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October 21, 2003

Augustana Seniors First and Second in Undergraduate Poster Contest

SIOUX FALLS, SD - Augustana seniors Kelsie Betsch and Matt Grandbois were winners in the Sioux Valley Section of the American Chemical Society (ACS) fourth annual Undergraduate Poster Contest held Saturday, October 18, at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion.

Betsch, a chemistry major from New Ulm, Minn., won first place. The title of her presentation was “Synthesis of 2H,5H-Dihydrofuran-3-YL Ketones.” She is the daughter of Leigh and Patricia Betsch.

Grandbois, Hawley, Minn., is majoring in chemistry and music, and earned a share of the runner-up honors with his presentation “Mechanistic Study and Further Synthesis of 2.5-Dihydrofurans Via Novel Intramolecular Silyl Olefin Cycloaddition.” This is the second straight year Grandbois has placed in the top two. He is the son of LeRoy and Sheryl Grandbois.

Jetty Duffy-Matzner, Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Augustana, is the faculty research advisor for both Betsch and Grandbois.

Betsch receives a paid trip to the 2003 Midwest Regional ACS meeting at the University of Missouri in Columbia, and to the spring 2004 national ACS meeting in Anaheim, Calif. Grandbois receives a paid trip to the regional meeting.