RELEASED: Oct. 17, 2002

DANVILLE, KY—Heidi Privett, a 2002 graduate of Centre College, was recently published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS). JACS is the flagship journal of the American Chemical Society and is highly esteemed in the field.

Founded in 1879, this periodical is devoted to the publication of research papers in all fields of chemistry and publishes approximately 13,000 pages of new chemistry each year. Published weekly, JACS provides research crucial to the field of chemistry.

Privett's work included synthesizing a peptide by using chemical techniques. Peptides are compounds formed by the linkage of two or more amino acids. This was a four-week effort. After that was accomplished, she purified the peptide and performed nearly all of the experimentation that is referenced in the article. The article, "Nonnatural Amino Acid Ligands in Heme Protein Design," can be viewed in PDF format at http://pubs.acs.org:80/journals/jacsat/article.cgi/jacsat/2002/124/i24/pdf/ja025534+.pdf

"Scientific work at this level is very unusual for undergraduates and is a feather in the cap for Heidi and Centre," said Ed Montgomery, visiting assistant professor of chemistry.

Privett completed this work featured in JACS while participating in a National Science Research Experience at Columbia University during the summers between her junior and senior years at Centre. She is currently studying in Sweden on a Fulbright Fellowship (http://www.centre.edu/web/news/privett02.html).

A native of Nicholasville, Ky., Privett holds the rare distinction of being both a Fulbright winner and a Goldwater Scholarship winner. She graduated summa cum laude and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

After she completes her 10-month fellowship in Sweden, Privett will take part in a graduate teaching assistantship and research chemistry fellowship at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif.

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