The Rho chapter of the Phi Lambda Upsilon Honorary Chemical Society began at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1922. Members are graduate and undergraduate students elected on the basis of their academic achievement and potential.
Contact us at rhochapter.plu@gmail.com and follow us on Facebook and X (Twitter).
Emmanuel Aidoo
President
723 Hamilton Hall
eaidoo2@huskers.unl.edu
Sachithra Senanayake
Vice President
723 Hamilton Hall
sbandulakumaranaya2@huskers.unl.edu
Pinky Chowdhury
Secretary
729 Hamilton Hall
pchowdhury@huskers.unl.edu
Shankar Ganesh
Treasurer
729 Hamilton Hall
sganesh2@huskers.unl.edu
Amit Barsiwal
Coordinator
818A Hamilton Hall
abarsiwal2@huskers.unl.edu
Dr. Robert Powers
Advisor
722 Hamilton Hall
rpowers3@unl.edu
Invited Speaker
Once a year the PLU will host a distinguished chemist as a part of the department's colloquia series. PLU members are able to enjoy extended time with this speaker over breakfast, lunch, dinner, and student meetings.
Student Lounge
The third floor lounge provides students with the perfect place to work on assignments, grab a cup of coffee, or just relax for a few minutes.
Recycling
Our chapter helps the university's Recycling Program by seeking volunteers to empty the recycling bins in Hamilton Hall each week on Thursday afternoon. Each time counts as one volunteer hour and, after three volunteer hours, a member becomes eligible for a PLU travel grant.
Activities
The Rho chapter members participate in a variety of social and service activities throughout the school year and summer. Our chapter sponsors and coordinates annual, family-oriented summer picnics and Winter holiday dinners, and Valentine's day sales. These events are well attended, bring a sense of camaraderie and goodwill, and boost morale in the department. We raise funds through sales of combination locks and model kits to undergraduate students enrolled in chemistry labs. We offer service to the Department of Chemistry by providing a forum for graduate students to discuss relevant issues with chemistry department heads through our "Chat with the Chair conference series".
Awards
Travel Grants
This award is given to PLU members to assist in spreading the research performed at Nebraska's Department of Chemistry. To apply for a PLU travel grant, fill out the application. Completed applications can be sent to rhochapter@plu@gmail.com.
Outstanding PLU Member & Research Excellence
The awardees of research excellence and outstanding PLU members are each awarded $200.00 in travel grant money. The research excellence award is awarded during the departmental poster session in August and the outstanding PLU member award is awarded at the holiday party in December.
Award Lecturers
Each year, PLU members choose a highly regarded researcher as the PLU-sponsored speaker for the department's annual colloquia. Talks from multi-divisional chemists are well received amongst Nebraska's chemists and physicists, as well as those from the local community and other universities.
Phi Lambda Upsilon was founded as an honorary society in March 1899 at the University of Illinois. The society stands as a monument to the enthusiasm and zeal of Horace C. Porter, Paul F. A. Rudnick, and Fred C. Koch, who, at the time, were seniors majoring in chemistry. The founders were assisted in their undertaking by Professors Arthur W. Palmer, Harry S. Grindley, and Samuel W. Parr, who continued for many years to manifest an active interest in the Society and to work for the maintenance of its high standards.
The aims and purposes of the Society were from its inception "the promotion of high scholarship and original investigation in all branches of pure and applied chemistry." Through these objectives the founders envisaged a society which would serve the field of chemistry in the same manner that Phi Beta Kappa does in the Humanities, Sigma Xi scientific research, and Tau Beta Pi in Engineering. Throughout its history, Phi Lambda Upsilon has shown a consistent devotion to its objectives as an honor society.