Duffy-Matzner named ACS Fellow

When professor of chemistry Jetty Duffy-Matzner received an email that her nomination to the American Chemical Society (ACS) was accepted, she thought it was a mistake.

Three years earlier, former student Matthew Grandbois asked her if she was a fellow. He was shocked to learn she was not, and immediately began compiling a nomination package.

“Her volunteer service in addition to both her chemical research and the hundreds of students that she’s mentored and taught is an outstanding legacy,” Grandbois said. “It made it incredibly easy to put together a nomination package to recognize all the things she’s done.”

This August, Duffy-Matzner, along with 58 others, was officially recognized as an ACS Fellow during a ceremony in Chicago.

“It’s an extremely high honor. I’m still astounded that they gave it to someone who works at an undergraduate institution,” Duffy-Matzner said. 

The ACS is the largest scientific body in the world that is dedicated to a single discipline and helps direct science policy and curriculum with the United States government. Fellows are members of the ACS who are recognized for their “outstanding achievements and contributions to science, the profession and the Society.” Jennifer Doudna, the co-inventor of the gene-editing tool CRISPR, also became a fellow this year.

According to the ACS, nominees first have to show “documented excellence and leadership that has an impact in the science,the profession, education, and/or management.” 

Duffy-Matzner has taught at Augustana for 27 years, and was an active chemist before then.

“I think the reason they gave it to me is just the high volume and quality of work that I’ve been able to do with undergraduate students,” she said. 

Duffy-Matzner has assisted students throughout her years of teaching multiple ways, including helping them to present their research and become published. She also conducts a yearly research project during the summer.

“She gave me opportunities to learn and grow, like working in her lab,” said Clark Egland, a junior biochemistry student. “I applied to work in her lab through an ASA fellowship and she was very encouraging of me to join her.”

Egland worked with Duffy-Matzner this summer on her most recent research project. She is currently finding ways to deliver ocular medication through contact lenses rather than eyedrops in order to achieve a longer release time for the medicine.

Egland has also been a student of Duffy-Matzner’s in her classes and noted the care with which she helps her students.

“She definitely makes her courses hard to push her students, but then she’s willing to put in extra time for the students,” Egland said.

Both Egland and Duffy-Matzner described her as a “mom” figure to her students, with Egland noting that she sometimes lets students live with her if they have no place to go after graduation while they find a job or begin postgraduate studies.

In addition to evaluating Duffy-Matzner’s leadership and impact, the ACS also looked at her service toward the organization and its community. 

Duffy-Matzner is an active member of the ACS, and she frequently commits her time to it. She currently serves as the councilor for the Sioux Valley Local Section, which includes South Dakota and parts of Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska. She represents the local section at the spring and fall meetings and reports actions that impact her section.

She has also served on the Committee on Nominations and Elections and as the Midwest Region Awards Chair.

Although the ACS is based in the United States, its outreach extends globally, and so does Duffy-Matzner’s.

According to Barrett Eichler, a professor of chemistry, Duffy-Matzner volunteered to reach out to people in foreign countries in order to set up more branches of the ACS throughout the globe.

“She has dedicated so much time and effort to the ACS, and she truly loves spending time being an advocate for chemistry,” Eichler said. 

All of Duffy-Matzner’s efforts make her the third person in South Dakota to ever receive the title of ACS Fellow – as well as the first and only from Augustana.

“It’s humbling to be in that crowd, but it’s nice to know that that work is appreciated and recognized,” Duffy-Matzner said.