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2023

A Celebration of the Class of Fall 2023

The Department of Chemistry celebrated the Class of Fall 2023 on Friday, December 15, 2023. Congratulations!

Bottom row: From left to right: Connor Larocca, Cameron Wright, Emmanuel Iamsun Echeverri Jimenez, Iuliia Mandzhieva, Matthew James Pech, Arana Blake, Ian Ireland.
Upper row: From left to right: Isaac Hickman, Jeffrey Dylan Denison, Tzu-Yu Chen, Cristina Veronica Archiniega Moscoso, Ying Xi, Emily Piwowarski, Abdul-Rahman Sweilam

Ph.D. in Chemistry – Fall 2023

Formal NameDegree and Committee ChairThesis/Dissertation Title
Nancy Lee McLean Alexander Erin
Baker
Assessment of Environmental Contaminants by Targeted and Nontargeted Analytical Techniques 
Austin BrowningThomas
Theis
From SABRE Spin Dynamics to In Vivo Metabolic Mapping: Advancing SABRE Hyperpolarization Towards Biomedical Applications
Miles Alexander Calzini Gavin WilliamsProbing and Engineering of a Tyrosine Prenyltransferase for Biocatalytic Applications
Lide ChaWei-chen ChangInvestigation of Aziridination & Cyclopropanation Enabled by Non-Heme Iron Enzymes
Tzu-Yu Chen Wei-chen ChangStudy of Isonitrile-forming Enzymes and Their Applications 
Gregory Curtin Elena JakubikovaPhotophysical Properties of Fe(II) and Ir(III) Chromophores
Jeffrey Dylan Denison Leslie SombersUntapped Potential: Electroanalytical Investigations into Opioid and Catecholamine Release from Adrenal Cells and Tissue
Emmanuel Iamsun Echeverri Jimenez Maria Oliver-HoyoA Virtual Reality Learning Environment to Support Students’ Abilities to Extract, Represent, and Predict Stereochemical Outcomes for the Diels-Alder Reaction
Alexandra Grace Forderhase Leslie SombersSimultaneous, Real-Time Detection of Non-Electroactive and Electroactive Neurochemicals Using Carbon-Fiber 
Microbiosensors Coupled With Fast-Scan Cyclic Voltammetry
Eric Austin Gabilondo Paul
Maggard
Synthetic Discovery and Thermodynamic Stability of  Multinary Sn (II)-Perovskite Oxides through Flux-Mediated Ion-Exchange Techniques
Yuan Gao Stefan Franzen Classical Correlation Model of Surface Enhanced Spectroscopies
Keilian John Macculloch Thomas Theis Advancements in Signal Amplification by Reversible  Exchange Enabling a Broader Range of Applications
Iuliia Mandzhieva Thomas Theis Advances in Ultra-Low-Field NMR and MRI: Experiments and Computer Simulations for Enhanced Polarization Transfer and Spectroscopic Resolution 
Paul Miller David
Shultz 
Synthesis and Characterization of Donor-Bridge-Donor Biradical and Biradicaloid Complexes to Elucidate the Origin of Open-Shell Character
Matthew James Pech Christopher Gorman The Design, Synthesis, and Characterization of Azaacenes Toward Organic Electronics
Kyle R. Penn Vincent Lindsay Controlled α-Halogenation of Alkyl Sulfonamides and  Development of Highly Active Bifunctional (benz)imidazolyl-Palladium Catalysts for Application in Sustainable Cross-Coupling Reactions
Ying Xi David Muddiman Method Innovations to Enhance Mass Spectrometry Imaging Measurements by Infrared Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Electrospray Ionization (IR-MALDESI)
List of Students Graduating with a Ph.D. in Chemistry for the Fall 2023 Semester

M.S. in Chemistry – Fall 2023

Formal NameCommittee ChairThesis/Dissertation Title
Cristina Veronica Archiniega Moscoso David MuddimanInnovative Platforms and Algorithms to Improve Direct Analysis and Mass Spectrometry Imaging (MSI) with  Infrared Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Electrospray Ionization (IR-MALDESI) 
Nicholas Koenig Canty Wei-chen ChangDeoxypodophyllotoxin Synthase Investigating the  Pivotal Carbon-Carbon Bond Formation in Aryltetralin Lignan Biosynthesis 
Hunter Paggeot Joshua PierceProgress Towards the Total Syntheses of Bisleuconothine and the Synthesis of Polycyclic Structural Motifs with Potential Antimicrobial Activity 
Alisha Marie Weinhofer Joshua PierceProgress Towards the Total Syntheses of  Bisleuconothine, Development of an Asymmetric  Cyclopropanation, and Synthesis of Dual JAK/TRPV1  Inhibitors
List of Students Graduating with a M.S. in Chemistry for the Fall 2023 Semester

B.S. in Chemistry – Fall 2023

James Zackary BrittainNewton, NC
Isaac James HickmanLewisville, NC
Ian Patrick IrelandKinston, NC
Emily PiwowarskiRaleigh, NC
Abdul-Rahman SweilamCary, NC
Cameron WrightWilmington, NC
List of Students Graduating with a B.S. in Chemistry for the Fall 2023 Semester

B.A. in Chemistry – Fall 2023

Arana BlakeRaleigh, NC
Sydney CawthonToano, VA
Connor LaroccaRaleigh, NC
Ryan WandsRaleigh, NC 
List of Students Graduating with a B.A. in Chemistry for the Fall 2023 Semester