Karl Kirschner, visiting professor of chemistry and co-director of the Center for Molecular Design, spent the past month visiting the Universität Dortmund in the Ruhrgebiet region of northwest Germany. The partnership between Hamilton and the Universität was formed though the efforts of Hamilton's German program and Dr. Walter Grünzweig, chair of the American Studies Program at Dortmund. The relationship has two components: an undergraduate exchange program and a teaching fellow program. Kirschner was there in order to generate interest in a chemistry student exchange. He met with Grünzweig as well as Dr. Christof Niemeyer, Dr. Roland Winter, Dr. Klaus Jurkschat, and Dr. Hans-Dieter Arndt of Dortmund's Chemistry Department. In addition, Kirschner and Jurkschat created a new scientific collaboration to investigate the conformations and energetics of a silicon-phosphorus compound.
The partnership between the Hamilton German Program and the Universität Dortmund was formed in 1993. In addition to a student exchange, the partnership includes a teaching fellow program. While teaching language courses, teaching fellows strengthen cross-cultural experiences inside and outside of the classroom. German exchange students further contribute to the Hamilton community by living in student residences and participating in academic and social life.
Hamilton chemistry majors Daniel Griffith '07 (a recent Goldwater Scholar) and Silias McKee '07 have both applied for Fulbright Grants to spend next year in Germany. Griffith hopes to join the research group of Ullrich Jahn at the Technische Universität Braunschweig, while McKee will pursue his passion about renewable and green energy.
Both students are currently working on their senior research with Associate Chemistry Professor Ian Rosenstein. Griffith, McKee, and Kirschner are studying German with Professor Edith Toegel and this year's German fellow, Julia Strauss.
