Rabinovich Receives Diversity Award
By Mariah Powell, Student Intern
College Office of Communications
In recognition of his efforts to promote diversity, UNC Charlotte Chemistry Professor Daniel Rabinovich received an award from the American Chemistry Society’s Committee on Minority Affairs on Nov. 14.
Rabinovich received the Stanley C. Israel Award during the 2013 Southeast Regional Meeting of the American Chemistry Society in Atlanta. Award recipients receive a medal and a $1,000 grant to support and further their diversity efforts. The award “recognizes individuals and/or institutions that have advanced diversity in the chemical sciences and significantly stimulated or fostered activities that promote inclusiveness within the region,” according to the society.
“Dr. Rabinovich certainly fits this description,” said Rabinovich’s colleague and friend Gregory Grant. “He has engaged Hispanic and African-American students in his research in chemistry at UNC Charlotte.”
Grant, a professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, nominated Rabinovich for the award. “His ability to bridge two cultures and speak two languages makes him a natural role model for minority students,” he said.
Rabinovich grew up in Peru, and now is a U.S. citizen. He speaks Spanish and English fluently.
Alison Fout, a former graduate student of Rabinovich who now is an assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said that he had influenced her and other students. “Professor Dan Rabinovich is an exceptional mentor and someone I hope to emulate within my own research group,” Fout said.
Rabinovich also mentors high school students through the American Chemical Society’s Project SEED, a summer program focused on under-represented minority students. Lizeth Hernandez, one of Rabinovich’s former Project SEED students and now a senior chemistry student at UNC Charlotte, worked in Rabinovich’s lab as a high school student. She credits Rabinovich’s guidance with helping her realize she wanted to pursue graduate school and make chemistry her career.
“Without open-mindedness, students are unlikely to participate and everyone loses with that,” Rabinovich said. “That’s why diversity is a way of promoting participation and integration, and that’s the key to success.”