Dartmouth chemistry professors Russell Hughes and David Lemal were named fellows by the American Chemical Society a society of over 160,000 internationally recognized chemists on Aug. 8, according to the ACS website.
"It's a recognition of a career," Hughes said in an interview with The Dartmouth. "It's almost like getting in the hall of fame."
Hughes has been working at Dartmouth for 35 years, during which time he has taught both undergraduate and graduate students.
He attended the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology in the United Kingdom before receiving his PhD in chemistry from the University of Toronto.
"It's a great mix," Hughes said of the students with whom he works. "It's nice to have postdoctoral people who are experienced and know what they're doing, so I don't have to spend literally every minute in the lab."
When Hughes first came to Dartmouth, his research interests were similar to Lemal's, Hughes said.
"In fact, professor Lemal was very instrumental in getting me back on track with fluorine chemistry," he said.
Much of Hughes' research has focused on the bond between carbon and fluorine, which is the strongest chemical bond in organic chemistry, Hughes said.
"We became interested in how you could convert very strong bonds between carbon and fluorine to bonds between carbon and something else," he said.
Lemal received his PhD in chemistry from Harvard University and began working at Dartmouth in 1965, according to his biography on the College's website. He became a professor emeritus in 2006, but continues to conduct research at the College.
Prior to the announcement, both chemists had won the ACS Award for Creative Work in Fluorine Chemistry.
The ACS honored Lemal in 2002, and Hughes received the award in 2010, according to a College press release.
In addition to the personal honor, the award and the fellowship announcement reflect positively on the chemistry department as a whole, Hughes said.
"Dartmouth is the only chemistry department in the world to have two winners of this fluorine award," Hughes said. "It tells them that there's good stuff going on in chemistry."
Although the two chemistry professors study similar subjects, they have adopted different approaches to the study of fluorine science, Hughes said.
"He has a much more organic interest in these compounds, and I've had an interest in organometallic chemistry," he said, explaining that organometallic chemistry involves the use of "transition metal compounds" as assistants in chemical reactions.
Due to their divergent approaches to fluorine research, the two have not directly collaborated frequently during their careers, according to Hughes.
"We've only ever published one paper jointly," Hughes said.
Throughout Hughes's career at Dartmouth, Lemal whom Hughes called one of his "great heroes in chemistry" has served as a mentor, Hughes said.
"I've always aspired to be half as good as Lemal," he said. "He's always been a terrifically positive influence on me, and I think on this department."
Hughes said that although he feels very honored by the recognition, he prides himself equally on more modest awards.
"While I'm happy with my research awards, the one I look at the most is the Student Assembly Teaching Award," he said. "That's pretty important, too."
Lemal could not be reached by press time.
