Chemistry researcher receives prestigious honor

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Yinfa Ma. Photo by Sam O’Keefe/Missouri S&T
A renowned researcher and educator at Missouri University of Science and Technology has been selected to join an exclusive group of chemists. But he says the honor has more to do with the quality of research, education and community outreach at Missouri S&T than with his individual accomplishments.
Dr. Yinfa Ma, associate dean for research and external relations in the College of Arts, Sciences, and Business, was recently selected to be an American Chemical Society Fellow. He was one of only 65 scientists named to the 2017 class, and will be recognized at a ceremony and reception on Aug. 21, during the society’s 254th National Meeting & Exposition in Washington, D.C.
“When I received the letter, I was excited, but not just for me, but mostly for the university,” says Ma, who is also a Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professor of Chemistry at Missouri S&T.
Ma hopes that the honor will help elevate the research and work happening at Missouri S&T, especially in the chemistry and chemical and biochemical engineering departments.
“To increase the reputation of the university, honors like this are so crucial,” Ma says. “We need to let the world know that Missouri S&T has really good chemists and they contribute to the society significantly. I think we have more colleagues at Missouri S&T deserving of this honor.”
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is the world’s largest scientific society with 157,000 members internationally. The nonprofit organization was chartered by the U.S. Congress. The ACS Fellows Program was created by the ACS Board of Directors in December 2008 to recognize members for outstanding achievements in and contributions to science, the profession and society.
Including Ma and this year’s 64 other recipients, there are about 1060 named fellows in the world, or less than 0.7 percent of the society’s ...

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