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Phone: 443-287-9960 | Fax: 443-287-9920

October 7, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Lisa De Nike
(443) 287-9960
lde@jhu.edu


JHU'S Karlin Earns Two
American Chemical Society Awards

Kenneth
D. Karlin
Kenneth D. Karlin

Kenneth D. Karlin, Ira Remsen Professor of Chemistry at The Johns Hopkins University's Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded the American Chemical Society's 2009 F. Albert Cotton Award in Synthetic Inorganic Chemistry and has been chosen by the Sierra Nevada section of the ACS to receive the 2009 Sierra Nevada Distinguished Chemist Award.

Established in 2002, the $5,000 Cotton Award recognizes those whose creativity and imagination have led them to make outstanding accomplishments in the field of synthetic inorganic chemistry. The award is provided by the F. Albert Cotton Endowment Fund in honor of the prominent late inorganic chemist who served as W.T. Doherty-Welch Foundation Chair and Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Texas A&M University and was known for his research on the chemistry of transition metals. Karlin is the sixth chemist to receive this honor, which will be presented to him at the 237th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Salt Lake City, Utah, in March 2009, where a two-day symposium also will be held in his honor. Karlin was recognized because of his fundamental contributions to knowledge of the properties and reactivity of copper-ion molecular oxygen containing solution complexes. Potential applications of his work include the development of new drugs and improved processes for using oxygen in air as an energy source.

Since 1993, the Sierra Nevada Distinguished Chemist Award has been presented biannually to researchers from physical, biophysical and inorganic chemistry disciplines, most of whom are members of the National Academy of Science. Past recipients hailed from the California Institute of Technology, Harvard, University of California Berkeley and Stanford universities. Again, Karlin was recognized for his work contributing to the understanding of metal-centered chemical and biological interactions with molecular oxygen.

"I was surprised and very grateful to receive both of these awards," said Karlin.

John Toscano, chairman of the chemistry department at Johns Hopkins, said "Ken has been at the forefront of bioinorganic chemistry research and has made significant and original contributions to our understanding of important biological and environmental processes, especially those involving copper complexes. These awards are a tremendous honor for Ken and very fitting recognition of his outstanding accomplishments here."

Karlin earned his B.S. degree at Stanford University in 1970 and his Ph.D. at Columbia University in 1975. He spent 13 years in the Chemistry Department at the State University of New York at Albany before coming to Johns Hopkins in 1990. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the American Chemical Society and the Chemical Society (Britain).

Digital photos of Karlin are available. Contact Lisa De Nike at Lde@jhu.edu or 443-287-9960.

Related Web sites:
> Karlin lab site
> Department of Chemistry site