Anoklase Jean-Luc Ayitou, a fourth-year  chemistry and biochemistry graduate student, recently received two fellowships.

Ayitou received the Carl Storm Underrepresented Minorities Fellowship, which helps eligible minority students, faculty and scientists attend the Gordon Research Conference in Photochemistry scheduled for this summer. The awardees receive $600 to subsidize the cost to attend the conference. The Carl Storm Underrepresented Minority Fellowship Program was established by the Gordon Research Conference board of trustees to honor Director Emeritus Carl Storm’s years of service to the conference and to support his commitment to increasing diversity at the Gordon Research Conferences. Ayitou was selected for the fellowship by organizers of the 2011 Gordon Research Conference.

Ayitou also received the Lendon N. Pridgen, GlaxoSmithKline Fellowship. The award was presented to Ayitou at the 38th annual conference of the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers held April 18-22 in Houston. The fellowship was established in memory of Lendon N. Pridgen, a synthetic organic chemist, to recognize African-American students in their third or fourth year of graduate study and majoring in synthetic organic chemistry. Ayitou's doctoral work involves the use of molecular chirality to control stereoselection in light initiated chemical transformations to generate enantiopure molecular building blocks.

For more information on the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers, visit http://nobcche.org/images/stories/pdfs/2011_NNOL_Spring.pdf.