About A. Nelson Voldeng
A. Nelson Voldeng was Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Arkansas, College of Pharmacy from 1964 until lingering illness forced his retirement in 1986. Nelson was born and raised in the south-central Kansas town of Wellington. He earned both his B.S. in Pharmacy (1960) and his Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry (1964) at the University of Kansas. His dissertation advisor was the late Dr. Edward E. Smissman.
Nelson was well known for his efforts to encourage promising undergraduate pharmacy students to continue their education in graduate studies in the pharmaceutical sciences. Numerous pharmacy students worked with him in his research laboratory and many of these students made presentation at MALTO meetings. Nelson’s research interest included the synthesis of novel, broad-spectrum penicillin derivatives and the synthesis of long-acting opiate analgesics derived from pentapeptides.
Nelson was one of the founding organizers of our MALTO organization. Since 1973, when MALTO held its first meeting, Nelson provided energetic leadership, and worked tirelessly to help bring the idea of an annual regional medicinal chemistry and pharmacognosy meeting to fruition. Until his death in 1987, Nelson continued to contribute his energies to ensure the successful growth of MALTO.
The MALTO faculty voted unanimously in 1987 to name the annual lecture by a visiting scientist the "A. Nelson Voldeng Memorial Lecture" in recognition of Nelson’s invaluable contributions to MALTO. The first A. Nelson Voldeng Memorial Lecture was presented on June 13, 1988, during the 15th Annual MALTO Meeting held at Auburn University. Dr. Wendel L. Nelson, Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy, who had been a fellow graduate student and long-standing friend of Voldeng, presented this inaugural lecture.
The MALTO faculty designed a special plaque commemorating the A. Nelson Voldeng Memorial Lecture. This plaque and an honorarium are presented annually to the visiting scientist lecturer. A copy of the first plaque was presented by MALTO to Nelson’s wife, Mrs. Diana Voldeng of Little Rock, Arkansas.