Alumni

Dear Alumni,

Welcome back to Kent State's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry! Our Department may have changed since you graduated, but we still value the quality of our teaching and research above all.

Please share with us and your fellow KSU Chemistry alumni what you have been doing since graduation! We will review all submissions prior to posting, and all contact information will be kept confidential.

Also, check out our Facebook page to reconnect with former classmates.

You can also make a contribution to Departmental Scholarship or Instrumentation funds.

Best wishes and thank you for coming back!

2020s Alumni
2010s Alumni

Cassady Morris
Graduation Year: 2015
Current Employment: Worked as a medical assistant for a primary doctor in the Washington, D.C. area. Currently in graduate school to become a Naturopathic Doctor and attain my Masters in Global Health.
Comments: Biochemistry. Miss campus on a sunny day, not so much during the winter and walking into the chemistry building from the parking lot with frozen snot on my face!

Kelly Materna
Graduation Year: 2013
Current Employment: I'm currently a third year inorganic chemistry graduate student at Yale University working on my Ph.D. with Prof. Gary Brudvig. I'm also working on starting my own photography business and plan to hike the Appalachian trail after graduation.
Comments: Chemistry and minor in photo illustration. My time at Kent helped me et to where I am now. It was an easy transition to graduate school due to the preparation at KSU.

Kristin McLaughlin
Graduation Year: 2013
Current Employment: I'm currently working in the laboratory at Marathon Petroleum Company's oil refinery in Canton, OH. Ranked as Forbes's #1 Employer this year, I'm proud to work for such a great company! And my education at Kent State certainly helped put my application to the top of a very large pile.
My husband and I also own our own small business breeding, training and selling American Quarter Horses.

Cassie Winnenberg
Graduation Year: 2013
Current Employment: I moved to Cincinnati and worked a few odd jobs before I found a position in the Regulatory department at Givaudan.
Comments: BA Chemistry. I made a lot of good friends at Kent!

Leslie Ellison
Graduation Year:
2012
Current Employment: I worked for almost a year at Ben Venue as a QA auditor, then worked for a month at GOJO in their Microbiology R&D Department.
Comments: Biotechnology

Kristin Gore
Graduation Year: 2011
Current Employment: I have attended Michigan State University for a Ph.D. in Chemistry. I am currently writing my dissertation and will be starting a job as a radiochemist at Niowave Inc. in Lansing, MI this summer.
Comments: B.S. Chemistry

Dr. Edward Suarez Moreira
Graduation Year: 2010
Current Employment: Post-doctoral Fellow, Division of Vascular Surgery, Institute of BioNanotechnology in Medicine, Northwestern University

2000s Alumni

Brad Gable
Graduation Years: 2004, 2005
Current Employment: Medical School  - Ohio State
Comments: BS, MS - Biochemistry. My time at Kent State prepared me to succeed in medical school, residency and in my practice. Taught me how to be a quality researcher.

Richard Lavrich
Graduation Year: 2001
Current Employment: Assistant Professor, College of Charleston

Kapil Kumar
Graduation Year: 2000
Current Employment: Senior R&D Scientist at Life Technologies, Inc.

1990s Alumni

Dr. Bart Heldreth
Graduation Year: 1998
Current Employment: Chemist at Cosmetic Ingredient Review
Comments: B.S. 1998/undergrad research with Dr. L.C. Chien at LCI
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, USF 2004

Thom Janini
Graduation Year: 1997
Current Employment: Assistant Professor at Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute in Wooster, OH.

1980s Alumni

M. Beth Hopkins (Martin)
Graduation Year: 1989
Current Employment: Secondary Chemistry Teacher for Washington County Department of Education, Jonesborough, TN
Comments: Graduated 2010 with an M.Ed. from Milligan College, TN.  Currently, I am the Chemistry teacher for a rural, Title I school.

Jim McCargar
Graduation Year: 1988
Current Employment: Associate Vice President and Professor of Chemistry, Baldwin-Wallace College.

George Thampy
Graduation Year:
1981
Current Employment: After a post-doctoral fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine, I served as an Instructor in Biochemistry at Baylor. After that I worked as an Assistant Professor at Indiana University School of Medicine. After that I got my MD from Saintt Louis University School of  Medicine. After that I did three years of Residency Training at SLU. After that I joined Washington University in Saint Louis and obtained my Endocrine Fellowship. Currently I am practicing Endocrinology in Saint Louis.

1970s Alumni

Richard Schroer
Graduation Year: 1970
Current Employment: Retired in 2001 as Senior Project Manager for Safety Assessment for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.

1960s Alumni

Byron K. Leles
Graduation Year: 1969
Current Employment: Part-time instruction in physics, Alabama State Community College System.  I have been teaching (full time and part time) chemistry and physics in this system for 40 years.
Comments: I enjoyed my years at KSU very much and have always felt that I received a good and solid training in my chosen field.  I have always enjoyed teaching far more than research; hence, my career in community college teaching has been very rewarding for me.

James A. Jackson
Graduation Year: 1961
Current Employment: Retired
Comments: First to isolate a crystalline molecular complex of a carbonium ion salt.  Published in Tetrahedron Letters No. 8, pp. 797-799, Pergamon Press Ltd.  Author of a book entitled, "Oops There Must Be Some Mistake."

1950s Alumni

Pat W. Camerino
Graduation Year: 1957
Current Employment: Retired: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX (Emeritus Associate Professor)
Comments: PhD (Biochem) Cornell U; PD Dartmouth Med Sch; Oregon St U.  Work: NIH, Div of Research Resources, NIAMD, Univ of Massachusetts/Amherst, Assoc Grad Dean for Research, Baylor College of Med, Dir Faculty Resources, Admin Dept of Med