Note: This article first appeared in Around the O on Thursday, February 27, 2014.

What began with a visit from a dignitary at the UO has led to a lab named in the honor of a UO faculty member and administrator.

University of Oregon chemistry professor Ken Doxsee visited Thonburi, Thailand, in December to speak and perform experiments at the grand opening of a facility named in his honor – Assumption College’s Doxsee Green Chemistry Laboratory.

Doxsee started teaching at the UO in 1989 and also serves as UO associate vice provost for academic affairs.

He began his work with green chemistry in Thailand in 2006, when Thai Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol came to Eugene on an official state visit. A key part of her visit was the announcement of an expansion for the UO's Distance Learning Program – originally started in 1996 for teachers of English as a second language – to include physics/mathematics and green chemistry.

Doxsee decided then to focus on the development of a green chemistry laboratory curriculum for high school students, to be introduced through distance learning technologies to educators throughout Thailand.

To read the complete story, visit Around the O.