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ACS honors Colón for advancing diversity
The Stanley C. Israel Regional Award for Promotion of Diversity is the latest award Luis Colón has received recognizing his efforts to advance diversity in the chemical sciences. Photo: DOUGLAS LEVERE
UB faculty member Luis A. Colón’s continuing efforts to promote diversity in the chemical sciences have been recognized with another honor—this one from the American Chemical Society (ACS), the chief organization representing professionals in all fields of chemistry and sciences that involve chemistry.
The ACS has selected Colón, professor and chair of the Department of Chemistry, as recipient of its Stanley C. Israel Regional Award for Promotion of Diversity.
Colón accepted the honor last weekend during the 37th Northeast Regional Meeting of the ACS, which was held on the SUNY-Potsdam campus. The award recognizes individuals and institutions that have advanced diversity in the chemical sciences and fostered activities promoting inclusiveness.
Other accolades Colón has received for promoting diversity include the 2009 AAAS Mentor Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the 2004 Faculty Mentor of the Year Award from the Compact for Faculty Diversity.
Since joining the UB faculty in 1993, Colón has overseen an array of initiatives–some of which he has sponsored with his own money–to bring minority undergraduates and graduate students to the university. His efforts have helped dozens of scholars from his native Puerto Rico pursue their interest in science through opportunities in Western New York.
Colón, an analytical chemist, has arranged for Hispanic undergraduates to participate in summer research in the chemistry department every year since 1997. In the beginning, he used his own resources, with some support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), to bring Puerto Rican students to Buffalo. Part of his goal was to ease the difficult transition for young people who faced the prospect of attending college or graduate school thousands of miles away from their families.
“Many Hispanic students are strongly encouraged to stay close to family instead of pursuing education and career opportunities away from the comfort of the family,” Colón says, adding that students who excel in science sometimes end up taking jobs close to home with no relation to their scientific talents.
More than 20 students from Puerto Rico have taken part in summer research at UB with Colón or other chemistry faculty members inspired by his example. Many participants have enrolled in advanced degree programs. Colón’s work laid the foundation for the Department of Chemistry’s NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates.
Colón also has mentored undergraduates from underrepresented groups, including students with disabilities, and supported the ACS Scholars Program, which offers scholarships to underrepresented minority students in the chemical sciences.
At the graduate level, Colón, who earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey, has established a pipeline to assist UB in recruiting Cayey graduates. He is a member of the advisory committee to the Arthur A. Schomburg Fellowship Program, which helps underrepresented minorities in graduate programs at UB, and serves as a research mentor for Schomburg fellows. He has worked with the NSF-SUNY Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation and the SUNY Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate, which encourages PhDs from underrepresented groups to seek faculty positions.
Colón’s efforts have led to an increase in diversity within his department, which has conferred 12 advanced degrees to Hispanic students in the past decade. Nine were mentees under Colón, and many have gone into industrial or academic positions in the chemical sciences.
Colón’s research focuses on chemical analysis at the micro/nano scales, the development of new materials for chemical separations, environmental chemistry and bioanalytical chemistry, especially developing new methodology to analyze biological samples, such as saliva and tears, and their potential use in clinical diagnostics.
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