The E. Ann Nalley Northwest Region Award for Volunteer Service to the ACS
Congratulations Prof. A. M. Ranjika Priyadarshi (Dharshi) Bopegedera!
This award recognizes the volunteer efforts of an individual who has served the American Chemical Society and contributed significantly to the goals and objectives of the Society through their regional activities. Prof. Bopegedera‘s award citation for is below and can be found at the NORM 2023 Awards Website.
A physical chemistry professor at Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA, Professor Bopegedera has been an active member of the ACS since 1987 and a member of the Puget Sound Section since 1991. She is highly respected for her volunteerism with ACS, which spans more than three decades. Notably, in 2022 she received the Outreach Volunteers of the Year Award for the Puget Sound Local ACS Section and the AWIS award for Excellence in Education/Outreach. She is a Career Consultant of the ACS, a member of the ACS Division of Chemistry Education Public Relations Committee, and the Local Section Activities Committee (LSAC). She served as a moderator for the “DEIR: Promoting Student Success” panel for the 2021 ACS Puget Sound Section and as a reviewer for the Journal of Chemical Education from 2006 to date. She is a member of the Pauling Medal Award Selection Committee. She has been a member of the ACS Puget Sound Section Executive Committee for decades, serving as Chair in 2005, as Alternate Councilor from 2007-2017, and Councilor from 2018-present.
Prof. Bopegedera has been the organizer of the ACS Puget Sound Section Career Events for undergraduate students since 2004. In addition, she served as chair of this section’s International Year of the Periodic Table Committee in 2019. In this role, she helped with fund-raising and invited Theodore Gray to serve as a speaker for the celebration of the 150th anniversary (2019) of the discovery of the Periodic Table of chemical elements in multiple locations in Western Washington.