I've been on the road since Thursday, doing what VIPErs do best. My first stop was at Franklin & Marshall College to see old friends like Kate Plass and meet some new friends at a mini-workshop on developing literature discussions. It was a pretty intense 40 hours but well worth it. Look out for 10 new learning objects on 5 primary research articles concerning solids & materials and interesting bonding to appear as new content soon, just in time for you to incorporate into your fall inorganic course. You're welcome!

 

After the workshop, I slithered over ("reptated"...get it?) to Hershey for the ACS MARM. This year's INORG division program is everything a VIPEr could want: sessions on catalysis, bio-inorganic chemistry, coordination chemistry, organometallic chemistry, solid state & materials chemistry, and teaching inorganic chemistry (where yours truly presided from the podium).  Undoubtedly the highlight of the trip was being a guest of honor at the opening reception Sunday night and the award ceremony Monday night. In case you hadn't already heard, I received the E. Emmett Reid Award for Teaching at Small Colleges Colleges in the Mid-Atlantic Region. (Just between you and me, my guest for both events, Chip Nataro, may have been under the impression that he was there because he won the award. Actually I invited him because he's a handy mobile platform for me in crowded venues where getting stepped on is a real hazard. But I hate to disillusion Chip so as a favor to me, please congratulate him anyway.)

 

Not sure what the rest of the summer will look like in terms of travel but I heard some rumors that I might go to Europe next. I'll let you know when I do. If you want to drop me a line about your summer plans, feel free to comment to this BITeS post.