Cal State L.A.’s chemistry professor is one of three in Los Angeles to garner national distinction

August 20, 2013

Gutierrez joins the 2013 class of American Chemical Society Fellows

Los Angeles, CA – Aug.20, 2013 – Carlos Gutiérrez (Monrovia resident), professor of chemistry at California State University, Los Angeles, is one of only three scientists from the Los Angeles area to be named an American Chemical Society (ACS) Fellow for 2013.

Professor Gutiérrez, along with the other new ACS Fellows, will be recognized at a formal ceremony during the Society’s national meeting in Indianapolis, IN, on Monday, Sept. 9.

ACS, the world’s largest scientific society, established its Fellows Program to recognize ACS members for outstanding achievements and contributions to science, the profession and the society. The honor of a Fellow designation is bestowed on ACS members who have achieved excellence in two defined areas—scientific/professional accomplishments and service to the ACS.

Due in great part to Gutiérrez’s effort, the ACS established the Committee on Minority Affairs in 1993. During his tenure as the first committee chair, Gutiérrez helped establish the ACS Scholars Program, a $15 million scholarship program for undergraduates nationwide, and the ACS Award for Encouraging Disadvantaged Students to Pursue Careers in Chemical Sciences. Since 1995, the careers of 2,450 talented undergraduates have been enhanced though these scholarships.

A President’s Distinguished Professor at CSULA, Gutiérrez has administered research and research training programs at the University for three decades, including the National Institutes of Health-Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC), and the Minority Biomedical Research Support-Research Internships in Science and Engineering (RISE) programs. In the past 10 years alone, 70 CSULA MARC and RISE alumni completed the Ph.D. at top research universities nationwide and established research careers in academia and industry; 130 are currently in Ph.D. programs.

Gutiérrez, whose B.S. is from UCLA and Ph.D. from UC Davis, has served on the National Institute of General Medical Sciences National Advisory Council; the National Research Council Board on Higher Education Workforce; the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Committee on Opportunities in Science; and the California Council on Science and Technology (CCST).

A CSULA faculty member since 1976, Gutierrez’s research straddles the interface between organic, inorganic and biological chemistry, and focuses on studying the molecular processes of iron acquisition and transport in bacteria. He has published numerous articles, all with student coauthors.

Gutiérrez is a dedicated chemistry educator whose teaching has been acknowledged by the University’s Outstanding Professor Award; the Distinguished Scholar Award from the CSULA chapter of the national honor society Phi Kappa Phi; the CSULA Hispanic Support Network Outstanding Educator Award; and the Cal State L.A. Associated Students, Inc. Outstanding Faculty Award. He also received the 2000 systemwide CSU Wang Family Excellence-Outstanding Faculty Award. The students of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry selected him as the 2005 Outstanding Professor of Chemistry. He is recipient of the 2005 Education Award, presented by the Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Award Corporation. He was named by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education as its 2005 U.S. Professor of the Year at a Master’s University.

In 1996, Gutiérrez was among the first individuals named by the President of the United States to receive the then-newly-established annual Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring. Additionally, he has received a 1999 Scholar-Fellow award from the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation; the 2000 Quality Education for Minorities in Mathematics, Science and Engineering Network’s Giants in Science Award; the 2001 ACS Award for Encouraging Disadvantaged Students into Careers in the Chemical Sciences; and the 2003 AAAS Lifetime Mentor Award.

In 2002, he was elected as an AAAS Fellow, and was elected as a CCST Senior Fellow in 2009. He also received an award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the educational film, “Antimatter.”

He was listed by Los Angeles Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential Angelenos in 2006. In 2006 and again in 2008, he was named by the Hispanic Business Magazine to its list of 100 Most Influential Hispanics in the United States.

Two other prominent scientists from the Los Angeles area named among the 2013 class of ACS Fellows are Barbara Belmont, American Research & Testing and California State University, Dominguez Hills, and Charles M. Knobler, emeritus professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UCLA.  

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