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Jon Carnahan gets Distinguished Service Award from analytical chemistry, spectroscopy groups

October 26, 2011
Jon Carnahan

Douglas Gilman (left), chair of the FACSS governing board, presents Jon Carnahan with the Distinguished Service Award.

Professor Jon Carnahan, chair of NIU’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, has been presented with the prestigious Distinguished Service Award from the Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies (FACSS).

The Distinguished Service Award recognizes exceptional, long-term service to FACSS and was presented at the federation’s annual meeting, held earlier this month in Reno, Nev.

Over the 38 years of the meeting’s existence, only 10 other individuals have received the Distinguished Service Award.

Carnahan, who conducts research in analytical spectroscopy, began teaching at NIU in 1983. He served as director of the department’s graduate studies before becoming department chair in 2006.

Carnahan has been involved in the promotion of analytical chemistry and spectroscopy on several levels.

He has authored more than 60 peer-reviewed publications and given more than 100 presentations at national and international meetings. He served as program chair for the 1990 Great Lakes Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society.

His service to the Society for Applied Spectroscopy has included various committee memberships as well as serving as national secretary from 2001 to 2003 and president-elect, president and past-president from 2008 to 2010.

Carnahan also has served FACSS in a number of capacities, including workshop chair (1988-89), treasurer (1990-94), governing board chair (term from 1994-97) and as a frequent governing board delegate.

FACSS covers the whole field of analytical chemistry, with representatives from individual chemistry societies sitting on the organization’s governing board. Both U.S. and international societies are among the member organizations, including the American Chemical Society, Analytical Division; American Society for Mass Spectrometry; International Society of Automation, Analysis Division; Royal Society of Chemistry; and Society for Applied Spectroscopy.