Southern Miss Hinton Selected for Competitive Chemistry Program
Fri, 11/09/2012 - 11:35am | By: Tara Burcham
University of Southern Mississippi student Daniel Hinton, a senior chemistry major from Petal, Miss., has been accepted into a new program called “Chemistry Opportunities (CHOPs)" at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Chemistry Department.
According to Hinton, CHOPs invites 20-25 highly qualified prospective students to the UW-Madison Chemistry Department for an all-expense paid weekend to explore the chemistry graduate program.
In preparation of joining a graduate program, Hinton visited several universities and was “very happy to be accepted to this exclusive UW-Madison CHOPs event.” He says he “came back very impressed with the chemistry department at the University of Wisconsin” and plans to apply to the department's graduate program.
Hinton called the visit “an incredible opportunity for me to make the next step in my chemistry career.”
“I was able to discuss my undergraduate research with University of Wisconsin distinguished chemistry professor, Samuel H. Gellman,” said Hinton.
Since then, Hinton has been corresponding with Gellman via e-mail and “he has been very helpful in assisting me with applying for an NSF Graduate Fellowship.”
Hinton's career at Southern Miss has included being selected to participate in the American Chemical Society's mentoring program, Project SEED.
Dr. Douglas Masterson, Associate Professor and Associate chair, who directed Hinton and currently serves as his mentor, says, “Daniel is certainly among the best undergraduate researchers at USM and I expect that he will have multiple offers from the best graduate schools in the nation.”
Hinton is currently pursuing the rigorous ACS-certified degree emphasis and is scheduled to graduate in May 2013. He intends to pursue graduate studies in chemistry.
According to Dr. Sabine Heinhorst, chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Hinton's acceptance to the CHOPs program and an eminent scientist like Dr. Gellman taking notice of his achievements “would not have been possible had Daniel not been engaged in undergraduate research.”
“Daniel is a success story for the ACS-SEED program and validation of USM's efforts to promote undergraduate research,” said Heinhorst.
For more information about the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, visit www.usm.edu/chemistry-biochemistry.