| The chemistry major prepares students for graduate school in chemistry and related fields such |
| as biochemistry, molecular biology, medicinal chemistry, and pharmaceutical, forensic and |
| environmental science. |
| Significant portions of our graduates go on to medical school. The major also prepares students |
| for careers in governmental laboratories and industry. Many of Drake's chemistry alumni have |
| earned graduate degrees in chemistry, physics and medicine while many others have taken |
| rewarding jobs in industry, government and academic institutions. |
 |
| ALUMNI NEWS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS |
| |
| 1970's |
| |
| David A. Weil, (1979), obtained a Ph.D.
in experimental/Theoretical Physical chemistry
from the |
| University of Minnesota. He holds a position
at Agilent in Chicago as an Application Scientist.
|
| "My major expertise is in mass spectrometry. I am currently working in the area of proteomics |
| and metabolomics. I have served on the scientific advisory boards for several proteomics |
| facilities including the Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota Proteomics Center. |
| I have done very well in my career with great foundations from my classes at Drake. I have |
| always felt that small colleges provide an excellent knowledge base for students that plan on |
| going onto graduate or medical school education". (david_weil@agilent.com) |
| |
| 1990's |
| |
Jason Halfen, (1992), is a Chemistry Professor at UW-Eau Claire who has published in Top Science Journal in 2005.
Our Science paper describes the preparation and characterization of a
compound that mimics the behavior of a key liver enzyme, cytochrome
P450, which is responsible for the metabolism of a wide variety of
chemical compounds and toxins that we put into our bodies. Cytochrome P450 functions by converting these foreign compounds into more water-soluble forms that can be readily excreted from the body. While cytochrome P450 has been the subject of intense study for decades, there remains little direct information about the key enzymatic intermediates that actually perform the reactions responsible for conversion of toxic compounds into more water-soluble forms. (halfenja@uwec.edu) |
 |
|
| |
| Albena Ivanisevic, (1996), is an assistant professor of chemistry at Purdue University. She was named one of the Top 100 Young Innovators in the world by MIT in 2004. (albena@purdue.edu) Albena and her husband welcome the arrival of Anna Ivanisevic who was born on September 20, 2005 at 7:48 am. Anna was 5 pounds and 12 ounces and 19 ½ inches. Congratulations! |
 |
 |
| |
| Nicholas Spurr, (1996),received his Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from Iowa State University. He is telling us that he is working at the Texas Agricultural Experiment station as an agricultural analytical chemist. Nicholas currently runs calcium and phosphorus in feeds, trace minerals in feeds and
fertilizers by AA, and boron in fertilizers.(nas@otsc.tamu.edu) |
| |
| Goran Krilov, (1997), received his Ph.D. in chemical physics from Columbia University in 2001. He was a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University during 2002- 2005. In 2005 Goran joined the Chemistry Department at Boston College. (goran.krilov@bc.edu) |
 |
|
| |
| Amy Vavere, (1998), received her Ph.D. in chemistry from Washington University in St. Louis in 2004. She finished her postdoctoral fellowship at Washington University School of Medicine in 2007. Amy informed us that have moved to Memphis to take the position of Head Radiochemist at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. They will be starting a PET research program there with a dedicated cyclotron. Their Molecular Imaging Research group will not only produce clinical radiopharmaceuticals to image cancer in kids using PET, but will also collaborate with researchers to develop new PET tracers. Congratulations
for your new position! (Amy.Vavere@stjude.org) |
| |
| Jolene Summer, (1998), after graduating from Drake, I served in AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps from 1998-2000. I started working at Mayo in 2000 as a clinical laboratory technologist in the Biochemical Genetics Laboratory. I am currently working in the laboratory medicine IT department as a Technical Specialist II/Laboratory Resource and I am a lab recruiter for Mayo. (summer.jolene@mayo.edu) |
| |
| Kelli Ponzer, (1998), received her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Illinois. Kelli is telling us that in July 2005 she transferred from ExxonMobil Lubricants & Specialties to ExxonMobil Research and Engineering to be a chemist in Products Research and Technology - Industrial Lubricant Product Development. (kelli.h.ponzer@exxonmobil.com) |
| |
| 2000's |
| |
| Laura Borland, (2000), received her Ph.D. in chemistry from University of Pittsburgh in 2005. |
 |
| |
| Marie Wiater, (2000), received her Ph.D. in chemistry from University of Wisconsin-Madison
|
| |
| Christopher Fennell, (2001), is a doctoral student in computational chemistry at the University of Notre Dame |
| |
| Kelley Snelgrove, (2001), is a doctoral student in organic chemistry at the University of Notre Dame |
| |
| Christopher Field, (2003), is a doctoral student in analytical chemistry at the University of Illinois |
| |
| Bradley Brennan, (2005), is a doctoral student in chemistry at Arizona State University |
