Dwight Lewis, Director of Minority Programs Honored By NOBCChE

The 32nd annual meeting of NOBCChE, the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers, was held March 20-26, 2005 in Orlando, FL. The theme for the conference was "NOBCChE: Redefining the Face of Science and Technology.” A new dimension to this year’s conference was the presentation of NOBCChE Service Awards. The awards were presented to NOBCChE members who have consistently gone above and beyond in their volunteerism efforts for NOBCChE. The presenters of the awards were Dr. Marquita M. Qualls 2003-2005 NOBCChE President, and Dr. Rukeyser S. Thompson 2004-2005 NOBCChE Vice President, both Ph.D. graduates of the Purdue chemistry department 2001 and 2002 respectively.

One of the fifteen honorees was Dwight Lewis, Director of Minority Programs for the Graduate School of Purdue University. In May 1995, the first African-American female obtained a Ph.D. in chemistry from Purdue University’s chemistry department. There were approximately 350 graduate students in the chemistry department in August of 1995. Six of those approximately 350 students were African American. During the award presentation Dr. Thompson remarked, “Dwight Lewis began making a concerted effort to increase the numbers of AA and other underrepresented minority students in the department of chemistry at Purdue University. He did this by ensuring that these students had resources to conduct research and attend meetings to make scientific presentations. He also coordinated workshops/seminars on topics that were relevant to the chemistry graduate students like strategies for passing cumes, making it through the graduate program, giving effective power point presentations to name a few.” Dr. Qualls, added, Dwight has been instrumental in the chemistry department at Purdue University achieving the distinction of being the #1 producer of minority Ph.D.’s in the country. His efforts embody the mission of NOBCChE, which is to build an eminent community of scientists, NOBCChE is proud to recognize him with a 2005 NOBCChE Service Award.” Other recipients of NOBCChE Service Awards were, Dr. Douglas Willis (Texas Southern University), Dr. Saundra McGuire (Louisiana State University), Dr. Nora Briant (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory), Dr. Ronald Webb (The Procter & Gamble Company), Ms. Madeleine Jacobs (American Chemical Society), Dr. Tyrone Mitchell (National Science Foundation), Dr. Christopher Hollinsed (DuPont), Ms. Yvonne Curry (American Chemical Society), Ms. Ellen Hill (retired Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory), Mr. Steven Thomas (University of Michigan), Dr. Anthony Dent (Cheyney Univeristy), Dr. Sibrina Collins (Claflin University) Mr. Dale Mack (Morehouse School of Medicine), and Mrs. Sharon Barnes (The Dow Chemical Company).