong: Halogen Bonds, Rydberg Molecules, and Other Interactions Between Main Group Compounds
Friday, November 6
No seminar (SERMACS)
Friday, November 13
Arielle Vinnikov (Leopold Group)
Adsorptive Cathodic Stripping Analysis of Xylazine within Fouling-Resistant and Nanomaterial-Enhanced Modified Electrode Sensors
Morgan Murphy (Pollock Group)
The Search is On: Use of a Phosphatase Assay to Screen for Stp1 Inhibitors
Friday, November 20
No seminar
Friday, November 27
No seminar (Thanksgiving)
Friday, December 4
Brice Di Carlo (Donald Group)
Evolution of Bending Tendencies in Novel Half-Sandwich Complexes
Eric Zhou (Downey Group)
Friedel-Crafts Additions Promoted by Trimethylsilyl Trifluoromethanesulfonate
Friday, December 11
No seminar (Exam Week)
SPRING 2027
Friday, January 15
Responsible Conduct of Research
Friday, January 22
Professor Julie Pollock (UR)
Targeting Bacterial Infections: A Collaborative Chemical Biology Approach to Antibiotics and Adjuvants
Friday, January 29
Zion Kim (Donald Group)
The Sigma Ring and A New Picture of Bonding in Clusters of Diatomic Metal Halides
Anna Miliotes (Norris Group)
Ruthenium Complexes and Photoactivated Chemotherapy
Friday, February 5
Scott Watterson (Bristol-Myers-Squibb)
TBD
Friday, February 12
Vienna Tombline (Pollock Group)
Exploration of Cancer Cell Toxicity of Metal Based Complexes
Sylvia Kaydos-Daniels (Johnson Group)
Efficient Synthesis of 2-Phosphino-N-Boc-Pyrroles via a Magnesium Pyrrolide Intermediate
Friday, February 19
Stafford Sheehan (Project Omega)
TBD
Friday, February 26
Joe West (Goldman-Dominey Group)
Synthesis of Nitrogen Heterocyclic Polysubstituted Compounds
Liv Tobin (Norris Group)
NADPH Analogues for CO2 Reduction
Friday, March 5
No seminar
Friday, March 12
No seminar (Spring Break)
Friday, March 19
Anna Johnson (Downey Group)
Diastereoselective Povarov-type Annulations of Chiral 4-Isoxazolines
Ben Edelman (Leopold Group)
Modified Nanomaterials Engaging in Halogen Bonding Toward Explosive Detection Interfaces for Sensor Development
Friday, March 26
Professor Nicholas Sawyer (Fordham)
TBD
Friday, April 2
Powell Lecture
Professor Sharon Glotzer (University of Michigan)
TBD
Friday, April 9
TBD
Friday, April 16
A&S Symposium and Honors Convocation
Friday, April 23
Chemistry Awards