Tony Jude Award
The Tony Jude Award is presented to an REU student for outstanding research and carries
a cash award. It was created in 2002 in honor of alumnus and former REU student Anthony
Jude, Ph.D. '98, who passed away in 2001 at the young age of 30. He participated in
the department REU in 1992. At the time of his death, he was an assistant professor
of chemistry at UALR.
This year’s Tony Jude Award was given to outstanding researcher Susan Campbell from McCaskill, Arkansas, who attends Louisiana Tech University. Her mentor for the program was Suresh Kumar Thallapuranam.
This year’s award was given to two outstanding researchers. Casey Einfalt, from Rowlett, Texas attends John Brown University. His mentor for the program was Ingrid Fritsch. Autumn Webb, from Tillar, Arkansas is a student at the University of Arkansas at Monticello. Her mentor for the program was Feng Wang. Incidentally, she was recommended for the program by Professor Andrew Williams, who received his Ph.D. from this department in 2009 under the direction of Bill Durham
The Tony Jude Awardee for 2014 is T. Ryan Rogers of Jonesboro, Arkansas. His research “Computational Investigation of the Surface Tension of Supercooled Water” was carried out under the direction of mentor Dr. Feng Wang In 2014, Rogers was a junior chemistry major at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, AR. He is pictured with co-director Dr. David Paul.
Edward Evans of Gulfport, Mississippi. His research “Expression and Purification
of Cdc42 and PBD46, a Cancer Causing Combination” was carried out under the direction
of mentor Dr. Paul D. Adams.
In 2011, Evans was a Junior chemistry major at Wabash College in Crawfordsville,
Indiana.
Vernon D. Crowell, Jr. (D.J.) of Wynne received the Tony Jude Award for outstanding research.
His research "Computer Modeling of the Thermal Rearrangement of 2-aryl-2H-azirines to Indoles," was carried out under the direction of mentor Distinguished Professor Peter Pulay.
In 2010, Crowell was a chemistry and mathematics major at Lyon College.
Trent Parker of Columbia, Ill., received the 2009 Tony Jude Award for outstanding research. His
summer research "Catalytic Dynamic Thermodynamic Resolution of N-Boc-2-Lithiopiperidine,"
was directed by Bob Gawley.
Parker was a at student at St. Louis University at the time.
Ivy Fitzgerald of Hood River, Ore. and Nikita Patton of Louisville, Ky. shared the
2008 Tony Jude Award for outstanding research.
Fitzgerald's research "Designing Fibroblast Growth Factor with Higher Heparin Binding
Affinity," was carried out under the direction of T.K.S. Kumar.
Patton's research "Preliminary Characterization of the Binding of Peptide Derivative
of an Important Ras GTPase Binding Effector for Abnormal Cell Signaling Mutants of
the Ras Protein Cdc42," was carried out under the direction of Paul Adams.
Roger Williams of Portales N.M. received the Tony Jude Award for outstanding research.
His research "Synthesis and Recemization Studies of Chiral Pyrrolidines," was carried
out under the direction of mentor Bob Gawley.
Zakiya Hoyett of Gladsden, Ala. received the Tony Jude Award for outstanding research.
Her research "Production and Study of Amino Acid Mutations at the Cytochrome C Binding
Site," was carried out under the direction of mentor Frank Millett.