Research with undergrads to be Distinguished Scientist topic
George Shields
Bucknell University scholar George Shields will discuss his career working with undergraduate researchers when he presents a Distinguished Scientist Lecture starting at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 15, in Emerson Auditorium. Admission is open to all.
Shields has titled his talk “Research with undergraduates: A fabulous career!” He will review a career engaging more than 100 undergraduates in research, and present work in computational chemistry spanning atmospheric, biological, medicinal, and physical chemistry. He will feature examples of how student interest and initiative drove Bucnkells’s undergraduate research program forward and share insight on the benefits of early introduction to research and the development of the MERCURY consortium.
According to his Bucknell web page, Shields joined Bucknell on July 1, 2010. His responsibilities include overseeing the College of Arts and Sciences, including the School of Management.
A national leader in undergraduate research, Shields has collaborated with more than 100 undergraduates in meaningful projects in the fields of computational chemistry, structural biochemistry and science education. His most current research involves using computational methods to gain insights into biochemistry and environmental chemistry.
Earlier this year, Shields was named recipient of the American Chemical Society’s award for research at an undergraduate institution. In announcing the award, the ACS noted that he has “a well-deserved reputation for involving undergraduates in all stages of his research,” and has “seamlessly integrated teaching and research” in a career that has spanned four different undergraduate institutions.
Since 1990, Shields has received approximately $5 million in external research grants from many foundations and funding agencies, including the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health. He has published more than 70 scientific and six educational papers since 1983, including 50 scientific papers with 57 undergraduates working in his research group since 1991.
Shields previously served as the founding dean of the College of Science and Technology at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Ga., where he was also a professor of chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Physics. Prior to that, Shields served as the Winslow Professor of Chemistry and chair of the department at Hamilton College, and in various faculty and administrative posts at Lake Forest College. Since 2000, Shields has served as director of MERCURY, or the Molecular Education and Research Consortium in Undergraduate Computational Chemistry, a collaboration of 17 undergraduate research teams at 15 different institutions. The annual MERCURY conference is held at Bucknell each summer.
Shields has also served as a councilor for the Council on Undergraduate Research since 2008. He is a member of the ACS, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Association for Aerosol Research, the International Society of Quantum Biology and Pharmacology.
Shields received bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees from the Georgia Institute of Technology. His postdoctoral research on protein-DNA interactions at Yale University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute was conducted in the laboratory of Professor Thomas Steitz, the 2009 Chemistry Nobel Laureate.