Thursday, February 20, 2020

Announcing winners of 2020 AOCS Awards

The AOCS Awards Program recognizes leaders who work passionately to advance the science and technology of oils, fats, proteins, surfactants and related materials.

More than 50 scientists and technologists won awards this year (not counting the poster awards to be given to students at the 2020 AOCS Annual Meeting & Expo).

See Award winners.

Award winners will be recognized throughout the Annual Meeting, including at the Opening Celebration, a special session for Scientific Awards, and Division luncheons and dinners.

Congratulations to all of this year's winners!

AOCS remembers Milton J. Rosen

Milton J. Rosen, one of the great pioneers of surfactant research and an AOCS Fellow, passed away on February 2, 2020, nine days shy of his 100th birthday.

In his 70 years as an active researcher, Rosen obtained more than 150 publications or patents. In 1985, he founded the Surfactant Research Institute at Brooklyn College, from which he retired in 2011 at the of 91. Rosen was also a longstanding member of the advisory board for the Journal of Surfactants and Detergents (JSD).

In 1991, he established the AOCS Samuel J. Rosen Award, in honor of his father. The award recognizes significant accomplishments in applications of the principles of surfactant chemistry by scientists who have spent the majority of their careers in industry.

Born in 1920 in Brooklyn, New York, Rosen received his master’s degree from the University of Maryland in 1941. With the outbreak of World War II, Rosen served his country in the Pacific Theater as a member of the US Army. After discharge, Rosen accepted a teaching position at Brooklyn College. In 1949, he earned a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn.

In his lab at Brooklyn College, Rosen became a pioneer in the field of surfactant research. Among his greatest scientific contributions were a series of studies investigating the structure-property relationships of surfactants; derivations of equations for surfactant synergism; and some of the earliest studies of gemini surfactants. In 1979, Rosen published the first edition of his groundbreaking and authoritative work, Surfactants and Interfacial Phenomena.

“Everybody in the industry’s got a copy of his book, Surfactants and Interfacial Phenomena,” said Dennis Murphy, research fellow at Stepan Company. Murphy was a Ph.D. student in Rosen’s lab from 1985 to 1989.

“It’s in its fourth edition now, and it’s kind of like the go-to book for surfactants.”

Recalling his time in Rosen’s lab, Murphy described Rosen as a “caring, very enthusiastic scientist with a great sense of humor.”

Revisit “A Conversation with Milton J. Rosen” to learn more about the life of this great scientist and AOCS member.

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Welcome to the AOCS Community and thank you recruiters


At the end of January our new member (Active members) total reached 158 or 37% of our goal of 425 for dues year 2020. Some of our new members were encouraged to join by an AOCS member as part of our Member-Refer-A-Friend program. This new initiative awards you with a US $20 gift card for every new Active member that joins, but make sure they list your name on the membership application. Recruiters can earn up to US $100 for the entire membership year. In addition, we will recognize all recruiters of Actives, students and Corporate Members online, as a way of saying THANK YOU!

Active Member Recruiters for Dues Year 2020, as of 1/31/2020
Yunshen Chen encouraged Lynn Foster to join.
Ryan Dietzenbach recommended Doug Reuscher join.
Steven Hess recommended colleague at Hersheys, John B. Kremer, become a member.
Barry Gursky invited his Oil-Dri co-worker, Chris Dieckmann, to join.
Janitha Wanasundara influenced Frederic Marsoleais, to become a member.

Student Member Recruiters for Dues Year 2020, as of 1/31/2020
Rotimi Aluko recommended to Nancy Asen to join and attend the 2020 AOCS Annual Meeting.
Vermont P. Dia encouraged Cindy Andrea Nieto Veloza to join (Vermont is her PhD major advisor).
Usha Thiyam-Hollander encouraged Olamide Fadairo to join.
Olayinka Olarewaju recommended student membership to Razi Sultana.
Hongbing Fan highly recommended to Ziaoyu Bao to join.
Jessica Phulchand encouraged Adrian Argudo to become a member.

Why did these members refer people to the society? Prof. Rotimi Aluko, University of Manitoba, wrote:
“Nancy is my PhD student and membership of AOCS will benefit her academic and professional development. This is also an excellent means of recruiting leaders of tomorrow for the organization.”

Who will be featured next month? Think of a colleague or research collaborator that would benefit from AOCS. Get more details online and do your part to help our Society grow!

Our newest members, found on this list that AOCS members can view, includes 79 more individuals and one new Silver Corporate Member, DVC Process Technologists.

Here are some highlights of this group:

  • 16 different countries were represented in the list, with 42% of new members from outside the USA
  • Five new students were welcomed into the Society
  •  Job functions: plant managers, professors, lab managers, CEOs, refinery managers, chemists, chemical engineers, research scientists, and product developers are among those on the list  
  •  89% of the Actives are from industry; 11% from university

Say “Hi!” on inform|connect or plan to meet your fellow AOCS members at one of the networking events at the AOCS 2020 Annual Meeting.