The 2017 Saint Louis Award is history

Keith Stine, the 2017 Saint Louis Awardee, was feted and saluted with an award symposium and a banquet on September 29th.

Natalie LaFranzo, Chair of the Section, led off the symposium with an introduction to the local ACS and its activities, and then handed over the program to Professor Cynthia Dupureur who introduced Professor Stine. The awardee spoke about his work on nanoporous gold. Then Keith introduced Alexei Demchenko for his talk about carbohydrate synthesis. After the coffee break, Dr Yinfa Ma from Missouri Institute of Science and Technology spoke about his work on a single-cell pH monitoring device. Finally (not to say “at long last”), Professor Julio D’Arcy from Washington University spoke on droplet-assisted vapor-phase polymer synthesis and its application in fashioning super-capacitors. The symposium was well attended, with a crowd size estimated (not by Donald Trump) at 50-60: UMSL faculty and students, faculty from Washington University, and a scientist from industry. Dr Dupureur adjourned the symposium and re-convened at the Chancellor’s residence for a fantastic open-bar reception with appetizers.

After a mass migration just down the road a piece from the UMSL campus, 51 fêteurs and fêteuses gathered for the Award Banquet at the Glen Echo Country Club. The kick-off cocktail hour provided plenty of mingling time; those in attendance included 11 current and former members of Dr Stine’s research group for a nice reunion-ish feel. The poster describing the previous year’s accomplishments of the Saint Louis Section may have garnered some attention. Or not.

Natalie LaFranzo (she of the official gavel) opened the formal proceedings by welcoming everyone to the 47th Saint Louis Award Banquet, then acknowledged the honoree, the Symposium Speakers, Section officers, and the eight former Saint Louis Award winners in the crowd. The hosts of the post-symposium reception, UMSL Chancellor and Professor of Chemistry Thomas George and his wife, Professor of Music Barbara Harbach were among the migrants from the post-symposium reception; we were very pleased to have them at the Banquet. Those present enjoyed an excellent meal featuring tenderloin Oscar: beef tenderloin topped with crabmeat, asparagus and a béarnaise sauce. Those absent … didn’t.

There were still a few items of business to dispense with after dinner. Dr LaFranzo introduced UMSL Professor Emeritus Lol Barton, who called upon Dr Stine to receive the award plaque and $1,500 check. Keith gave a brief general-audience presentation, Life in Two-Dimensions: Adventures in Surface Chemistry, describing his work on the assembly and properties of lipid bilayers and on the preparation and uses of porous gold for biotech applications.

Jim O’Brien served as semi-official photo-documentarian and captured a great variety of photos at both the symposium and the banquet. If the small selection here doesn’t satisfy you, you can see the full photostream here.