Chemistry Lecture To Honor Former Professor John Ewbank

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Fall Lecture Series will present a memorial lecture in honor of former Professor John Ewbank at 3:30 p.m, Monday, November 10, in CHEM 113. The lecture is open to the public and a reception will occur prior to the lecture at 3:00 p.m. in CHEM 226.

Featured speaker and former co-worker Anatoli Ischenko, professor and head of the department of Analytical Chemistry at Lomonosov State Academy of Fine Chemical Technology in Moscow, will present "In Memory of Prof. John Ewbank: Structural Kinetics and Femtochemistry by Time Resolved Electron Diffraction." Lothar Schäfer, Edgar Wertheim Professor, will give an introduction "The Arkansas Electron Diffraction Program 1968-2002."

John D. Ewbank passed away October 13, 2002, at the age of 54. Ewbank, who was also a UA alumnus, earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Washburn University in his home state of Kansas. He soon made his way to the University of Arkansas, where he obtained a doctorate in chemistry under the direction of Schäfer in 1974. He joined the faculty in 1987 and was promoted to full professor in 1996. He received the Halliburton Award for Research Excellence and was a member of Sigma Xi, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Society for Applied Spectroscopy.

His greatest contribution to science was building the first real time non-photographic electron diffraction instrument, which made new time-resolved experiments in laser-excited molecules possible. Ewbank’s techniques in this field played a key role in the research of the 1999 Nobel Prize awarded to Ahmed Zewail. In 1985, Research & Development magazine awarded Ewbank and his collaborators the IR-100 Award, which recognizes the 100 most significant technical products of the year.

It was the common research interest in electron diffraction that brought Ischenko in contact with Ewbank and other researchers at the University, resulting in more than a decade of collaborative research.

Ischenko was educated at one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Russia - Moscow Lomonosov State University. His theoretical background gives him a unique perspective in the field of analytical chemistry, particularly at the molecular level as it pertains to the materials used in chemical sensing. His current research is focused on the development of a theoretical description of gas sensing films. Ischenko is currently a visiting professor in the department of chemistry and biochemistry.