From The Associate Chair: Changing of The Guard

Were our oldest alumni to visit our campus today, they would find a University and a Department that has profoundly changed from what they recall from their student days. Even the elm trees have almost disappeared!

The greatest change, however, has occurred in the human side of the equation. Graduates of the thirties and early forties attended two separate but (un)equal Colleges – one for men, one for women. That split was mended in 1944, when the two Colleges were made one.

At the time, our Department did something that bucked the tenor of the times, when Professor Quaesita Cromwell Drake (FAC 18-55) was chosen to be the Chair of the yoked Departments, following her 25 years of service as the Chair of the Chemistry Department in the Women’s College. Although her subsequent tenure as Chair was brief (less than one year), her legacy has been profound. Her appointment symbolized our Department’s recognition of the importance of female chemists, when it was simply the right thing to do, rather than being politically expedient. She had been a solitary female presence in the University of Chicago’s doctoral program during the second decade of the 20th century. Fifteen years later, Professor Elizabeth Dyer (FAC 33-71) was still one of only two women in the chemistry Ph.D. program at Yale University. I had the pleasure and honor of meeting Professor Drake when I arrived at the U of D in 1964. Though small in physical stature, her force of personality was entirely congruent with her name. Were she alive today, she would be pleased and proud to see what has happened on the distaff side. Undergraduate female enrollment at the University is pushing 60%, and that in our Department has almost kept pace (50% of the class of 2007 is female).

When Professor Drake died in 1967, alumni of both sexes sought to perpetuate her memory by giving to an endowment that supports the Quaesita Drake Scholarship Fund, the first award from which was made in 1969. The excellence represented by the roster of Drake Scholars (the “Divine Drake Sisterhood”) serves as a stark reminder of what might have been, had the emancipation of women occurred much earlier or, better yet, had never been necessary. [N.B. The University’s alumni files do not include the names of the institutions which have awarded advanced degrees to our alumni. I am therefore depending upon my (admittedly failing) memory in those cases where schools are cited. Likewise, the files no longer include original last names for women who have changed their names after graduating. Consequently, there are gaps in the post-graduation histories of some of the Drake Scholars].

1969	Liana E. Dicou (BS69, PhD, Harvard), whereabouts unknown
1970	Noreen C. Campbell (BS70, MS73), Manager, Ink Jet Print Production, DuPont, Wilmington <noreen.c.campbell-2@USA.dupont.com>
1971	Susan (Breen) Bailey (BS72, MD, Pittsburgh), homemaker, Festus, MO
1972	Katherine A. Holter (BS73, PhD, Ohio State), Senior Scientist, Bechtel Group, South Park, PA <holterka@bettis.gov>
1973	Jane (Moore) Crosby (BS74, MS, New Orleans), whereabouts unknown
1974	Paula (Sherman) Kitson (BS75, MS, Dalhousie, PhD), Research Scientist VI, GlaxoSmithKline, Chapel Hill, NC
1975	Karen (Hyatt) Stump (BS76, MS, Carnegie-Mellon), Principal Lecturer and Director of Laboratories, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
1976	Jane F. Kinsel (BS77, PhD, Kansas), Associate Director for Science Policy and Operations, National Institutes of Health, Boston, MA <jk36j@nih.gov>
1977	Joan P. Snyder, Esq. (BS78), Environmental Lawyer, Stoel Rives LLP, Portland, OR
1978	Sheree (Gehman) Fleming (BS79), Strategic Planner, ExxonMobil, Sterling, VA <sheree.g.fleming@exxonmobil.com>
1979	Holly L. Souder (BS80), whereabouts unknown
1980	Eileen (Fleck) Warwick (BS81), Research Section Manager, Rohm and Haas, Lansdale, PA <rsiefw@rohmhaas.com>
1981	Tracy (Simpson) Olson (BS82, PhD), Senior Scientist, Alkermes, Inc. Winchester, MA
1982	Beverly (Dunn) Lawrence (BS83, MS, Penn State), Receptionist, Weight Watchers International, Newark, DE
1983	Carol (Renfrew) Haft (BS84, PhD), Program Director, National Institutes of Health, Olney, MD <haftc@extra.niddk.nih.gov>
1984	Christine A. Grygon (BS84, PhD, Princeton), Associate Director, Biology Department, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Redding, CT <cgrygon@rdg.boehringer-ingelheim.com>
1985	Victoria (Kunz) Metz (BS86, MD), Science Teacher, MacDuffie School, Longmeadow, MA
1986	Jennie B. Nerenberg (BS87, PhD, Yale), Research Chemist, Merck, Maple Glen, PA

At this point, the Drake Endowment reached a level sufficient to support two Drake Scholarships per year.
1987	Jennifer J. Johnston (BS87), whereabouts unknown Jennie B. Nerenberg (BS87), PhD, Yale), Research Chemist, Merck, Maple Glen PA
1988	Jody E. Beecher (BS89, PhD, Cornell), Consultant, Menlo Park, CA <jody_beecher@mac.com> Kristi L. Kiick (BS89, MS, Georgia, PhD, UMass-Amherst), Assistant Professor of Materials Science, University of Delaware <kiick@udel.edu>
1989	Iris C. Gibbs (BS90, MD), Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology, Stanford University Medical Center, Palo Alto, CA <iris@reyes.stanford.edu> Rebecca (Wagner) Alexander (BS90, PhD, Cornell), Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Wake Forest University, Winston Salem, NC
1990	Holly C. Gaede (BS91, PhD, UC-Berkeley), Senior Lecturer, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX <holly_gaede@yahoo.com> Sheila (Hogan) Levie (BS91, VMD), Veterinarian, Black Horse Pike Animal Hospital, Sewell, NJ <slevie@snip.net>
1991	Dorothea (Heit) Roberts (BS92), Regulatory Affairs Staff, GlaxoSmithKline, Morrisville, NC <dorothea.x.roberts@gsk.com> Alexandra T. Whoriskey (BS92, MD, North Carolina), whereabouts unknown
1992	Kimberly L. Mayhew (BS93), whereabouts unknown Kelly (Wright) Brush (BS93), homemaker, Newark, DE
1993	Kristina M. Russell (BS94, PhD, Virginia), Faculty Member, Colorado Rocky Mountain School, Carbondale, CO Catherine (Saltern) Hill (BA93), Homemaker, Milford, DE
1994	Wendy L. Hall (BS94), position unknown, Newark, DE Michelle M. Olson (BS95, MD, Medical College of PA), Colorectal Surgeon, Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, PA <mmolson@geisinger.edu>
1995	Catherine (Jones) Bergquist (BS96, PhD, Columbia), Project Supervisor, National Starch and Chemical Corp., Woodbridge, NJ <cathy.bergquist@earthlink.net> Stacie (Levin) Julie, Esq. (BS96), Associate Director of Legal Affairs, Teva North America, West Chester, PA <staciejulie@hotmail.com>
1996	Lori A. Hamby (BS97), Genetic Counselor and Research Fellow, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD <lhamby@jhsph.edu> Laura (Swanson) Henning (BS97), Teacher, Huntington Learning Center, Broomall, PA
1997	Lora E. Barnhart (BS98), Research Chemist, AstraZeneca, Silver Spring, MD <lorabarnhart@gmail.com> Dolly Batra (BS98, PhD, UC-Irvine), Post-doctoral Associate, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL – see Alumni News section
1998	Alison R. Liechty (BS99), Research Chemist, Ciba-Geigy <alison.liechty@cibasc.com> Jennifer L. Paulson (BS99, PhD, UC-San Francisco), Post-doctoral Associate, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR – see Alumni News section <jennifer.paulson@gmail.com>
1999	Amanda L. Stouffer (BS00, PhD, Penn) – see Alumni News section Elizabeth R. White (BS00), position unknown, Arlington, VA <lryanw@yahoo.com
2000	Nicole C. Goodwin (BS01, PhD, Cal Tech), Research Chemist, Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Princeton, NJ Laura (Tolen) Scarpaci (BS01, D. Pharm, Maryland-Baltimore), Research Scientist, ExcelleRx, Philadelphia – see Alumni News section
2001	Ching Hang (Candy) Tong (BS01), Doctoral Candidate, CalTech <chtong@its.caltech.edu> Catherine M. Visintainer (BS02, MD, NY Medical College), Resident in Emergency Medicine, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA – see Alumni News section <cathyv10@yahoo.com>
2002	Denise (Birk) Conner (BS03), Doctoral Candidate, Penn State, University Park, PA <silvrdrgn13@yahoo.com> Shih-Wen (Wennie) Lin (BS03), Doctoral Candidate, Penn – see Alumni News section
2003	Alaina M. Brown (BS04), MD Candidate, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA Susan A. Ricketts (BS04), Research Chemist, Pfizer, Inc., Groton, CT <susan_ricketts@groton.pfizer.com>
2004	Heather S. Egolf-Fox (BS05), Doctoral Candidate, University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill Amanda L. Peters (BS05) Doctoral Candidate, Princeton <littlemsmandy@hotmail.com>
2005	Agata A. Bielska (BS06), MD/PhD Candidate, Washington University, St. Louis Charlotte A. Mason (BS06), Doctoral Candidate, CalTech – see Alumni News section
2006	Katharine M. Frysinger (BS07), High School Chemistry Teacher, Seaford, DE Katherine E. Vodra (BA07), High School Teacher, TBD
2007	Aly D. Bourreza (BS08) Andrea J. Passarelli (BS08)

By any and all standards, the rich mosaic of accomplishments noted in the preceding list is impressive, indeed. Best of all, it should continue indefinitely.

The last formal honor accorded Professor Drake occurred on November 17, 1973, when Quaesita Drake Hall was dedicated. Ironically, what was once a state-of-the-art undergraduate teaching laboratory facility has become the only CHEM/BIOC building that is in dramatic need of renovation. While some spot renovation has been executed to convert some of the laboratory rooms to research use, the teaching labs used for general chemistry, quantitative analysis, and organic chemistry in QDH are in compelling need of renewal. Indeed, President Roselle, in one of his outgoing messages, cited a new science teaching laboratory as one of his two major unfulfilled dreams for the U of D. Current projections are targeting that new construction for 2013.

All the Best

John L. Burmeister