Dr. Yinfa Ma, Curators’ Teaching professor of chemistry at Missouri S&T, is the recipient of the 2008 American Chemical Society Division of Analytical Chemistry’s J. Calvin Giddings Award for Excellence in Education. Ma accepted the award during the 236th ACS national meeting held this fall in Philadelphia.

The J. Calvin Giddings award is designed to enhance the personal and professional development of students in the study of analytical chemistry. Criteria for receiving the award includes authorship an influential textbook for an analytical chemistry course, design and implementation of a successful new approach to teaching analytical chemistry, stimulation through teaching or research mentorship of a significant number of students to become analytical chemists, development and publication of innovative experiments, design of improved equipment for teaching labs and publication of widely quoted articles on teaching analytical chemistry.

“I was completely surprised but very honored and excited to receive this award,” says Ma. “I look at it as not just a personal honor but an honor for the university and a way to help with recruiting. I appreciate the support from past and current students and colleagues for nominating me.”

Ma joined the Missouri S&T faculty in July 2000 as an assistant professor of chemistry. In December 2007, he was named Curators’ Teaching professor of chemistry. Since 2004, he has served on the editorial board for the Journal of Biochemical and Biochemical Methods. He has been a member of the American Chemical Society for 17 years. His research interests include bioanalysis and environmental analysis of biological compounds and degradation products of pesticides and herbicides. Ma has published more than 67 peer-reviewed papers, given more than 169 presentations at national and international conferences and generated nine patents.

Ma received a bachelor of science degree in chemistry from Zhengzhou Univeristy in China in 1981 and a Ph.D. degree in analytical chemistry from Iowa State University in 1990.