Two UTD Professors Win Chemistry Research Grants Worth $300,000
from Houston’s Welch Foundation
Dr. Jeff DeJong
Dr. Paul Pantano
RICHARDSON, Texas (May
20, 2003): Two professors at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD)
have won grants totaling $300,000 from the Houston-based Welch
Foundation, which annually funds basic chemistry research in Texas.
The two scientists – one from UTD’s Department of Chemistry, the other
from the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology – each received
three-year grants of $150,000. The grant recipients and the titles of
their respective research are:
- Dr. Paul Pantano, associate professor, chemistry, “Novel Protein
Surface Chemistries.” - Dr. Jeff DeJong, associate professor, molecular and cell biology,
“Biochemical Mechanisms of Germ-Line Gene Regulation.”
The grants are part of $22.3 million in funding provided by the
foundation this year to 151 scientists at 22 Texas institutions of
higher education.
Pantano earned a Ph.D. degree in analytical chemistry from the
University of California, Riverside. DeJong holds a Ph.D. degree in
biochemistry from Pennsylvania State University.
The Welch Foundation was established in 1954 by the estate of Robert A.
Welch, an oil and minerals entrepreneur. In addition to individual
research grants, the organization underwrites 41 academic chairs in
chemistry, including one at UTD filled by Dr. Ray H. Baughman, director
of the UTD NanoTech Institute. The foundation also sponsors a wide array
of conferences, lectures and scholarly programs to further chemistry
education and research at the junior high school, high school and
college levels in Texas.
About UTD
The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of
Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major
multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor,
enrolls more than 13,000 students. The school’s freshman class
traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in
terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a broad assortment of
bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. For additional
information about UTD, please visit the university’s web site at
www.utdallas.edu.