Dr. Sunej Hans of the Bronx Community College (BCC)/City University of New York (CUNY) Chemistry, Earth Sciences and Environmental Sciences Department, was recognized by the American Chemical Society (ACS) – New York State Chapter with the Outstanding Two-Year College Chemistry Teaching Award.

The ACS is one of the world’s largest scientific societies and the premier home for chemistry professionals. This is a very prestigious award for BCC.

Originally from India, Dr. Hans has been a full-time faculty member at BCC since Fall of 2014. She learned about BCC while studying for her doctorate at Hunter College. The title of her thesis was “Synthesis of Biologically Important C-Glycoinositols.”

While her primary responsibility is to teach, she has also conducted research and mentored students. She was instrumental in supervising 11 BCC students along with others in the CUNY system for her research at Brookhaven National Lab on liquid scintillators for neutrino experiments. The research put BCC students in touch with top scientists from around the world. Students also received $6,000 stipends for their participation in this research. In addition to this recent award, Dr. Hans also co-authored several journal articles with Dr. Arthur B. McDonald, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2015. She was also a co-recipient of the “The 2016 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics” and shared the $3,000,000 with other scientists from around the world.

Dr. Hans enjoys teaching and interacting with students. Dr. Neal Phillip, Chairperson of the BCC Chemistry, Earth Sciences and Environmental Sciences Department said: “We are fortunate to have Dr. Hans in our department. Her commitment to teaching and research is exemplary, and our students benefit immensely from her dedication.”

Dr. Hans said: “I enjoy my many interactions with BCC and CUNY students and love providing them with opportunities that change their lives. They have become part of a big family.”