2021 Doherty and Schulz Award Winners

The ACS DFW local section is pleased to announce the winners of the Wilfred T. Doherty and Werner Schulz Awards for 2021. The ACS DFW local section would like to thank the 2021 Awards Committee led by Dr. Trish Smith for their hard work in selecting the winners for 2021. Mihaela C. Stefan, Eugene McDermott Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Texas at Dallas, is the winner of the Wilfred T.

Doherty Award for

2021. The Doherty Award recognizes excellence in chemical research or chemistry teaching, meritorious service to ACS, the establishment of new chemical methodology (for the industry), solution of pollution problems, and advances in curative or preventive chemotherapy. Mihaela C. Stefan received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering and Ph.D. in Chemistry from Politehnica University Bucharest, Romania. She joined the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Texas at Dallas in 2007, and she is currently an Eugene McDermott Professor and Interim Department Head. She received the NSF Career Award in 2010, the NS&M Outstanding Teacher Award in 2009 and 2017, the Inclusive Teaching Diversity Award in 2012, the President’s Teaching Excellence Award in 2014, the Provost’s Award for Faculty Excellence in Undergraduate Research Mentoring in 2015, and the Provost’s Award for Faculty Excellence in Graduate Research Mentoring in 2021. She published more than 135 papers in peer-reviewed journals, graduated 22 Ph.D. students, and mentored more than 125 undergraduate students. Her research group is developing novel organic semiconductors for organic electronics, biodegradable and biocompatible polymers for drug delivery applications, and rare novel catalysts for the polymerization of dienes and cyclic esters. Heather Thompson is the winner of the Werner Schulz Award for 2021. The Schulz Award recognizes outstanding high school chemistry teachers, who, like the late Dr. Werner Schulz, bring excellence to the teaching of chemistry. Heather Thompson received her B.A. in General Chemistry and M.Ed. in science education from the University of Texas at Arlington. Currently, she is working on her Ph.D. in Science Education at Texas Christian University. She began teaching chemistry in 2008 at Paschal High School in Fort Worth and is currently teaching at Lake Ridge High School in Mansfield. She has taught chemistry in high school at many different levels, including organic chemistry. Additionally, she has taught chemistry and forensics at Tarrant County College for the College for Kids summer program. She also had the chance to be a teacher's assis-

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