Colorado State Chemistry Professor Honored By American Physical Society
Monday, December 22, 1997
FORT COLLINS--A Colorado State University professor's outstanding
contributions to physical chemistry has earned her the designation of
Fellow in the American Physical Society, an honor given to only 0.5 percent
of the organization's members.
Chemistry Professor Branka Ladanyi was recognized for her research in
theoretical physical chemistry, a discipline that bridges physics and
chemistry. Ladanyi's work involves the use of computers to study the
positions and orientation of molecules relative to each other in the liquid
phase.
The main goal of Ladanyi's research is to better predict and
understand the effects of solvents on chemical reactions at the molecular
level. Her research has widespread implications because most of the
chemical reactions occurring in nature and industrially-significant
chemical reactions--such as those used in the manufacturing of
pharmaceuticals--occur in the liquid phase. Solvents often play a crucial
role in the rate and outcome of liquid-phase chemical reactions.
The American Physical Society's fellowship program was created to
recognize members that have made advances in knowledge through research and
publication or made significant and innovative contributions in the
application of physics to science and technology. Fellows are nominated by
their peers and selected by a committee.
Ladanyi, who joined the Colorado State chemistry department in 1979,
has earned several awards for her research and teaching. In 1982, she
earned the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship and became a Camille and Henry
Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar in 1983. During the 1993-94 academic year, Ladanyi
was a visiting fellow at the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics,
operated by the National Institute for Science Technology and University of
Colorado-Boulder. In 1994, Ladanyi was appointed associate editor of the
Journal of Chemical Physics, the top scholarly journal in this research
area.
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