Dominik Konkolewicz honored with national award for the teaching of chemistry
Konkolewicz, Ann Sterner, and Philip Costanzo, co-founders of MACRO, recognized with the 2025 James Flack Norris Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Teaching of Chemistry
Dominik Konkolewicz honored with national award for the teaching of chemistry
Dominik Konkolewicz, Miami University Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, has received the 2025 James Flack Norris Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Teaching of Chemistry by the Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society (ACS). The award recognizes dedicated teachers of chemistry at any level whose efforts have had a wide-ranging effect on chemical education.
Konkolewicz received the award with Ann Sterner, professor of Chemistry at Lebanon Valley College, and Philip J. Costanzo, professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at California Polytechnic State University, co-founders of the Macromolecular Alliance for Community Resources & Outreach (MACRO). The award celebrates MACRO’s outstanding achievements in the teaching of chemistry and its deep, sustained impact on the polymer education community.
MACRO — a joint service committee of the ACS Divisions of Polymer Chemistry and Polymeric Materials: Science & Engineering (PMSE) — has emerged as a national leader in developing freely accessible educational, outreach, and professional development resources for polymer chemists at all career stages, according to the ACS.
Through their coordinated efforts across curriculum, outreach, and professional development, MACRO has established a robust portfolio of high-impact initiatives — from modular teaching resources aligned with ACS certification requirements to national symposia, live webinars, and a widely used repository of instructional materials on their website, macro-poly-pmse.org.
MACRO’s work is also reaching classrooms across the country. At the Spring 2024 ACS national meeting, MACRO hosted a dedicated half-day session focused on K–14 education and provided funds to distribute over 100 activity kits to educators, helping bring hands-on science into classrooms. Their website continues to serve as a global resource, with more than 300 unique users in the past year, and much higher traffic during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Their national ACS symposia— now four in total — have featured more than 40 oral presentations and brought together educators from K–12 through higher education, private industry, and ACS leadership. These efforts have demonstrated a sustained impact on the polymer science community and are worthy of recognition with the 2025 James Flack Norris Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Teaching of Chemistry,” stated a press release from the Northeastern Section of ACS.
The award will be presented to the MACRO team by the Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society (NESACS) at a ceremony in November in Boston.
Konkolewicz was recently named a Miami University Distinguished Professor. Among other honors, he was elected a Fellow of the American Chemical Society in 2024, “a highly competitive honor granted to only about 40 ACS members per year,” according to a nominator. He was also recognized with the 2024 Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE) Distinguished Service Award.
He received the Royal Society of Chemistry’s (RSC) 2022 Polymer Chemistry Lectureship Award, a prestigious award for early-to-mid career leaders in polymer chemistry. At Miami, he was honored with the 2024 Distinguished Teaching Award for Excellence in Graduate Instruction and Mentoring.
