Chemistry is more than just lab coats, beakers and solutions; study of the field can lead to a myriad of career choices and opportunities.
The West Virginia University C. Eugene Bennett Department of Chemistry will explore those opportunities on April 17 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. when it hosts the Nineteenth Annual C. Eugene and Edna P. Bennett Careers for Chemists Program.
This event is free and open to the public and will take place in The Erickson Alumni Center on the Evansdale Campus.
During the event, three professionals with degrees in chemistry will discuss their career trajectories and personal experiences.
“The program is designed to inform our undergraduate and graduate students of the wide variety of potential careers available to them as chemistry majors. It has been a great success over the past eighteen years,” C. Eugene Bennett Chair and Professor Kenneth Showalter, the event organizer said. “In a tightening job market, advice from our guest speakers provides important guidance on career development for our students.”
William Carroll, PhD
Carroll holds a doctorate in organic chemistry from Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind. He is currently vice president, industry issues for Occidental Chemical Corp. and an adjunct professor of chemistry at Indiana.
Carroll is chair of the board of directors of the American Chemical Society, and a past president. For ACS, he has chaired the committees on executive compensation, international activities, public affairs and public relations and the executive committee of the board. He has been a member of the Budget and Finance, Pensions and Investments and Audits committees.
He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and a member of the advisory board for the Tulane School of Science and Engineering. In 2009, he was chair of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents.
He has been a member of a number of committees for the National Research Council of the National Academies. He co-chaired, with Barbara Foster of WVU, the 2011 rewrite of Prudent Practices in the Laboratory, the definitive work on laboratory safety in the field.
On behalf of Occidental Chemical, he has chaired numerous committees for industry associations, including the American Chemistry Council and the Vinyl Institute. He has served on expert groups commissioned by the United Nations, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and three states – most recently the California Green Ribbon Science Panel.
Carroll has received the Henry Hill Award, sponsored by the ACS Division of Professional Relations, the Michael Shea Award from the Division of Chemical Technicians, Distinguished Alumni Awards from both Indiana and DePauw Universities and the Vinyl Institute’s Roy T. Gottesman Leadership Award. He is the 2012 recipient of the Harry and Carol Mosher Award from the ACS Santa Clara Valley Section.
He holds two patents, and has more than 65 publications in the fields of organic electrochemistry, polymer chemistry, combustion chemistry, incineration and plastics recycling.
Dr. Cynthia Graves
An assistant professor in the WVU Department of Surgery, Graves has been director of the General Surgery Residency Program since 2003. Her main focus is the education and development of the program. Her clinical practice focuses on laparoscopic as well as open general surgical and acute care surgery procedures.
Her research interests include education and geriatric surgery. She is co-editor and co-author of the Step Up to Surgery textbook, which is currently in preparation for release of its second edition. In conjunction with Dr. Phil Polack, Graves has developed a communication and humanities seminar, offered to incoming first year residents in surgery. Graves was an invited panel discussant for the National Association of Program Directors conference in 2011 and 2012.
In 2007, Graves was awarded the Surgical Educators Award and in 2008 the Department of Surgery Excellence in Student Teaching Award. She has been recognized twice, in 2009 and 2012, by WVU Hospitals, National Doctor’s Day. In 2011, she was selected for membership in the Women in Science and Health Committee. She has also recently been elected to the WVU Faculty Senate.
Graves, a native West Virginian, graduated from WVU with bachelor’s degrees in both biology and chemistry. She received her medical and surgical training at WVU. She completed a trauma/critical care fellowship at the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems in 1995, and spent seven years providing trauma care at Geisinger Medical Center before returning to WVU in 2002.
Graves currently resides in Morgantown with her husband and two children who attend University High School. She is an avid Pittsburgh Penguins fan and supporter of the performing arts. Since 2006, she has served as vice president of the Morgantown Hockey Association.
Glen Jackson, PhD
Jackson joined the faculty of WVU in the fall of 2012. He is a Ming Hsieh Distinguished Professor of Forensic and Investigative Science. He holds a joint appointment in the C. Eugene Bennett Department of Chemistry and the Forensic and Investigative Science Program. Before this appointment, he was an associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry and director of the Forensic Chemistry Program at Ohio University.
He earned his undergraduate degree in chemical and analytical science at University of Wales, Swansea in the United Kingdom and his master’s degree in analytical chemistry from Ohio University during a year abroad in 1996-1997. He earned his doctorate in analytical chemistry from WVU in 2002.
After completing his doctorate, Jackson worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Oak Ridge National Laboratory before joining the faculty of Ohio University in 2004. He earned early tenure and promotion in 2009, when he also assumed directorship of the FEPAC-accredited Forensic Chemistry Program until his departure in 2012. While at Ohio University, he received the Transformative Faculty Award for his dedication and inspiration of undergraduates and graduate students through his teaching and research.
Jackson’s research includes mass spectrometry instrumentation development, forensic and biological applications of mass spectrometry and isotope ratio mass spectrometry. His research has appeared in more than 36 publications, more than 100 conference and university presentations and two issued patents. In 2007, he was awarded a National Science Foundation CAREER Award to construct a new type of miniature, portable mass spectrometer with forensic-related applications. During his eight years at Ohio University, his grants helped secure more than $1.9 million in extramural support from funding agencies.
Jackson currently serves on the science advisory board for Protea Biosciences, Inc., is a panelist and grant reviewer for NSF and is the chair of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry Asilomar Conference Committee and ASMS Fundamentals Interest Group.
He has taught several forensic-related mass spectrometry workshops to practicing forensic professionals, has served on several forensic education committees and workshops and is an active forensic chemistry consultant. He has appeared on Nancy Grace Live and his published research on trace human remains was once covered in an episode of Law and Order SVU.
The first C. Eugene and Edna P. Bennett Careers for Chemists Program took place in 1995. The program has been made possible through the generosity of C. Eugene Bennett and Edna Bennett Pierce and the Bennett Family, who in 1994 established the C. Eugene and Edna P. Bennett Careers for Chemists Program and the C. Eugene Bennett Chair in Chemistry at West Virginia University. In addition, they have established the C. Eugene Bennett Chemistry Program Enhancement Fund, the C. Eugene Bennett Graduate Fellowship Program in Chemistry and the C. Eugene Bennett Academic Enrichment Endowment through the WVU Foundation.
The WVU Foundation is a private, nonprofit corporation that generates and provides support for WVU.
For more information, contact Kenneth Showalter, at 304-293-0124 or Kenneth.Showalter@mail.wvu.edu.
