2002 Distinguished Service Awardee     Cherlynlavaughn Bradley

Cherlyn is a native of Chicago, growing up and attending school in the Broadview-Maywood area. She received her B.A. in Chemistry from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1973 with honors (magna cum laude). While at Illinois Wesleyan University she received the Outstanding Senior Award and the Marple-Schweitzer Award for outstanding achievement in Chemistry. Cherlyn then went on to receive both her M.S. and Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from Northwestern University in 1975 and 1978. Her graduate research work was with Dr. A. Louis Allred and dealt with the synthesis, spectroscopic, electrochemical, and surface analysis of linear permethylpolysilanes.

Dr. Bradley joined the Analytical Division of the Amoco Corporation in Naperville in 1977 as a research chemist. She rose up the technical ladder to senior research chemist and was responsible for the development and implementation of technology and methods of determining volatile sulfur, nitrogen, and oxygen-containing compounds in petroleum and petrochemicals using gas chromatography with element-selective detectors. During her 22 years at Amoco, she was recognized within the company and throughout the petrochemical industry for work in selective GC detection and for trace determination of polymer contaminants. Her research projects in the areas of element-selective GC determinations led to numerous internal company publications and publications in Analytical Chemistry and Energy & Fuels. She contributed to the successful commercial development of an improved microwave plasma GC detector for selective element detection. She also served as the Quality Assurance Coordinator for the Analytical Services Division, the Analytical liaison and consultant to the refining technology groups, a team member of the refining technology groups' diversity action council, a company recruiter for Northwestern University and an editor of the intercompany technology newsletters.

Cherlyn joined the ACS in 1975 and became active in the Chicago Section in 1980. She has served on the Analytical Topical Group Program 82-83 (Chair); Nominating Committee 84, 86, 92, 01; Director 84-88, 89-92, 96-97, 99-01; Project SEED Committee 89-99, 89-94 (Chair), 96-present (Co-chair); Section Treasurer 92-93; Vice-Chair 93-94; Section Chair-Elect 94-95; Section Chair 95-96; House Committee 01, 92-93 and 99-00 (Co-chair); Long-Range Planning 00-present; and Chemical Bulletin Editor 01-present. She also participated in the Chicago Section's 15th Annual Chemistry Career Conference in 1986 and presented a talk at Chemistry Day in 1995.

She has also been very active at the National level, starting as an Alternate Councilor from 1991 until 1992. The Section members elected her a Councilor in 1992, a position which she continues to hold. Her activities on National Committees include the Council Committee on Project SEED (93-present); Council Committee on Chemical Safety (99-present); Division of Analytical Chemistry (79-92); Division of Petroleum Chemistry (79-82) and the Division of Chemistry and the Law (93-present).

Besides her activities with the ACS, her other professional activities include the Chicago Chromatography Discussion Group (81-90) and ASTM: member (85-present); E-19 Committee on Chromatography (85-88); D-2 Committee on Petroleum Products and Lubricants (85-present); Chairman of D-2 Study Group on GC-Oxygenates (90-98) and of the Ethylene Study Group of Subcommittee D (1993); Liaison and consultant work with California Air Resources Board and Environmental Protection Agency on methodologies meeting oxygenates and low sulfur regulations for reformulated gasoline (94-97); Received a Certificate of Appreciation from the D-2 Committee for work dealing with the development of consensus method for analyzing trace carbonyl sulfide in propylene and for leadership in developing consensus methods for determining oxygenates in gasoline (1994).

Dr. Bradley's other achievements include the Robert M. Montgomery Outstanding Young Alumnus Award from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1985 and the Chicago Association of Technological Societies Award of Merit in 1996. She has mentored students participating in the Bayer/NFS Award for Community Innovation in 1999; provided an interview in Triton College's recruiting science career video for high school minority women in 1990 and presented to the Explorers group of the Boy Scouts of America on analytical chemistry and science careers in 1994.

Since her retirement from BP, she has become an active participant with the BP Volunteers and is currently the Chair of the Naperville Chapter. Cherlyn's current volunteer activities include the Court Friends Program, a DuPage County Court program which monitors files of court appointed guardians of disabled adults; special events at Morton Arboretum in Lisle and helping on the BP retirees website taskforce. She is an active member of her church, has been a Bible study leader and church library chair, and is an Eucharistic minister. With all of these activities, she is also a Board member of the NorthStar Credit Union (1984 to present) and is the Board Secretary (1994 to present).

The Section is honored to have such an active member as Cherlynlavaughn Bradley as its Distinguished Service Awardee for 2002.

      --- FRAN KAREN KRAVITZ