Baylor's American Chemical Society Will Welcome Science Lecturers

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Media contact: Terry Goodrich, (254) 710-3321
WACO, Texas (Nov. 15, 2013) - The Southwest Regional Meeting (SWRM) of the American Chemical Society will welcome Donald Blake, Ph.D., and Stephen Fesik, Ph.D., to present the Gooch-Stephens and W. Dial Black Family Lectures Sunday, Nov. 17 and Monday, Nov. 18, at the Waco Convention Center.
The Gooch-Stephens lectures will be presented by Blake. A general lecture titled "Methane Has Been Very Good to Me: The Importance of a Great Mentor" will be at 5:45 p.m. Nov. 17 in McClennan Hall of the Waco Convention Center.
Blake will also present a technical lecture titled "VOC Signatures from North American Oil and Gas Sources" at 5:45 p.m. Nov. 18 in Ranger Room 110 of the Waco Convention Center. His research team has been involved in NASA and National Science Foundation sponsored airborne projects since 1988.
Robert Kane, Ph.D., an associate professor in the department of chemistry and biochemistry in Baylor's College of Arts and Sciences, said Blake is very experienced in this area.
"He has been involved in atmospheric chemistry for many years, so he really has a great background in this subject," he said.
The Gooch-Stephens lectures are an annual event of Baylor's department of chemistry and biochemistry and honor W.T Gooch, Ph.D., and W.R. Stephens, Ph.D., two former chairs of the department.
The W. Dial Black Family Lecture will be presented by Fesik. It is titled "Cancer Drug Discovery Using Fragment-Based Methods" and will be given at 5:45 p.m. Nov. 18 in McClennan Hall of the Waco Convention Center.
Kane said Fesik has "been very successful in coming up with new ways to identify drug and drug candidates in cancer-causing materials."
The Baylor chapter of the American Chemical Society is "fired up," about the SWRM being held in Waco, Kane said.
"We have been waiting for this for many years," he said. "It's very exciting."
The lectures are free and open to all Baylor students and faculty. The Waco Convention Center is located at 100 Washington Ave.
For more information, call Barbara Rauls at (254) 710-4926.
by Kristen Bennett, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805
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