The 2002 winner of the $1,000 Olscamp Research Award is Michael Ogawa, a professor of chemistry and member of the Center for Photochemical Sciences. The award goes to faculty for outstanding scholarly or creative accomplishments during the previous three-year period.

“As a successful researcher with an established national and international reputation, Dr. Ogawa has enhanced the research profile of the department and the Center for Photochemical Sciences,” wrote Donald Nieman, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Ogawa is a leading investigator in biophysics and bioinorganic chemistry. The overall aims of this work are to understand the nature of biological processes that involve electron transfer. His research program has explored the electron transfer properties of peptide-based donor/acceptor complexes, basic research that has implications for the design of synthetic enzymes. He has made major contributions to the understanding of electron tunneling through biological modules.

He has two National Institutes of Science grants totaling over $600,000 and has had several National Science Foundation awards as well. His work has been published in prestigious, peer-reviewed journals and he has been invited to speak at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society.

Ogawa is committed to teaching students about the process of scientific discovery, both by teaching them the foundations of science and by providing them real experience in his laboratory in which they can become major contributors to his research.