March 10, 2021 - Monica So Named Lantis Endowed Chair

To: Campus Community
From: President Gayle Hutchinson

I am delighted to announce the selection of chemistry professor Monica C. So as this year’s Lantis Endowed University Chair. Her selection for this award follows a very competitive process that featured eight outstanding faculty applications.

Professor David Lantis was a faculty member of the Department of Geography who understood that private giving would help enrich the University’s teaching and learning environment. Professor Lantis and his wife, Helen, donated $2 million to endow a University chair in their name, which allows for the annual funding of up to two University chairs. Past recipients of the Lantis Endowed University Chair include Amanda Banet, Eric Bartelink, Brian Brazeal, Tracy Butts, David Colson, Michael Ennis, Chiara Ferrari, Sergei Fomin, Georgia Fox, Stephen Lewis, Donald Miller, Michelle Neyman Morris, Susan Roll, David Stachura, Rachel Teasdale, Kate Transchel, Lori Beth Way, Byron Wolfe, Jinsong Zhang, and Kun Zhang.

Provost Debra Larson and I thank the Lantis Endowed University Chairs Selection Committee, chaired by Meriam Library Dean Patrick Newell, for its time and expertise in choosing this year’s recipient for this prestigious honor.

Professor So will receive a $40,000 award to advance her research and enhance learning through student-centered projects. She is studying the removal of organic and inorganic contaminants from water, using metal-organic frameworks, a class of highly nanoporous solids that are synthetically and chemically “programmable”. Working with her team of undergraduate researchers, her goal is to program “nanosponges” to remove trace levels of contaminants that are left behind in water by traditional carbon-activated Brita filters.

So’s research has the potential to affect millions of people. These nanosponges have the potential for effectively decontaminating water from the burn scar area of Paradise. The waterways there feed into Butte Creek and Little Chico Creek, as well as the North Fork of the Feather River and Lake Oroville. Lake Oroville, in particular, is the largest water body in the State Water Project and supplies water to millions of agricultural, business, and urban users across California. She will further engage students at every level of this research—planning, experimentation, data analyses, and presentation of findings. Students will be involved in cutting-edge nanotechnology research, nanosponge reprogramming, and helping promote sustainability. Chico State undergraduate students will present at regional and national conferences and publish their research findings in peer-reviewed journals.

So’s innovative work has been supported by the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, and the CSU.

Please join me in congratulating our very worthy recipient, Monica So.