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Department of Chemistry

2021 Science Awards

2021-04-16

Dr. BoydDarryl A. Boyd

College of Science Early Career Award

Dr. Darryl A. Boyd resides in the Washington, DC area with his wonderful wife Sara Joy-Boyd (a Purdue Alum whom he met during his time at Purdue) and their young daughter. He was born and raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan to Anthony and Ernestine Boyd. He credits his parents with consistently introducing him and his three siblings to the wonders of science. Dr. Boyd obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of Michigan after working for Professor Vincent L. Pecoraro as an undergraduate researcher. He then attended Purdue University where he received a thesis Master of Science degree in Biochemistry from Professor Christine Hrycyna’s lab before earning his Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from Professor Tong Ren’s lab in 2010. In 2011 he was awarded a National Research Council Postdoctoral Associateship from the National Academy of Sciences to conduct research at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington, DC, where he worked with Professor Frances S. Ligler.  He was officially hired as a Jerome and Isabella Karle Fellow at NRL in 2014, where he is currently serving as a Research Chemist in the Optical Sciences Division. His research focuses on the development of polymer materials with unique optical, electrical and mechanical properties. Major points of emphasis in his research include fabricating polymers from sulfur waste, development of 3D-printed polymers, and creating polymers via photopolymerizations. His recognitions include being named to the 2019 National Academy of Engineering ‘Frontiers in Engineering’ Class, the 2019 SPIE Class of ‘Rising Researchers,’ the 2018 Class of Chemical & Engineering News ‘Talented 12,’ and winning the 2016 Lloyd N. Ferguson Young Scientist Award. 

In addition to his research, Dr. Boyd maintains active roles in various scientific organizations, including the American Chemical Society (2020-2022 Councilor), the Chemical Society of Washington (2020 Chapter President), RadTech International (Editorial Board Member), the National Organization of Black Chemists & Chemical Engineers (2018 National Conference Chair), and Sigma Xi. Finally, Dr. Boyd is an advocate of community STEM outreach, and he regularly participates in volunteer STEM events all over the country throughout the year. He is the Science Instructor for Roots Public Charter School in Washington, DC, and he has served as the STEM director at the Transformational Education Adventure (TEA) Center in McLean, VA since 2017; both of which afford him the opportunity to introduce science to children in grades K-5. Perhaps most significantly, Dr. Boyd is the owner of Science Made Simple LLC, and the founder of www.DrBoydTheChemist.com, which is a website where he posts original content including science videos, fun science facts, and blog posts about science. In addition to the webpage, there is an associated YouTube channel where Dr. Boyd “The Chemist” explains and demonstrates fun science experiments geared toward children and their parents. The overall goal of the site is to inspire youths, particularly youths who are societally classified as racial minorities, to pursue careers in science.

Dr. StoyerMark Stoyer

College of Science Distiguished Alumni Award

Dr. Mark Stoyer received his B.S. in Chemistry from Purdue University in 1984 and his Ph.D. in Nuclear Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley in 1990. He held postdoctoral research positions at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) until he joined LLNL staff in 1995. He worked for more than 20 years in the Nuclear Chemistry Division at LLNL and has been at the lab for 35 years. From 2007 – 2014, he was the Experimental Nuclear Physics Group Leader in the Physics Division at LLNL. He is currently a senior staff scientist in the Nuclear and Chemical Sciences Division at LLNL and a LBNL lab affiliate. Mark was a visiting fellow in the Department of Nuclear Physics at Australian National University in Canberra, Australia from May 1, 2017 until April 30, 2018 and is a visiting fellow in the Chemistry Department at the University of Maryland from 2003 – present. Mark attended the first nuclear chemistry summer school at San Jose State University in the summer of 1984. He served as the Chair of the Division of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology of the American Chemical Society in 2009. Mark has a broad range of research interests including heavy element chemistry and physics, laser fusion research, nuclear structure research, nuclear reaction research, radioactive beam generation and utilization, fission studies, and radiochemical diagnostic development. He has authored or co-authored nearly 400 peer-reviewed scientific publications with more than 800 different scientists from around the world and has an H-index of 46. He is a co-discoverer of six chemical elements (elements 113-118) and co-namer of element 114 (flerovium), element 115 (moscovium), element 116 (livermorium), element 117 (tennessine) and element 118 (oganesson). He has travelled to Russia more than 15 times, highlighted by a trip to Tobolsk, Siberia, the birthplace of Dmitri Mendeleyev, the organizer of the periodic table 150 years ago.