VCU Chemistry presents:

Annual Mary Kapp Lecture in Chemistry

The annual Mary E. Kapp Lecture in Chemistry brings a chemist of international reputation to the department for a two-day visit. This lecture honors Kapp, the first chairperson of the department, who guided the department through its formative years. Kapp established an endowment for the department from her estate. This endowment, in excess of $3.5 million, was established specifically to support the graduate program in chemistry. It is currently used to fund the seminar program, assistantships for doctoral candidates, and graduate student travel to scientific meetings where they present papers.

Mary Eugenia Kapp was born on April 15, 1909, in Mount Airy, North Carolina. She received the A. B. degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the M. A. degree from Duke University, and the Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

From 1931 to 1934 she was head of the science department at Blackstone College, and from 1938 to 1939 she was head of the science department at Averett College. Dr. Kapp was a chemistry instructor at Sophie Newcomb College of Tulane University in New Orleans from 1939 to 1940. In 1940 she joined the faculty of Richmond Professional Institute (RPI) of the College of William and Mary as an assistant professor of chemistry and head of the chemistry department. During World War II, Dr. Kapp worked as assistant chief of chemistry for Du Pont in Richmond.  Returning to RPI in 1946, she was promoted to associate professor.

In 1952 she was promoted to professor and made chairperson of the School of Applied Sciences, and she continued as chair of the Chemistry Department in that school. This school was reorganized in 1966 and made a part of the newly created School of Arts and Sciences, where Dr. Kapp remained as chairperson.  She continued in this position when RPI and the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) merged to become Virginia Commonwealth University in 1968 and until her retirement in 1972. Dr. Kapp was a fellow of the Virginia Academy of Sciences and a member of the American Chemical Society. In 1952 she became the first woman elected chair of the society’s Virginia Section, and she received that group’s Distinguished Service Award in 1969. She was a member of the American Institute of Chemists and the Southern Association of Science and Industry, and she was listed in Who’s Who in America.

Previous Mary Kapp Guest Lecture's

• 1976-77: Charles G. Overberger, Vice President and Professor of Chemistry, University of Michigan and John D. Roberts, Professor of Chemistry, California Institute of Technology
• 1977-1978: Charles N. Reilly, Professor of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• 1978-1979: Edward C. Taylor, Professor of Chemistry, Princeton University
• 1979-1980: William N. Lipscomb Jr., Nobel Laureate and Professor of Chemistry, Harvard University
• 1980-1981: Earl L. Muetterties, Professor of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley
• 1981-1982: Henry Freiser, Professor of Chemistry, University of Arizona
• 1982-1983: Orville L. Chapman, Professor of Chemistry, University of California, Los Angeles
• 1983-1984: Mostafa A. El-Sayed, Professor of Chemistry, University of California, Los Angeles
• 1984-1985: George W. Parshall, Director of Chemical Science, E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
• 1985-1986: Thomas L. Isenhour, Dean of Science and Professor of Chemistry, Utah State University
• 1986-1987: James Economy, Polymer Science and Technology, Research Manager, IBM
• 1987-1988: William Kelmperer, Professor of Chemistry, Harvard University
• 1988-1989: Jacqueline K. Barton, Professor of Chemistry, Columbia University
• 1989-1990: Allen J. Bard, Professor of Chemistry, University of Texas at Austin
• 1990-1991: Albert I. Meyers, Professor of Chemistry, Colorado State University
• 1991-1992: Ahmed H. Zewail, Nobel Laureate and Professor of Chemistry, California Institute of Technology
• 1992-1993: Richard H. Holm, Professor of Chemistry, Harvard University
• 1993-1994: Cynthia M. Friend, Professor of Chemistry, Harvard University
• 1994-1995: James A. Marshall, Guy Lipscomb Professor of Chemistry, University of South Carolina
• 1995-1996:  Henry F. Schaefer III, Professor of Chemistry, University of Georgia
• 1996-1997: Vincent L. Pecoraro, Professor of Chemistry, University of Michigan
• 1997-1998: Alan G. Marshall, Professor of Chemistry, Florida State University
• 1998-1999: Andrew Hamilton, Professor of Chemistry, Yale Univesity
• 1999-2000: W. Carl Lineberger, Professor of Chemistry, University of Colorado
• 2000-2001: Joan Selverstone, Valentine, Professor of Chemistry, University of California, Los Angeles
• 2001-2002: Norman J. Dovichi, Professor of Chemistry, University of Washington
• 2002-2003: John B. Fenn, Nobel Laureate and Professor of Chemistry, Virginia Commonwealth University
• 2004-2005: Peter B. Dervan, Bren Professor of Chemistry, California Institute of Technology
• 2005-2006: Richard J. Saykally, Class of 1932 Chair, Distinguished Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of California at Berkeley
• 2006-2007: Lawerence H. Hurley, Howard J. Schaeffer Chair in Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Arizona
• 2007-2008: Mark E. Meyerhoff, Phillip J. Elving Collegiate Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan
• 2008-2009: Barbara Imperiali, Class of 1922 Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• 2009-2010: Michael L. Klein, Laura H. Carnell Professor and Director of the Institute of Computational Molecular Science, Temple University
• 2010-2011: Daniel G. Nocera, Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy and Director of the Solar Revolutions Project and the Eni Solar Frontiers Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• 2011-2012: Joseph Wang, Professor of Nanoengineering, University of California
• 2012;2013: Scott Miller, Irénée du Pont Professor and Chair, Department of Chemistry, Yale University
• 2013-2014: Naomi Halas, Stanley C. Moore Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice University
• 2014-2015: James Mayer, Professor of Chemistry, Yale University
• 2015-2016: Mary J. Wirth, Professor of Chemistry, Purdue University
• 2016-2017: David R. Liu, Professor of Chemistry, Harvard University
• 2017-2018: Elliot R. Bernstein, Professor Chemistry, Colorado State University
• 2018-2019: Terrence J. Collins, Teresa Heinz Professor of Green Chemistry and Director of the Institute for Green Science, Carnegie Mellon University
• 2020-2021: Frances S. Ligler, Ross Lampe Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering, North Carolina State University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• 2021-2022: Richmond Sarpong, Professor of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley