ACA 2011 Meeting

2011 Award Winners

Please join us in congratulating the following winners.

	2011 Patterson Award to Keith Moffat Keith Moffat (U. of Chicago) has been selected as the recipient of the 2011 ACA Patterson Award. The Award, established in 1980 to honor A. Lindo Patterson, recognizes and encourages outstanding research in the structure of matter by diffraction methods, including significant contributions to the methodology of structure determination and/or innovative application of diffraction methods and/or elucidation of biological, chemical, geological or physical phenomena using new structural information. Moffat will be honored for his work in pioneering ultrafast time resolved x-ray diffraction using synchrotron radiation to capture the function of fundamental protein processes at atomic resolution.
	2011 Wood Award to Daniel Nocera In 1997, the ACA established the Wood Science Writing Award to honor Elizabeth A. Wood, President of the ACA in 1957 and author of science books for lay readers. The purpose of the award is to recognize and honor the authors of outstanding publications that bring science to the attention of the general public. Successful nominees need not be crystallographers or scientists and 'publications' is not limited to written work but could include such things as artistic efforts or museum displays. The award is presented every three years. This year the ACA Council is proud to announce Daniel G. Nocera (MIT) as the 2011 winner. Due to a scheduling conflict, Prof. Nocera will be unable to attend the meeting to accept the award.
	2011 Etter Early Career Award to Yurij Mozharivskyj To honor the memory of Margaret C. Etter (1943-1992), the Etter Early Career Award was established to recognize outstanding achievement and future potential in crystallographic research demonstrated by a scientist at an early stage of their independent career. The ACA is proud to announce Yurij Mozharivskyj (McMaster U.) as the 2011 recipient. Mozharivskyj is being honored for having applied the techniques and theory of crystallography at a high level in his exploration of the structure property relationships in complex functional materials through the detailed study of phenomena such as phase transitions, structural disorder, twinning and diffuse scattering. He has also made important contributions towards the development of the technique of high temperature, single crystal x-ray diffraction on a laboratory source and has addressed other important problems in a wide class of materials of intense current interest including magnetocaloric, thermoelectric, and superconducting systems.
	2010 Fankuchen Award to David Watkin David Watkin (Oxford University) is the recipient of the 2010 Isidor Fankuchen Award. Watkin is most famous for his stewardship of the crystallographic software package "CRYSTALS" for x-ray structure refinement and analysis. The worldwide success of CRYSTALS, used by students, academics and industrial users alike, can be attributed to its ease of use and to Watkin's unceasing support of the software and its users. He continues to conduct numerous training workshops, counsel users via e-mail, and is regularly invited to give lectures on this software at institutes and scientific meetings worldwide. David could not attend the 2010 meeting to accept this award but we are very pleased to have him attend the New Orleans Meeting and give his award talk on Wednesday, June 1. In 1987, Watkin also co-founded the biennial BCA "Intensive Course in X-ray Structure Analysis". Over eight days of lectures and tutorials, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers learn the fundamentals of crystallographic analysis. He has also organized similar week-long computing schools and workshops around the world. All who have studied with him name his approachability, enthusiasm and ability to easily communicate difficult concepts as factors contributing to his success as a teacher and an inspiration for a whole generation of crystallographers. Most impressive is the forethought with which Watkin embarked on the "Age Concern" project with Judith Howard (Durham University) to fill the hole that would be soon left when the current crystallographic software designers worldwide retire and stop working. The project aims to re-vitalize training in crystallographic software and innovative methods development and to foster a new generation of scientists as software developers. David Watkin's sincere and reputed concern for the future of crystallography and the new generation of crystallographers make him a worthy recipient of the Fankuchen Award, which recognizes contributions to crystallographic research by one who is known to be an effective teacher of crystallography.

Award Descriptions

The ACA recognizes distinguished achievement in the field of crystallography to both mature and early career crystallographers through the presentation of various annual Awards. The following Awards will be presented at the 2011 meeting.

A. Patterson Award

To recognize and encourage outstanding research in the structure of matter by diffraction methods, including significant contributions to the methodology of structure determination and/or innovative application of diffraction methods and/or elucidation of biological, chemical, geological or physical phenomena using new structural information. A monetary award of $1,500 and up to $1,500 travel expenses to accept award at Annual Meeting, and a certificate are awarded every three years.

2011 Winner: Keith Moffat, University of Chicago

E. A. Wood Science Writing Award

This award is named in honor of Elizabeth A. Wood, President of the ACA in 1957 and author of science books for lay readers. Persons who have written books or articles that bring science to the attention of a wider audience are eligible. Successful nominees need not be crystallographers or scientists and 'writing' could include artistic efforts, museum displays, etc. Framed artwork by V. Torrence, $1,500 cash and up to $1,500 travel expenses to attend the Annual Meeting and a complimentary banquet ticket are awarded.

2011 Winner: Prof. Daniel G. Nocera, M.I.T.

Margaret C. Etter Early Career Award

To recognize outstanding achievement and exceptional potential in crystallographic research demonstrated by a scientist at an early stage of their independent career. The award is established to honor the memory of Professor Margaret C. Etter (1943-1992), who was a major contributor to the field of organic solid-state chemistry. Established in 2002 as an annual award, it consists of a monetary award of $1,000 and plaque. The winner will present a lecture at the American Crystallographic Association Annual Meeting.

2011 Winner: Dr. Yurij Mozharivskyj

Margaret C. Etter Student Lecturer Award

Each Special Interest Group (SIG) within the ACA has the opportunity to invite one student to receive an award and to present a lecture in one of the sessions organized by that SIG. Selections are based upon submitted abstracts and are independent of whether the student presenter originally requested an oral or poster presentation. Award winners are determined by the elected officers of the SIGs. Students who accept the invitation will receive a monetary award of $250, which is independent of any requests for support via the ACA Travel Awards.