September 17, 2021 by Haywood McNeill
Dr. Mihaela C. Stefan, Eugene McDermott professor and interim head of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at The University of Texas at Dallas, has received the 2021 Wilfred T. Doherty Award from the American Chemical Society’s Dallas-Fort Worth section. The 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.
“I am truly honored to be selected as the winner of the Wilfred T. Doherty Award, and I am in good company with my chemistry colleagues who’ve won this award in the past,” said Stefan, who also is the 2021 chair of the ACS-DFW local section.
“Next year will mark 50 years since the first Wilfred T. Doherty Award was given in 1972. To celebrate this important milestone, I will co-organize the 2022 50th Year Celebration of the ACS-DFW Wilfred T. Doherty Awards symposium at the Southwest Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society.”
Portraits of all the Doherty Award winners are displayed in a gallery in the University’s Lloyd V. Berkner Hall. Previous UT Dallas winners include Dr. Richard Caldwell (1987), Dr. Dean Sherry (1990), Dr. John Ferraris (2001), Dr. Ken Balkus (2008) and Dr. Julia Chan (2019).
Stefan’s research focuses on the synthesis and characterization of novel polymeric materials for organic electronics and medical applications.
She received her BS in chemical engineering and PhD in chemistry from Politehnica University of Bucharest, Romania. She joined the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UT Dallas in 2007. She received a National Science Foundation 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.
Stefan has published more than 135 papers in peer-reviewed journals and has mentored 22 PhD students and 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.
“We are so proud of Mihaela and her many accomplishments, and look forward to seeing her portrait added to the wall of fame in Berkner Hall,” said David Hyndman, PhD, dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
The award honors the memory of Wilfred T. Doherty, one of the founding trustees and later president of The Welch Foundation, a Texas-based philanthropic organization that supports chemical research.
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