The 1,048th Meeting of the Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society
Thursday, May 14, 2026
Education Night
6:30 PM
- Virtual “Meet and Greet” before the ceremony
7:00 PM
- Scott Edmondson, NESACS Chair presiding
- Address by Dr. John F. Berry, Chemistry Department at the University of Wisconsin – Madison
- Awards Presentations: College Students and Faculty
Link to Register: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/Qu_u7uZlTpmYkIWPGYuheQ
Title: Harmony and Bonding Between Music and Chemistry
Music and Chemistry
The intertwining of Music and Chemistry has been known for some time (chemist and composer, Alexander Borodin, among others). This synergy has recently been written about [see Sarah Braner, C&EN (2/13/2026) A Symphony of Proteins and an Orchestra of Scientists, and by Christina Bodurow, C&EN, (12/13/2018 ) Music and Chemistry- What’s the Connection? ]
Our speaker, John Berry, adds his perspective in the title of his presentation ”Harmony and Bonding Between Music and Chemistry” as well as in one of his original compositions, “Sonata for Tuba and Piano” performed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Abstract:
The experience of music is a holistically invigorating phenomenon. When we make music, we create pressure waves in the air. These pressure waves are separated into frequencies in our ears (like a Fourier transform). The different frequencies cause hairs to vibrate creating electrical signals – ion gradients – that are interpreted by the brain to release specific chemical compounds. The neurotransmitters dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine – simple organic compounds – change our mood and govern our emotional response. Thus, at a fundamental level, music relates acoustic physics to neurobiology and chemistry, and touches our emotions. Beyond this fundamental connection, there are many other parallels between music and chemistry that we can examine. Chemistry and music both make use of unique notation systems – languages that baffle the uninitiated – and also structures, patterns, periodicity, symmetry, quantization, and frequency spectra. Even group theory, if we want to go there. Practitioners of music and chemistry also share certain traits. Becoming adept at playing a musical instrument requires practice, discipline, and dedication. It mirrors the training in the chemistry lab that is required to optimize a synthetic reaction or to make the most accurate measurements. Musicians and chemists both rely on techniques, theory, analysis, and even instruments. Most importantly, music and chemistry both offer limitless combinations of pitches, harmonies, forms, and rhythms – or atoms, molecules, materials and reactions – that spur human creativity. What musicians call “improvisation,” chemists will call “experimentation” – the same creative process is employed in each case.
Biography:
John was born in Atlanta, GA in September 1977, and grew up in Newport News, Virginia. He attended Virginia Tech from 1996 – 2000 where he obtained two degrees: a BA in music theory and composition, and a BS in chemistry. John then pursued graduate education in chemistry, attending Texas A&M University from 2000 – 2004 where he worked as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow in the research group of Prof. F. Albert Cotton. His graduate work involved synthetic and experimental studies to elucidate the electronic structure and metal-metal bonding in linear trinuclear molecules that serve as models for molecular wires. John then did postdoctoral work in Germany on a fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. From 2004 – 2006, he worked with Prof. Karl Wieghardt at the Max Planck Institute for Bioinorganic Chemistry in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany, on new electrochemical and photochemical routes to unstable high-valent iron intermediates. In 2006, John joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, where he has established a vibrant research program tackling fundamental problems in coordination chemistry and bonding. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2012, full Professor in 2015, and in 2016 John was appointed the Lester R. McNall Professor of Chemistry. John’s honors include the Enrst Haage Prize (first recipient, 2006), an NSF CAREER Award (2008), an Alexander von Humbold alumni fellowship (2015), the Vilas Faculty Mid-Career Investigator Award (2016), and the H. I. Romnes Faculty Fellowship (2017), along with two university housing awards for teaching. John is a member of the ACS, AAAS, and the editorial board of Inorganic Chemistry, and is Deputy Editor in Chief for Comments on Inorganic Chemistry. Outside of research, John still enjoys writing music, which he sometimes has occasion to perform on either the violin, viola, or piano.
Link to the program: Ed Night Program 2026
AWARDS
College and University Awards
Dr. Ruth Tanner, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Chair, Education Committee, NESACS
Grants in Aid: Travel grants to attend an ACS National Meeting and to present a paper at the Undergraduate Research Poster Session in the Division of Chemical Education
Norris Richards Undergraduate Summer Research Scholarships: Research Awards for the summer of 2025 for a minimum commitment of 10 weeks of full-time research work
Phyllis A. Brauner Memorial Book Award for the best talk by an undergraduate at the Northeast Student Chemistry Research Conference (NSCRC) was presented at the Conference.
High School Awards
Dr. Steve Lantos, Brookline High School
Chair, High School Education Committee, NESACS
AVERY A. ASHDOWN HIGH SCHOOL CHEMISTRY EXAMINATION CONTEST
The High School Committee continues to oversee the two competitive chemistry examinations offered to section secondary students: The Avery Ashdown Exam (55th year) and the United States National Chemistry Olympiad (USNCO, 41st year).
Typically, over 16,000 students nationwide take some form of the local section exam each year in early April. From this entry-level group, the ACS has allotted a fixed number of students to qualify for the next round of competition, the USNCO. Thanks to Ron Ragsdale of the University of Utah who has been involved with the USNCO from its beginning in the mid-1980s, the ACS uses a federated system whereby the number of qualifying students in a section is based on its ACS membership. Given the considerable number of members of NESACS, we are allocated one of the larger groups of qualifiers.
Simmons University Prize
This cash award is given annually to top scorers of the Avery A. Ashdown Exam. The award is presented by a member of the Simmons University Chemistry Dept.
AULA LAUDIS SOCIETY
The Aula Laudis Society recognizes outstanding High School Chemistry Teachers from within the Section. The award is a NESACS Hall of Fame for high school teachers who have made distinguished contributions to secondary chemical education. The evaluation of nominees is based on their students’ performance in chemistry competitions, past recognition that honors their teaching, involvement in students’ extra-curricular activities in chemistry, and enthusiastic feedback from past students and colleagues. Typically, two inductees are awarded every year.
THEODORE WILLIAM RICHARDS AWARD
The Theodore William Richards Award for Excellence in Teaching Secondary School Chemistry honors a teacher in the Northeastern Section who, through innovation and dedication, has inspired potential chemists, has communicated chemistry to non-chemists, or has influenced other teachers of chemistry. The selected teacher is officially honored at the Section’s May meeting (“Education Night”) and receives both a $1,500 prize and a Certificate of Recognition.
