In recent years, the Department
of Chemistry has given T-shirts along with diplomas to its Ph.D. graduates. On
the back, the shirts read, “…98, 99, 100 and beyond.”
This summer, the department
officially got to “and beyond,” with the graduation of its 100th
Ph.D, the newly-minted Dr. Reham Abou-Elkhair. Her degree not only represents
her achievements, but is a sign of the ongoing development of the program.
“It took us 16 years to award
the first 50 Ph.D.’s,” said Al Baumstark, the department chair, “and seven
years for the next 50. We estimate five years or less for the next 50 – the
department is growing at such a rapid pace.”
Abou-Elkhair, whose dissertation
research investigated electron transfer in DNA, said she had an excellent
experience in the program.
“I like the environment, I like
the enthusiasm in the department,” she said. “It’s great – you can find lots of
encouragement.”
In fact, Abou-Elkhair
co-authored a paper with her advisor, Thomas Netzel, when she was only in the
third year of her Ph.D. program – with more publications from that research on
the way. After graduation, she plans to stay on at Georgia State
as a postdoctoral fellow working on drug design in Professor David Boykin’s
laboratory.
She is joining a group of alumni
who have made a strong impression in their fields. The program’s very first
graduate, Robert Jones (Ph.D., 1986), manages a section of the Centers for
Disease Control, and has recently appeared before Congress as an expert witness
on the capacity of the nation’s laboratories to respond to radiological
attacks.
More and more young researchers
are following in their footsteps. Right now, there are about 70 students in the
Ph.D. program, Baumstark said, and that number is expected to grow to 100 over
the next several years.
Professor Dabney Dixon, who
worked with Abou-Elkhair, said she is amazed by the growth of the program. When
Dixon arrived at Georgia State
in 1986, there were six Ph.D. students.
“The department held its
Christmas party in the main office – and we all fit,” she said. “Now we go to
Alumni Hall or the Commerce Club.”
