Chemistry Alumni Profiles

Harvey Mudd College Chemistry majors - no two are exactly alike! Some students are attracted to the field of chemistry because of its central importance in the world around us. Others recognize that a chemistry degree provides access to the frontiers of many modern and emerging fields - materials, biotechnology, nano-technology, and pharmaceutical chemistry, to name a few. Students are challenged by the complexity of molecular structure, the design of synthetic schemes, the quantitative characterization of materials and compounds, or the intricate relationships between theory and experiment. Whether you're looking for a lifelong career in chemistry or just a broad-based foundation that will afford a myriad of future opportunities, a chemistry degree at Harvey Mudd College may be the answer for you.

With over 650 chemistry alumni to date, we couldn't possibly describe all of the directions that our students have taken after graduating from Harvey Mudd. But to give you a sense of the scope of careers possible, the following profiles of several of our alumni illustrate the diverse range of paths that our majors have pursued. In addition to traditional areas of chemistry, you'll find that the Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry at Harvey Mudd College has prepared our graduates for employment and advanced study in such fields as biochemistry, biomedical engineering, business management, chemical engineering, environmental engineering, geochemistry, medicinal chemistry, medicine, microbiology, neurology, patent law, pharmacology, physiology, and scientific publishing. The opportunities are endless!
CRAIG MONELL, HMC '87
Craig is Director of Cell Biology at BD PharMingen, a biotechnology company in San Diego, California that develops, manufactures, and markets high quality antibodies and reagents for immunology, cell biology, neurobiology, and molecular biology research. Craig received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. He was a graduate of Laguna Hills High School in Laguna, California.
BRIAN ROHRBACK, HMC '74
Brian is President of Infometrix, Inc., in Woodinville, Washington, a leading developer of software in the field of chemometrics. His software employs pattern recognition and modeling techniques for the analysis of multivariate data sets in chemistry and biotechnology. Brian came to Harvey Mudd as a graduate of La Serna High School in Whittier, California. He earned a Ph.D. in geochemistry from UCLA in 1979 and an MBA degree in Business Administration from the University of Washington in 1985.
FRED BRANDER, HMC '73
Founder, owner, and winemaker of the Brander Vineyards and Winery in Los Olivos, California, Fred has earned a reputation for his distinctive wines and aggressive canopy management of his vineyard. Fred's senior research thesis title at Harvey Mudd revealed his passion for wine, "Volatile Composition of Vitis Vinifera Zinfandel. Neutral Components Extracted from Wine." A graduate of Laguna Blanca School in Santa Barbara, CA, Fred earned an M.S. degree from U.C. Davis in enology in 1975. His first Sauvignon Blanc harvest in 1977 won Santa Barbara County's first gold medal at a major wine competition.
PHILLIP SZUROMI, HMC '80
Phil is Supervising Senior Editor of Science magazine, a global weekly publication of the latest research in the scientific community. Phil is responsible for the weekly column This Week in Science. A graduate of East High School in Phoenix, Arizona, Phil earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry at Caltech in 1985.
ANN McDERMOTT, HMC '81
Ann is Associate Professor of Chemistry at Columbia University in New York and winner of the 1996 American Chemical Society Award for Pure Chemistry. Ann's research focuses on the use of NMR spectroscopy to study a variety of biological systems, including photosystem reaction centers, peptides and proteins, paramagnetic solids, and drug-binding sites and receptors. Ann was a graduate of John F. Kennedy High School in Wheaton, Maryland, and received her Ph.D. degree in chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley in 1987.
DOUG GILMAN, HMC '89
Doug is Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of Tennessee - Knoxville with research interests in the areas of bioanalytical chemistry and environmental chemistry. After graduating from Harvey Mudd, Doug earned a Ph.D. in chemistry at the Pennsylvania State University in 1994 and was awarded a postdoctoral research position in the Departments of Environmental Toxicology and Entomology at the University of California, Davis. Doug arrived at Harvey Mudd as a graduate of Exeter Union High School in Exeter, California.
PAUL THIESSEN, HMC '92
A Postdoctoral Research Associate in the School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, Paul received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Illinois in 1998. He has recently formed a Custom Chemical Graphics service using his own software, PovChem. His work has been featured on the cover of Science magazine and in many other scientific publications. His DNA Gallery on the Web (from which a selection has been featured here) has had over 125,000 viewers since its creation. Paul is a graduate of Los Alamos High School in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
DONALD MURPHY, HMC '68
Don is Head of the Applied Materials Research Department at Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies in Murray Hill, New Jersey. He was honored in 1998 with election to the National Academy of Engineering for his research on a variety of electronic materials, including work on rechargeable lithium ion batteries and superconducting compounds based on copper oxides or fullerene carbons. He is currently working on materials that could be applied to wireless communications at Lucent's Wireless Research Lab. Don is an author of over 125 technical publications and holder of ten patents. Don earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Stanford University in 1972. He graduated from Earl Warren High School in Downey, California.
KEN FELDMAN, HMC '78
Ken is Associate Professor of Chemistry at the Pennsylvania State University in State College. His research interests in the area of organic synthesis focus on two diverse areas: the synthesis of natural product molecules such as the secondary plant metabolites known as ellagitannins and gallotannins and the de novo assembly of organic zeolites with long-range periodic three-dimensional order. Ken arrived at Harvey Mudd as a graduate of Miami Beach Senior High School in Florida and earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1984 from Stanford University.
WILLIAM BREW, HMC '62
Bill is Minister-Counselor for Economic Affairs to Mexico in the U.S. Department of State. As a career foreign service officer, he has held posts in Washington, D.C. and overseas including Israel. Bill earned a J.D. at Columbia University School of Law in 1966 and an M.B.A. in Business at Columbia in 1976. He was a graduate of Newport High School in Newport Beach, California.
BENIS BABUSIS, HMC '92
Benis earned his M.D. degree at the University of California - Irvine in 1996. Following an internship at the Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, he is now a Radiology Resident at the University of Utah Medical Center. Living in Salt Lake City allows Benis the opportunity to enjoy some of his many passions including hiking and mountain climbing. Benis is a graduate of Earl Warren High School in Downey, California.
JOSEPH PIZZORNO, HMC '69
Joseph is President and co-founder of Bastyr University in Bellevue, Washington. After earning his doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine from the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, Oregon, Joseph co-founded this nonprofit university. The institution is recognized internationally as a pioneer in the study of natural healing. Joseph is a noted author, editor, and featured speaker on television and radio. He graduated from Don Bosco High School in Rosemead, California.
KARI BIRKELAND, HMC '91
Kari is a Senior Research Chemist in the Catalysts Division of Dow Chemical Company at its main research location in Midland, MI. Kari received her Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from Northwestern University in 1995. Her dissertation, entitled "A Spectroscopic and Catalytic Study of Silica-Supported Vanadium-Phosphorus Oxides Used in Selective Butane Oxidation" with Professor Harold H. Kung, reflects her expertise in the area of catalysis. Kari is a graduate of Charles Wright Academy in Tacoma, Washington.
EDWARD WOOD, HMC '66
Ed is President of Cobe BCT, Inc. in Lakewood, Colorado, a global leader in providing medical specialty products in such areas as blood separation and purification systems, cardiovascular surgery technology, and dialysis therapy. Ed received an M.B.A. degree in Business Administration at the University of Colorado - Boulder. He is a graduate of Columbia High School in Richland, Washington.
SUSAN COHEN LOCKE, HMC '90
Susan is a Clinical Research Scientist at Lineberry Research Associates in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Lineberry is a full-service contract research organization that assists pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with the development of new and existing medications. Susan received her Ph.D. in Pharmacology at Duke University in 1996. She graduated from Cornelia Connelly High School in Anaheim, California.
DEBORAH BEBOUT, HMC '85
As an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the College of William and Mary, Debbie is interested in the spectroscopic and mechanistic characterization of molecules of biological significance. Debbie was a graduate of Capistrano Valley High School in Mission Viejo, California. Prior to her current position, Debbie earned a Ph.D. in chemistry at Cornell University and completed a two-year postdoctoral position at Penn State.
RONALD ZUCKERMANN, HMC '84
Ron is Director of Bioorganic Chemistry at Chiron Corporation, a biotechnology firm located in Emeryville, California. He is an international leader in combinatorial drug discovery, a technique that uses an automated parallel synthesis approach to increase the probability of finding novel compounds of therapeutic value for pharmaceutical applications. Ron graduated from Berkeley High School in Berkeley, California and returned to his hometown to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley.
PAUL BURKE, HMC '86
Paul is a Research Scientist for Alkermes, Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He recently received a patent for his invention of a biologically-compatible polymeric matrix for the sustained release of biologically-active erythropoietin, a protein produced by the kidney to stimulate bone marrow to produce red blood cells. Paul was a graduate of Christian High School in El Cajon, California and received his Ph.D. in chemistry from MIT in 1992.
PEGGY ANSCHUTZ, HMC '77
Peggy is Marketing Manager for the Asia-Pacific Division of Fisher-Rosemount-Singapore, the world's leading supplier of high-precision measurement and analytical instrumentation, distribution control systems, valves, and process management expertise for the process industries. She was a graduate of Stafford High School in Stafford, Kansas.
TAS DIENES, HMC '93
A graduate student in analytical chemistry at the University of California, Riverside, Tas is designing and building instrumentation for time-of-flight mass spectrometry to measure the size and composition of individual aerosol particles in the atmosphere. In 1991, while a student at Harvey Mudd, Tas co-founded I/O Software, a company that provides innovative software for leading-edge technology companies. Tas is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of I/O Software which has recently won awards for the release of software using fingerprint verification techniques to secure computers and workstations. Tas graduated from Damien High School in La Verne, California.
CARY REICH, HMC '70
Cary is Vice President of Research and Development for Fusion Medical Technologies in Mountain View, California. Founded in 1993, Fusion Medical Technologies specializes in the development and commercialization of surgical sealants for a variety of organs and blood vessels. Cary holds fourteen patents for a variety of inventions in surgical and ophthalmological devices and procedures. Cary earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Stanford in 1976 conducting research in the area of organic chemistry. He was a graduate of Earl Warren High School in Downey, California.
RACHEL BITTKER, HMC '93
As a Medical Resident at the Grossmont Family Medical Center in La Mesa, California, Rachel is pursuing her interests in women's health, obstetrics, adolescent medicine, and pediatrics. Rachel earned her M.D. degree in 1997 from the University of Michigan Medical School. She is a graduate of Scottsdale Saguaro High School in Scottsdale, Arizona.