Chemistry professor named promising scientist by magazine

Malika Jeffries-EL, assistant professor of chemistry and the Geoffroy Faculty Fellow at Iowa State University, has been awarded the Emerald Honor for most promising scientist by Science Spectrum magazine.

The Emerald Honors are the premier awards for Blacks, Hispanics, Asian Americans and Native Americans working in the research sciences. In addition to being recognized at a ceremony later this year in Baltimore during the Minorities in Research Science conference, the recipients are also featured in Science Spectrum magazine.

Jeffries-EL has bachelor's and master's degrees from Wellesley College and George Washington University. After completing her Ph.D. in 2002 at George Washington University, she continued her research as a postdoctoral research fellow at Carnegie Mellon University. She joined the Iowa State chemistry faculty last fall.

Jeffries-EL is a member of the American Chemical Society, Sigma Xi, and the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemist and Chemical Engineers.

The organic chemist investigates the design and synthesis of novel pi-conjugated polymers and the study of their properties in order to develop an understanding of the relationship between polymer structure and its properties. In particular she is interested in flat panel displays and sensing technologies.