Facts
Faculty fact
Professors Bruce McClure, Doug Randall and Gary Stacey were named fellows by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), joining previously appointed fellows Professors Tom Guilfoyle, Gerald Hazelbauer, Jan Miernyk, Linda Randall, Peter Tipton and Judy Wall.
Professors Gerald Hazelbauer, Linda Randall and Judy Wall are fellows of the American Academy of Microbiology.
Professor Emeritus Boyd O'Dell’s contributions over many years to nutrition research and the Department were honored by planting of a native Missouri sycamore tree outside Schweitzer Hall. 92-year-old O'Dell continues to work in the lab and mentor students.
Professor Emeritus Doug Randall was nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed by the Senate for a second six-year term on the National Science Board, the governing body of the National Science Foundation.
Professor Bill Folk and Assistant Professor Marcelle Siegel were awarded a $750,000 science education grant from the Howard Hughes Foundation.
Teaching Assistant Professor Shari Freyermuth was a recipient of the CAFNR Outstanding Teaching Award.
Professors Tom Guilfoyle and Doug Randall were named in 2007 to the inaugural group of fellows by the American Society of Plant Biologists.
Professor and Chair Gerald Hazelbauer completed a four-year term on the Board of Directors of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Medicine, a major voice in Washington, D.C. for basic scientific research.
Professor and Chair Gerald Hazelbauer completed a three-year term as Secretary/Treasurer of the Protein Society and in 2008 was a candidate for President of that Society.
Professor Judy Wall received a 2008 Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award.
Professor Dennis Lubahn presented a talk sponsored by the National Cancer Institute on videocast.nih.gov.
Associate Professor Tom Mawhinney received a Teaching Excellence Award from the Curriculum Board of the School of Medicine.
Professor Bruce McClure was elected to the board of the Science Teachers of Missouri. He serves as director of the college division for the 2008-09 school year.
The Department of Biochemistry graduate program includes two members of the National Academy of Sciences, Linda Randall and R. Michael Roberts.
Professor Thomas Quinn was honored as the 2007 “Faculty Entrepreneur of the Year” by the University of Missouri System.
Assistant Professor Marcelle Siegel was appointed a 2007-08 University of Missouri System New Faculty Teaching Scholar.
Professors Grace Sun and Gary Weisman were awarded a $6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for a Program Project aimed at understanding causes of Alzheimer's disease.
Research by Research Assistant Professor Valeri Mossine and Associate Professor Tom Mawhinney on cancer-inhibiting compounds in tomato paste was featured in U.S. News and World Report.
Professor Judy Wall serves on the Board of Governors of the American Academy of Microbiology.
Rankings fact
MU’s Department of Biochemistry was in the top 10 of biochemistry departments at public medical schools for research grants, according to the most recently available statistics from the Association of American Medical Colleges.
MU is 7th in the nation in plant sciences funding from the National Science Foundation.
The Scientist ranked MU 6th among academic institutions as a location to do postdoctoral studies.
Facilities fact
The Department of Biochemistry houses a new, ultrashielded, $2.1 million 800 MHz nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer, the second of its generation installed in the U.S. and the only one in Missouri. The instrument was funded in part by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.
MU is home to the world's most powerful university research reactor and is the largest U.S. producer of radioisotopes for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
Student success fact
While a biochemistry doctoral student in Jack Tanner's lab, Tommi White helped to create the first model of the protein proline dehydrogenase for cancer research. She won MU’s Donald K. Anderson Award for excellence as a graduate research assistant and is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the National Cancer Institute.
Every year over half of our undergraduate Biochemistry majors graduated as an Honors Scholar and/or cum laude, magna cum laude or summa cum laude.