News Release

Argonne scientists Rajh, Soderholm and Segre named AAAS Fellows

Grant and Award Announcement

DOE/Argonne National Laboratory

Tijana Rajh, Argonne National Laboratory

image: Tijana Rajh is a senior scientist and group leader for the nanobio research interface group within Argonne National Laboratory's Center for Nanoscale Materials. Rajh was named a AAAS fellow. view more 

Credit: Argonne National Laboratory

ARGONNE, Ill. — Physical chemist Tijana Rajh, chemist Lynda Soderholm and physicist Carlo Segre of the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Fellows are elected for this honor by AAAS because of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. This year's fellows will be formally announced in the journal Science on Nov. 29 and will be presented with an official certificate during the 2014 AAAS Annual Meeting in Chicago.

Rajh, a senior scientist and group leader for the nanobio research interface group within Argonne's Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM), was elected as a AAAS fellow for her "distinguished contributions to the fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology, with particular emphasis on semiconductor-assisted photocatalysis, solar energy conversion and energy storage."

"Tijana is a world-leading and highly innovative scientist in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology," said Amanda Petford-Long, director of CNM and the lab's Nanoscience and Technology Division. "I am delighted that her distinguished performance has been recognized by her election as a fellow of the AAAS."

Rajh earned her doctorate from the University of Belgrade in Yugoslavia. She joined Argonne in 1996, working in its Chemistry Division. Rajh is a prolific researcher, co-authoring more than 150 papers and holding 4 patents.

Soderholm is a senior scientist and group leader of heavy element and separations science in the Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division at Argonne. She was chosen as an AAAS fellow for her contributions to the application of advanced physical techniques – especially high-energy X-ray scattering – to elucidate the structures of actinide-containing systems in dynamic solutions.

"Lynda Soderholm has conducted cutting-edge research using synchrotron radiation methods to study the behavior of heavy elements in solution as they relate to chemistries relevant to separation processes for the extraction and separation of actinides," said Emilio Bunel, division director of Chemical Sciences and Engineering.

"I would like to thank my colleagues for their recognition," Soderholm said.

Soderholm has received several awards, notably the University of Chicago Board of Governors' Distinguished Performance Award in 2009 and the DOE's materials sciences research competition for Outstanding Scientific Accomplishments in Solid State Physics in 1987.

Segre is deputy director of the Biophysics Collaborative Access Team (BioCAT) at the Advanced Photon Source and a professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He was chosen as an AAAS fellow for his contributions to materials science and engineering - particularly high-temperature superconductivity and developing facilities for synchrotron radiation studies of electrochemical and catalytic systems.

"A lot of my work has been done in collaboration with Argonne," says Segre about his 20-year relationship working with the Materials Research Collaborative Access Team (MRCAT) beamline at the laboratory. "Working in collaboration with IIT and other institutions has been a big part of my career."

This fall, Segre received a $3.4 million award from the DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA-E) to develop a prototype for a rechargeable "nanoelectrofuel" flow battery that could extend the driving range of electric vehicles from 100-200 miles to 500 miles.

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Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America's scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world's largest general scientific society, and publisher of the journal, Science as well as Science Translational Medicine and Science Signaling. AAAS was founded in 1848, and includes 261 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. The non-profit AAAS is open to all and fulfills its mission to "advance science and serve society" through initiatives in science policy, international programs, science education and more.


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