Stony Brook University Student Jo-Ann Jee Wins Mow Shiah Lin Scholarship

October 3, 2013

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Scholarship recipient and Stony Brook University student Jo-Ann Jee (right) with Beth Y. Lin, Mow Lin's widow.

UPTON, NY — Jo-Ann Jee, a graduate student at Stony Brook University (SBU) has won the ninth annual Mow Shiah Lin Scholarship. The Asian Pacific American Association at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory sponsors the scholarship, which consists of $1,000 and a plaque, to honor the distinguished late Brookhaven Lab scientist for whom it was named.

Jee, who earned her B.S in biochemistry at Trinity College, is pursuing a Ph.D. in chemistry with a focus on the synthesis of branched molecules for drug delivery using a multi-component chemical reaction.

"My goal is to apply this technology toward creation of well-defined, targeted drug delivery vehicles," said Jee. "I am grateful to be the recipient of the Mow Shiah Lin Scholarship, which will help me to continue research in this important field."

Jee has presented her research findings at various symposiums at SBU and participated in a poster session at the 2012 National Meeting of the American Chemical Society. She was also the recipient of SBU's 2011 Chemistry Award for First-Year Graduate Student Teaching Assistants.

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From left to right: Susan Eng Wong (APAA scholarship chair), Marie Van Buren (APAA coordinator), Beth Y. Lin (widow of Dr. Lin), Jo–Ann Jee (award winner), Jonathan G. Rudick (SBU professor and advisor for Jee), Nina Maung–Gaona (SBU Asst. Dean for Diversity of the Graduate School and Director of the Center for Inclusive Education), and Thomas Butcher (Brookhaven Lab scientist and head of the scholarship selection committee).

About the Scholarship

Mow Shiah Lin began his career at Brookhaven Lab in 1975 as a postdoctoral fellow and advanced to co-lead a research team working with an environmental remediation company to use selected bacteria to convert toxic oil wastes, such as used motor oils, into useful products. In 2001, Lin shared an R&D 100 Award, given by R&D Magazine for the top 100 technological achievements of the year, for developing a technology to recover silica from geothermal brine. Lin died suddenly due to a brain aneurysm at the height of his career in 2003, and his coworkers, friends and family contributed funds to establish the scholarship.

In remembrance of the manner in which Lin began his career, the scholarship is granted annually to an Asian immigrant with a student visa who is matriculated at an accredited institution of higher education on Long Island (including Brooklyn and Queens) working toward a graduate degree in environmental & energy technology, biology, or chemistry.

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