Valpo Alumnus Earns Guggenheim Fellowship

Eric Bittner ’88, associate professor of chemistry in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at the University of Houston, is among 189 scientists, artists and scholars named 2007 Fellows by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

Guggenheim Fellows are appointed on the basis of distinguished achievement and exceptional promise for future accomplishment. Bittner received the honor for his research in dynamics of electron transfer between organic molecules.

Scores of Nobel, Pulitzer, and other prize winners appear on the list of fellows, which includes Ansel Adams, Aaron Copland, Langston Hughes, Henry Kissinger and Linus Pauling.

Eric Bittner recently received the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship for his research in dynamics of electron transfer between organic molecules.

Bittner has been with the University of Houston since 1997. He earned a bachelor of science degree in chemistry and physics at Valpo and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Chicago in 1994.

“Having a degree from a top-ranked university such as Valpo opened the door for my graduate education at the University of Chicago,” Bittner says.

“Even in a highly competitive place like the U of C, I felt my background and preparation in chemistry and physics was in many ways superior to students coming from the ‘traditional power­house’ universities (Cornel, MIT, Berkeley).

“My decision to go into theoretical chemistry was no doubt inspired by [Valpo] professors Warren Kosman ’67 and Bob Manweiler. They and others managed to convey their enthusiasm and intellectual curiosity in this subject, and it really resonated with me.”

Bittner’s fellowship will allow him to spend part of the 2007-’08 academic year at Cambridge University, where he will work with Sir Richard Friend, Cavendish professor of physics, and the Optical Electronic Group. Friend is a pioneer in the field of polymer optoelectronics.