We saddened to hear today that our good friend and NMR compatriot Anita Brandolini passed away a few weeks ago. We were informed by Mike Frey of JEOL that the North Jersey Section of ACS will be setting up a memorial as part of Project SEED. If you knew Anita or share her passion for teaching science to the young then please consider donating to this cause.
Anita J.Brandolini, 56, Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Ramapo College of New Jersey, died suddenly at her home in Hillsboro, NJ on March 10, 2012.
Originally from Morton, PA, Brandolini earned her B.S. in Chemistry in 1979 at Drexel University and her M.A. and PhD in Physical Chemistry in 1981 and 1983 at the University of Delaware. She was also a course Instructor for JEOL, USA, Inc.
Brandolini worked for 17 years at Mobil Chemical where she was a Team Leader and Senior Research Chemist in polymer analytical chemistry. She was an expert in the nuclear magnetic resonance of polymer systems publishing a book, NMR Spectra of Polymers and Polymer Additives (Anita J. Brandolini and Deborah D. Hills, New York; Marcel Decker, 2000) and contributing chapters on spectroscopy to numerous publications.
In 2000 Brandolini began a full time academic career accepting a two-year appointment at the College of New Jersey and then teaching at William Paterson University and Fairleigh Dickinson University before joining the Ramapo University faculty in 2007. She was an enthusiastic educator dedicated to undergraduate teaching and research and incorporating her industrial experience into her teaching, design of experiments, and writing. She believed strongly in undergraduate research and mentored many students. Her work primarily involved studies of the adsorption of polymers to surfaces and, more recently, the binding of dyes to nucleic acids.
Brandolini disseminated her love of chemistry broadly. She published a book for children Fizz, Bubble, and Flash: Element Explorations and Atom Adventures (Anita J.Brandolini, Charlotte, VT. Williamson Books, 2003) for which she was awarded the Parents’ Choice Foundation Silver Honor in 2003. She developed a website Keys to Chemistry, an interactive forum for students to practice chemistry, and she hosted a blog Dr. B’s Science Lab where she posted monthly themed experiments involving science for the whole family. She also gave many lectures at schools and at the New Jersey Liberty Science Center.
Brandolini was an active member of the ACS and its North Jersey Section. She was an ACS Councilor and served as Secretary and Chair of the Section. Nationally she was a member of the Committee on Project SEED and the Committee on Public Relations and Communications. In 2011 she was named a Fellow of the American Chemical Society.
The NJACS is establishing an Annual Project SEED Award to be given to an outstanding high school student at the SEED Poster Session held in September each year.
Donations to the Anita J. Brandolini SEED Fund should be sent to the following address:
Val Kuck
NJACS Project SEED Treasurer
45 Warfield St
Upper Montclair, NJ 07043
Please make checks payable to NJ Project SEED and in memo include The Anita J. Brandolini Fund.