11th Brennie E. Hackley, Jr. Award for Excellence in Research Presented to CHBC Graduate Student

The winner of the 11th Brennie E. Hackley, Jr. Award for Excellence in Research is Ms. Mahsa Konh. This award is given to a Chemistry and Biochemistry graduate student who exemplifies excellence in research and great promise as a future scientist. Ms. Konh is a graduate student in the research group of Prof. Andrew Teplyakov. Prior to joining the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in 2017, Ms. Konh, received her M.Sc. in analytical chemistry from Iran University of Science and Technology and her B.Sc. in applied chemistry from Alzahra University.

The award was presented to Ms. Konh at the Physical Chemistry Colloquium on April 29, 2019.  The award honors the distinguished career of Dr. Brennie E. Hackley, Jr., who became the first African American doctoral graduate in chemistry from the University of Delaware in 1957.  His 57-year career at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Chemical Defense in the Edgewood Laboratories at the Aberdeen (MD) Proving Grounds culminated in his becoming Chief Scientist.  His research on developing medical antidotes for chemical warfare agents produced 75 publications and 15 U.S. patents, and earned him the U.S. Government's Exceptional Civilian Service Medal following his death in November 2006.  His daughter, Dr. Michele Hackley Johnson (UD/BS/CHEM/75), is the Director of Interventional Neuroradiology at the Yale University Medical School.