Chemistry
Development
College of Arts and Sciences
July 14, 2017
Sr. Angela Hoffman, O.S.B., professor of chemistry at the University of Portland, was recently awarded $15,000 from M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust’s Partners in Science program. The grant will fund a research project and provide local teacher Amy Sutton from Benson Polytechnic High School the opportunity to work with Hoffman on her study, “Extraction, Purification, and Analysis of Antibiotic Compounds from Soil Bacteria Obtained from an Archeological Site.”
“The importance of the collaboration between the University and high schools in our local community is essential. This grant, and the Partners program as a whole, equips science teachers with the research experience to implement better practices in their own classrooms,” noted Fr. Gerard Olinger, C.S.C., vice president of university relations. The grant represents the latest in support for the University from the Murdock Charitable Trust that, to date, totals almost $10 million dollars.
An internationally recognized researcher of the cancer fighting substance taxol and holder of six patents, Sr. Angela Hoffman is among the University’s most often awarded current faculty members. She was named the Oregon Academy of Science 2014 Outstanding Higher Education Teacher in Science and Mathematics. In 2012, Hoffman was recognized as an American Chemical Society (ACS) Fellow for her “outstanding achievements in and contributions to Science, the Profession, and the Society.” In 2007, Hoffman was chosen as an American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow in 2007.
2017 marks the 28th year of M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust’s participation in Partners and more than 500 teachers throughout the Trust’s five-state funding region who have been awarded this grant. As a part of the program, the Trust hosts an annual national conference where teachers present their research results, hear presentations from renowned researchers, and network with other teachers and researchers from across the United States.
“Our goal is to improve science education and encourage best practices of teaching to be more inquiry focused,” said Steve Moore, executive director of the Murdock Trust. “We are honored to be involved with such a vital program at UP.”
About Partners in Science (Partners) Program:
The Partners in Science Program (Partners) was founded by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement (Research Corp) in 1988. The Trust joined Partners in 1990, and in 1999 became the administrator of the program. The program pairs high school science teachers for two summers with a mentor doing cutting-edge research in an academic lab or a lab associated with another nonprofit institution. Teachers are given the opportunity to present the results of their research at an annual national conference of peers. The Trust awards approximately 25 Partners in Science grants each year to fund these teacher-mentor research opportunities in the Pacific Northwest.
About M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust:
M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust, created by the will of the late Melvin J. (Jack) Murdock, provides grants to organizations in five states of the Pacific Northwest – Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington – that seek to strengthen the region’s educational and cultural base in creative and sustainable ways. Since its inception in 1975, the trust has awarded nearly 6,000 grants totaling more than $850 million. Go to murdocktrust.org for more information.
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