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LIVERMORE,
Calif. – November 27, 2007 – While
it may sound like a tongue twister, tetraarylazadipyrromethenes is music to the
ears of Amherst native Thomas Teets, who has studied this inorganic compound
and will research others as a future chemist. Teets, 23, has won a full five-year graduate fellowship from
the prestigious Fannie and John Hertz Foundation to support his PhD studies in
chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology this fall. “I’m
fascinated with looking at how light interacts with molecules, particularly
transition metal compounds, and the potential applications that could result,”
Teets says. “Understanding these
interactions may lead to the development of stronger light-based cancer
treatments or solar energy conversion technologies, for example.” Teets
is one of 15 graduate students selected from more than 580 across the country
to receive the Hertz graduate fellowship.
Of diverse ethnicities and backgrounds, Hertz Fellows each receive up to
$240,000 over five years to pursue their own scientific interests at top
universities in the United States.
This no-strings-attached support gives Hertz Fellows financial
independence and freedom to conduct innovative research because, unlike many
other grants, university and study choices are not limited by strict funding
requirements. “Hertz
Fellows represent the very best young scientific talent in our nation,” says
John Holzrichter, PhD, Hertz Foundation president. “These students embody the drive and curiosity to solve the
most difficult problems our world faces, and we are pleased to support them as
they grow in their chosen disciplines.” Teets
has always been drawn to chemistry and would like to better understand the
synthesis, structure, thermodynamics, reactivity, and bonding properties of new
and known compounds. He is
especially interested in research of alternative fuel sources, such as those
derived from hydrogen. “Scientists
are looking at ways to produce hydrogen from water without forming harmful
chemicals, like carbon dioxide.
Future research is focusing on ways to do so efficiently and
economically, and research in inorganic chemistry will contribute to that
knowledge bank,” Teets says. Teets
is also musically inclined, and occasionally plays the piano for music
theater. While still in Cleveland,
Tom worked as an usher and greeter at Severance Hall, and volunteered for
several science education events through the Alpha Chi Sigma professional
chemistry fraternity. Teets
is a 2003 graduate of Amherst Steele High School, Amherst, Ohio, where he was
co-valedictorian, a National Merit Finalist and entered into the school’s
Academic Hall of Fame. He received a bachelor of science in chemistry and a
minor in music from Cleveland’s Case Western Reserve University, where he
graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2007.
While an undergraduate, Teets won the Hypercube Scholar Award, Charles
F. Mabery Prize for best chemistry undergraduate thesis, and the John Schoff
Millis Award for the senior with the best academic record in the College of
Arts and Sciences. Teets’
parents, Darcy and Kaye Teets, are information technology professionals at
Macy’s Systems and Technology, Lorain, Ohio. Teets has three brothers: his twin Nicholas is a graduate
entomology student at The Ohio State University; Joseph, 21, is studying
accounting at John Carroll University; and Jacob, 18, is studying engineering
at Case Western Reserve University.
About the Hertz Foundation The
Fannie and John Hertz Foundation, based in Livermore, Calif., is a tax exempt,
not-for-profit organization dedicated to the selection and support of
outstanding individuals in the applied physical, biological and engineering
sciences. Founded in 1963, the
Foundation’s mission is to build America’s capacity for innovation by nurturing
remarkable applied scientists and engineers who show the most promise to change
the world. It awards fellowships
to an average of 15 PhD candidates every year to pursue graduate studies at the
nation's finest academic institutions.
As a result, the Hertz Foundation supports the research efforts of about
75 Fellows at any given time. The
Hertz Fellowships are widely considered to be among the most competitive and
most prestigious offered anywhere.
For more information about the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation, as well
as giving opportunities, go to www.hertzfoundation.org. |
