American Chemical Society Selects UA Chemist for Inaugural Fellows Class

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Dr. Robin Rogers, Robert Ramsay Chair of Chemistry, distinguished research professor and director of The University of Alabama’s Center for Green Manufacturing, will be inducted Aug. 17 into the inaugural class of Fellows of the American Chemical Society for “demonstrated excellence.”

The class’s 162 members “share a common set of accomplishments, namely true excellence in their contributions to the chemical enterprise coupled with distinctive service to ACS or to the broader world of chemistry,” said Bruce E. Bursten, immediate past-president of the society and who championed creation of the program.

Rogers and his fellow inductees will be honored at a ceremony during the ACS National Meeting in Washington, D.C. For more information on the American Chemical Society and its Fellows program, see http://pubs.acs.org/cen/acsnews/87/8730acs.html.

Rogers earned both his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees from The University of Alabama. He has taught and conducted research as a UA professor since 1996. He has been awarded eight patents, has four others pending and has published more than 630 research articles in peer-reviewed scholarly publications.

His discovery of a simple solvent for cellulose has been licensed to BASF and forms the basis of new research efforts to turn trees into valuable chemicals and fuels. He is working with UA to develop new start-up companies in the Bama Technology Incubator to further enhance UA’s technological developments.  

The department of chemistry is part of UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.