UO chemistry professor Richmond appointed to National Science Board

EUGENE, Ore. — (Nov. 16, 2012) — Geri Richmond, the Richard M. and Patricia H. Noyes Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oregon, has been appointed to the National Science Board, according to a White House announcement.

“I am honored to be selected for service on this board,” said Richmond, who specializes in chemistry, materials science and chemical reactions on liquid surfaces. “I look forward to working with others on the board to advance the cause for science in this nation.”

Richmond was nominated by President Obama to the 25-member board, which is the governing board for the National Science Foundation. The board establishes the policies of the NSF, approves new programs and awards and serves as an independent body of advisors to the President and Congress on policy and education matters related to science and engineering.

"Dr. Richmond's appointment is the result of outstanding excellence in research, coupled with her significant contributions to the sciences nationally and internationally," said Kimberly Andrews Espy, vice president for research and innovation and dean of the graduate school at the UO. "She brings a wealth of experience — as a scientist, an educator, and as an advocate for women in science — and we are proud that she will be serving the nation's top science policy organization. Dr. Richmond could do her work anywhere in the world, and in fact, she has chosen to stay here at UO, an outstanding community of faculty, staff and students."

Candidates for the National Science Board must be broadly experienced individuals with records of distinguished service. Recommendations are made by the board, and nominations are made by the president. The nomination and appointment process takes approximately 18 months. Members of the board meet five times a year. The term lasts six years.

Inducted into the National Academy of Sciences in 2011, Richmond was recently awarded the American Physical Society’s 2013 Davisson-Germer Prize in Surface or Atomic Physics, and she received the American Chemical Society’s 2013 Charles Lathrop Parsons Award for her advocacy on behalf of higher education, science policy and women scientists.

Richmond co-founded the Committee on the Advancement of Women Chemists (COACh), an organization that provides mentoring and support to women scientists around the globe, and she’s been a long-time advocate for women in science. With financial support from the U.S. Department of State, she is currently working on several projects with women scientists in developing countries.

From 1999 to 2006, Richmond served on the Oregon State Board of Higher Education, the statutory governing board of the Oregon University System and its seven universities. Before joining the faculty of the UO in 1985, Richmond was a professor of chemistry at Bryn Mawr College. She serves as the assistant secretary for the sciences at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. She received a bachelor’s degree from Kansas State University and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.

About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is among the 108 institutions chosen from 4,633 U.S. universities for top-tier designation of "Very High Research Activity" in the 2010 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The UO also is one of two Pacific Northwest members of the Association of American Universities.

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