MONEY TO LEARN
Chemistry and physics professors are finding an advantage in the Welch Foundation, which currently supports the research of 24 professors.
Written by Melody Ragland
Finding the funds for research can be difficult for many academic researchers, but chemistry and physics professors at Texas universities have an advantage through the Welch Foundation, which currently supports the work of 24 professors at Texas Tech University.
Since its founding in 1954, the Welch Foundation has helped support chemistry research at 27 Texas universities and colleges. The estate of Robert Alonzo Welch established the foundation. Welch, who was born in South Carolina, came to Texas at the age of 14. He became interested in the oil and sulfur business. In 1952, at the age of 88, Welch died and left an estate of $25 million, which was to be used to create the foundation.
The Welch Foundation supports numerous educational programs including the research grants. The foundation has sponsored 39 university chairs in chemistry and related sciences. It funds departmental grants, which encourage students at smaller universities and colleges to continue to study chemistry at the graduate level. Through the Texas Interscholastic League Foundation, the Welch Foundation annually awards scholarships to Texas high school students studying chemistry. The foundation also sponsors a lecture tour to Texas colleges and universities. The lecture program showcases superior scientists in the chemistry field. Each year scientists from around the world attend the two-day Welch Conference in Houston on Chemical Research. The Robert A. Welch Award is presented each year to scientists who have made significant and positive research contributions. The award is one of the highest scientific prizes in the world.
Henry Shine, Ph.D., Texas Tech Paul Whitfield Horn professor of chemistry and biochemistry, has the second oldest Welch grant in the state. The oldest grant, by six months, belongs to a professor emeritus at the University of Texas in Austin. Shine has had part of his research funded by the Welch Foundation since 1955. He has been doing research in various aspects of mechanistic organic chemistry. Shine is currently working with cation radicals, which are intermediates in numerous chemical and biochemical processes.
"My Welch grant has given me the freedom to do research entirely of my own devising," Shine said. "It has kept me to high standards of fundamental research. If I failed to meet those standards, the renewals of my grant would not have been forthcoming. The Welch Foundation has made it possible for me to make a contribution to the growth of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and thus, of Texas Tech."
Shine also said funding by the Welch Foundation has allowed him to support the research of graduate, post-doctoral fellows and some undergraduate students.
"They in turn have gone out into the world of chemistry and medicine to use the training garnered with Welch Foundation support," he said.
Wilse Robinson, Ph.D., professor of chemistry and biochemistry, physics and Welch Chair at Texas Tech, prior to his death in September 2000, had his research funded by the foundation since 1976. He was working on formulating a molecular-level description of liquid water, research that could be used in biological studies.
"Holding the Welch Chair in chemistry at Texas Tech has allowed me to continue my very active research program long past the time I would have been forced into retirement at other universities," he said prior to his death. Robinson said the grants the Welch Foundation award are very important. "They allow research programs to be carried on without the usual interruptions caused by funding shortages," he said. "In this way, important research results can be produced that will lead to later applications and eventually to government funding."
Stefan Estreicher, Ph.D., Paul Whitfield Horn professor of physics at Texas Tech, has had research funded by the Welch Foundation since 1988. He currently studies the dynamics of native defects and impurities in crystalline semiconductors such as silicon.
"I am very grateful for the Welch Foundation," he said. "The grants attract many top researchers to Texas universities."
Estreicher said the foundation invites professors to apply for Welch grants. Once a grant is awarded, research is funded for three years. When the funding period is through, the grantee may then apply for a renewal.
In addition to Shine, Robinson, and Estreicher, Texas Tech's current grant recipients are: Richard Bartsch, Ph.D., a Paul Whitfield Horn professor and department chairperson of chemistry and biochemistry; David Birney, Ph.D., associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry; Darryl Bornhop, Ph.D., associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry; Kelvin Cheng, Ph.D., professor of physics; Gregory Gellene, Ph.D., professor of chemistry and biochemistry; Thomas Gibson, Ph.D., associate professor of physics; Wallace Glab, Ph.D., associate professor of physics; Allan Headley, Ph.D., associate dean for research at the Graduate School; Robert Holwerda, Ph.D., professor of chemistry and biochemistry; and David Knaff, Ph.D., Paul Whitfield Horn professor of chemistry and biochemistry.
Other recipients are: Carol Korzeniewski, Ph.D., associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry; Guigen Li, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry; Roger Lichti, Ph.D., professor of physics; John Marx, Ph.D., associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry; David Nes, Ph.D., professor of chemistry and biochemistry; Paul Pare, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry; Edward Quitevis, Ph.D., professor of chemistry and biochemistry; Richard Redington, Ph.D., professor of chemistry and biochemistry; Max Roundhill, Ph.D., professor of chemistry and biochemistry; Robert Shaw, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry; and Bruce Whittlesey, Ph.D., associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry.
Texas Tech chemistry and physics researchers are putting the Welch Foundation funds to important use -- keeping Texas ahead in important scientific research.
Story produced by the Office of Communications and Marketing
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