Hall of Fame Member Biographies

E. Ann Nalley

Cameron University has been blessed by the presence and indefatigable energy of chemist E. Ann Nalley, who has served the school and its students for over forty years. Ann Nalley obtained a B.S. in 1965, an M.S. in 1969, and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Texas Woman’s University in 1975. She started her teaching career as a chemistry and mathematics instructor at Muskogee Central High School, and then obtained employment at Cameron University in 1969 as instructor of chemistry. While teaching at Cameron she pursued her doctorate and became Assistant Professor in 1972. From those years in the 1970s, Ann Nalley has blazoned a career path that Oklahomans should boast. She has authored and coauthored hundreds of articles and papers on chemical topics, as well as having published works on minorities in science and teaching methods in the sciences. Her teaching has inspired students at Cameron, where she earned at least six teaching awards. In 1995 Cameron University bestowed upon her the highest award given by the university, the Distinguished Service Award—she was the first professor to receive this award. Her work has earned international acclaim, as demonstrated by her having been the plenary speaker at chemistry conferences at Seoul, Havana, Singapore, and Taipei; she was the first woman ever to hold a position on the Committee to Organize an International Meeting for the Chemical Societies of the Countries Bordering on the Pacific Ocean (PACIFICHEM) from 2001 to 2010. A powerful testament to her high standing among her peers is found in her election as the Oklahoma Chemist (1992), National President of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi (1996-98), National President of the American Chemical Society (2006). Ann Nalley has served her profession, her state, her school, and her students with extraordinary distinction; and it is fitting that she be recognized by this state and her peers by induction into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame.