Gardella to Receive Schoellkopf Medal

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Joseph A. Gardella, Jr., Ph.D., professor of chemistry and biomaterials, and associate dean for external affairs for the University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences, has been selected to receive the 2002 Jacob F. Schoellkopf Medal from the Western New York Section of the American Chemical Society.

The award, which honors an individual in the Niagara Frontier for outstanding work and service in the fields of chemistry or chemical engineering, will be presented to Gardella at the group's annual dinner on May 30.

In making the selection, the jury cited Gardella "for professional contributions that have impacted the lives of many in the Western New York community by facilitating interactions between citizen organizations, local businesses, industry and government, and providing environmental expertise."

He also was recognized "for innovations in polymer surface science research with various biomedical applications, and for excellence in the teaching of chemistry and outstanding mentorship."

A UB faculty member since 1982, Gardella conducts research that focuses on the solution of molecular and macromolecular structure at surfaces and interfaces, an area that encompasses many aspects of physics, chemistry, materials and engineering.

A former co-director of UB's Industry/University Center for Biosurfaces, Gardella and his co-investigators developed new surface chemistry for modified Teflon surfaces that could eventually be part of tissue-regeneration or wound-healing systems.

He is a member of the Environmental Task Force and chaired the group from 1995-99. An affiliate of the Environment and Society Institute, he is a former member of the organization's Steering Committee.

Gardella has worked with numerous citizens groups, among them the Hickory Woods Concerned Homeowners Association, whose members believe their properties, built on the site of a former steel company, are contaminated. His undergraduate chemistry students have analyzed air and soil samples from the South Buffalo subdivision.

He has received several academic honors, including a SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching, a National Science Foundation Award for Special Creativity and an Exxon Educational Foundation Research and Training Program Grant.

Gardella graduated from Oakland University and earned a doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh.

He resides in North Buffalo.