Janet Gretchen Osteryoung (March 1, 1939 – September 21, 2021) was an American chemist who was the director of the Chemistry Division of the National Science Foundation from 1994 to 2001. Her research furthered the development of electroanalysis and especially that of square wave voltammetry. She was elected a Fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

in 1984 and awarded the

Garvan–Olin Medal The Francis P. Garvan–John M. Olin Medal is an annual award that recognizes distinguished scientific accomplishment, leadership and service to chemistry by women chemists. The Award is offered by the American Chemical Society (ACS), and consist ...

in 1987.

Early life and education

Janet Gretchen Jones was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Vero Beach, Florida. She was an undergraduate student at

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...

, where she was a Merit scholar. Jones was a graduate student at California Institute of Technology, where she worked alongside Fred Anson on ligand bridging in charge transfer reactions. Robert Osteryoung was a Visiting Associate in the Department of Chemistry at Caltech at this same time. After marrying, Janet and Robert Osteryoung both continued to carry out research in the field of electroanalytical chemistry.

Research and career

Osteryoung was appointed to the faculty at

Montana State University Montana State University (MSU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 6 ...

in 1967. She moved to

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

a year later, where she worked in the Departments of Civil Engineering and Microbiology. In 1977, Osteryoung moved to the National Science Foundation, where she was the program director for chemical analysis. Osteryoung was made associate professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1979 and professor in 1982. In 1985 Osteryoung was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

and spent a year at the University of Southampton, where she investigated the fundamentals of solid electrodes. Osteryoung moved to

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

in 1992, where she served as head of department for two years. In 1994, she returned to the National Science Foundation, where she was made director of the division of chemistry. She was the first woman to win the Jacob F. Schoellkopf medal in 1992.

Awards and honors

* 1984 Elected Fellow of the

* 1985

* 1986 Honorary Fulbright Fellow * 1987 American Chemical Society

* 1990 Anachem Award * 1990 Honorary member of

Iota Sigma Pi Iota Sigma Pi () is a national honor society in the United States. It was established in 1902 and specializes in the promotion of women in the sciences, especially chemistry. It also focuses on personal and professional growth for women in these ...

* 1992 Jacob F. Schoellkopf Medal * 1996 American Chemical Society Division of Analytical Chemistry Award in Electrochemistry * 1998 Society for Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh Analytical Chemistry Award * 1999 The Society for Electroanalytical Chemistry Charles N. Reilley Award in Electroanalytical Chemistry

Selected publications

* * *

Personal life

Janet Jones was once married to Robert Osteryoung, who was also an award-winning chemist. In April 2010, she married Chris Cobb in Washington, D.C. Together, Jones and Cobb established the Comis Foundation, a family philanthropic foundation to benefit children and youth.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osteryoung, Janet G 1939 births 2021 deaths Chemists from Pennsylvania American women chemists Electrochemists Analytical chemists Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science American LGBT scientists California Institute of Technology alumni Swarthmore College alumni Scientists from Pittsburgh