“It is only a diverse and inclusive multidisciplinary research culture that enables lab members to work to their highest potential, advance our scientific objectives, and develop the next generation of innovators, scientists, and leaders.”—Mapp Lab website

In part because of this commitment to diversity and inclusion, Chemistry professor Anna Mapp received the prestigious Imes & Moore Mentorship award for 2018. Mapp is Edwin Vedejs Collegiate Professor of Chemistry, LSA; Research Professor, Life Sciences Institute; and Director of the Chemical Biology Program.

The Imes & Moore Mentorship Award is presented every year to faculty members who have made exceptional contributions in recruiting and mentoring graduate students in the sciences from under represented and non-traditional backgrounds. This award honors Elmer Samuel Imes, the second African American to receive a Ph.D. in physics in the United States, and Willie Hobbs Moore, the first African American woman to receive a Ph.D. in physics in the United States. The awardee receives a certificate acknowledging his or her contributions to recruiting and mentoring, and a $3000 prize that can be used for additional salary or research support.

Professor Mapp has long considered diversity and inclusion to be at the heart of her research and mentoring mission. She completed her A.B. in chemistry at Bryn Mawr College before moving to the University of California-Berkeley to complete the Ph.D. under the direction of Professor Clayton H. Heathcock. Following postdoctoral work with Professor Peter B Dervan at Caltech, Mapp joined the faculty at the University of Michigan in 2000.

Her research has been firmly rooted in the advancement of the department’s culture of diversity and inclusion, the enhancement of its research and reputation and the further development of the surrounding research community. Her commitment to fulfill these objectives is seen in her role as a mentor to a number of graduate students and postdoctoral research fellows as well as through her contributions in practices and policies implemented for improving the Program in Chemical Biology and Chemistry curriculums.

Professor Mapp is in good company at the University of Michigan, where the Department of Chemistry is highly committed to recruitment of students and faculty members from non-traditional backgrounds to support diversity and inclusion at University of Michigan. Previous awardees from the Department of Chemistry include Carol Fierke (2017), Ted Goodson (2014), Nils Walter (2013) and Adam Matzger (2012).