Miami University

News Release

News and Public Information Office
Glos Center
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio 45056
(513) 529-7592
(513) 529-1950 fax
newsinfo@muohio.edu

Mickey Sarquis honored for lifelong science outreach efforts

08/27/2008

Email this Article

Helen Free (left) presents Miami's Mickey Sarguis with the Free Award for Public Outreach at the American Chemical Society's national meeting Aug. 19.

Mickey Sarquis, director of the Center for Chemistry Education at Miami University Middletown, received the American Chemical Society's (ACS) 2008 Helen M. Free Award for Public Outreach. She was honored at the national meeting of the ACS - the world's largest scientific society - in Philadelphia Aug. 19.

Sarquis is founder and director of the Center for Chemistry Education (CCE) and of the Terrific Science Press, the award-winning not-for-profit publishing arm of the Center, now in their 25th year (www.terrificscience.org). She is a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Miami Middletown and has taught at the high school, undergraduate and graduate levels.

Her pioneering efforts in professional development and resource publications for teachers have become national and international models. Over the past 25 years, Sarquis and the CCE have directly reached more than 21,500 teachers representing every state in the U.S. and 50,000 students through direct programming.

A strong proponent of active learning, Sarquis has forged enduring partnerships between academia and industry to build fun, engaging and relevant experiences for children and teachers of all ages. She has published more than 60 books, including the popular Teaching Science with Toys series, and is a widely traveled guest lecturer. She also is an ACS Tour Speaker, guiding others to engage in their own scientific outreach.

Sarquis has been honored with many other awards including the ACS, Cincinnati Section, Chemist of the Year (2006), National Chemical Manufacturers Association Catalyst Award (1994) and the Ohio Academy of Science Outstanding University Educator Award (1990).

The Terrific Science Press recently received a Gold Award for Health Promotion/Disease and Injury Prevention Information by the National Health Information Awards program.

Sarquis also has been awarded more than $16 million in grant funds from federal, state and industrial sources for the purpose of teacher outreach.

Within ACS, she has held positions as chair of the Division of Chemical Education and consultant to the ACS Committee of Education, and she was the secondary school chemistry section editor of the Journal of Chemical Education (1979-1996).

The Helen M. Free Award was established in 1995 to recognize outstanding achievements in public outreach. A former president of the ACS, Free initiated many programs and activities designed to improve the public's awareness of chemistry's contributions to the quality of daily life.