Local News in Brief : Irvine : Chemistry Professor Gets $500,000 Grant

Peter Rentzepis, a chemistry professor at UC Irvine, has been awarded a $500,000 grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation to develop a device for the observation of fleeting chemical reactions and short-lived molecular structures.

Rentzepis joined the UCI faculty in 1985 as UC Presidential Chair Professor. He holds 35 patents in his name and has published more than 250 scientific papers.

“This research program has the potential for adding a powerful new technique to study fundamental problems,” said UCI Vice Chancellor Lewis H. Nosanow.

The Keck Foundation, one of the nation’s largest, distributed $42 million last year, mostly to fund university research in the fields of science, engineering and medicine.

The foundation was established by the late William Keck, founder of Superior Oil Company.