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48177-SE
2008 F.A. Cotton Award Symposium celebrating Prof. John D. Corbett, Iowa State University, at the ACS National Meeting, April 6-10, 2008, New Orleans, LA

Gordon J. Miller, Iowa State University

In honor of Prof. John D. Corbett’s receiving the 2007-2008 F. A. Cotton Award from the American Chemical Society, a one-day symposium was held in his honor during the 235th American Chemical Society National Meeting in New Orleans, LA. This award is to recognize an inorganic chemist for contributions to creative inorganic synthesis. Prof. Corbett enjoys a scientific career of over 50 years during which he has synthesized thousands of new materials ranging from clusters to intermetallic solids. This symposium took place on Sunday, April 6, and consisted of two sessions, one AM, one PM, with 12 speakers from among Prof. Corbett’s former graduate students and post-doctoral associates who have gone on to successful academic careers. Two additional speakers, both from the solid-state chemistry community in Germany, were invited and specifically addressed their research accomplishments in the context of Prof. Corbett’s impact. Presentations covered topics such as new materials for lithium batteries, thermoelectrics, magnetic nanostructures, visualization of chemical bonding in solids, and new developments in main group cluster chemistry. On average, each session had ca. 75 members in the audience. Time was allotted for questions and discussion. After the day’s symposium, a banquet for the speakers and a guest was held at Antoine’s Restaurant. The entire day was educational and festive; for some of the speakers, it was a chance to reconnect with past colleagues. Support from the Petroleum Research Fund provided travel funds for two foreign speakers, Prof. Arndt Simon from Stuttgart and Prof. Gerd Meyer from Cologne. For this symposium, four foreign scientists were invited; three attended. Prof. Jing-Tai Zhao did not attend the meeting because his visa did not arrive in time for travel. PRF supported the travel of Prof. Simon, who described new rare-earth systems showing superconducting and hydrogen storage capabilities and Prof. Meyer, who discussed new intermetallic clusters with applications to catalysis and fundamentals of chemical bonding.

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