After serving the Department of Chemistry for almost 40 years in many capacities including acting department chair and chair on separate occasions, Anthony J. Pearson, Rudolph and Susan Rense Professor of Chemistry, has been awarded the Department of Chemistry’s Morton L. Mandel Award for Outstanding Chemistry Faculty for 2021.
Starting at Case Western Reserve University in 1982 after studying and teaching abroad, Pearson will retire in JuJunely from a career filled with many achievements.
Aside from his extensive research, Pearson has supervised the research of 70 graduate students and 18 postdoctoral research associates and taught organic chemistry to sophomore level students in classrooms with over 350 students.
“A lot of the time, there are challenges in doing research and teaching,” Pearson said. “But, I like to overcome challenges.”
He has published 237 research articles, and 2 books, Metallo-Organic Chemistry and Iron Compounds in Organic Synthesis. He was a member of the Editorial Board for the Encyclopedia of Reagents for Organic Synthesis, as well as the series Handbook of Reagents for Organic Synthesis.
Financial support for his research has come from the Science and Engineering Research Council and Cancer Research Campaign in the United Kingdom and grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (ACS-PRF). He has served as a member of NIH Initial Review Groups, various NSF Grant Review committees, and as a member of the ACS-PRF Advisory Board.
During his time as department chair from 1995 to 2001, he oversaw the complete renovation of the Millis Science Center, a 30+ million dollar project involving the departments of chemistry and biology that resulted in many awards from the National Science Foundation, the Ohio Board of Regents, a twelve-million dollar Challenge Grant from the 1525 Foundation, and substantial grants and donations from numerous local philanthropic organizations.
The Morton and Barbara Mandel Family Foundation annually rewards an outstanding faculty member in chemistry, from which Mort Mandel, alumnus and benefactor, earned his bachelor’s degree in 2013.
“I’m flattered to receive this award,” Pearson said. “To be quite honest, I didn’t expect it. It came as a pleasant surprise.”
Previous winners of this award include Blanton Tolbert, Carlos Crespo-Hernández and John Protasiewicz.