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K-State Today

October 21, 2015

Innovation, creativity, economic growth: Prominent chemist and entrepreneur to give talk

Submitted by Sarah Hancock

E. Ann Nalley, fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and professor of chemistry and Clarence E. Page endowed chair in math and science education at Cameron University, will talk about the role of innovation in economic development at 2:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23, in Fiedler Auditorium.

Nalley, who has helped start seven new businesses and has served as national president of the American Chemical Society and the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, will explore the roles universities and professional societies have to play in recruiting and training creative students as scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs to maintain U.S. competitiveness and economic growth.

Nalley has served students at Cameron University for 46 years. She was the first person from Oklahoma to be selected as a fellow of the American Chemical Society. She was the first woman to hold a position on the Committee to Organize an International Meeting for the Chemical Societies of the Countries Bordering on the Pacific Ocean, or PACIFICHEM, and served in that position for 10 years. Nalley also was the first professor to receive Cameron's Distinguished Service Award and was inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame in 2010.

While on campus, Nalley will visit with faculty and have lunch with students who are interested in creativity and careers in science, technology, engineering and math fields. Her visit is sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research and the K-State Office for the Advancement of Women in Science and Engineering, or KAWSE.