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Dorothy J. Phillips

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Dorothy Jean Phillips
Dorothy J. Phillips, 2018
BornJuly 27, 1945
Nashville
Alma materTennessee State University
University of Cincinnati
Vanderbilt University
Known forIndustrial chemistry
Bioseparation
Scientific career
InstitutionsDow Chemical Company
Waters Corporation

Dorothy Jean Phillips (née Wingfield) (born July 27, 1945) is an American chemist and director-at-large of the American Chemical Society. She worked on circular dichroism and bioseparation. In 1967 Phillips was the first African-American woman to complete a bachelor's degree at Vanderbilt University.

Early life and education

Phillips grew up in segregation in the southern United States.[1] She was one of eight children. Her father, Reverend Robert Cam Wingfield, worked as a porter for the Greyhound Bus station before attending classes at the American Baptist Theological Seminary to become a Baptist minister.[2] Her mother, Rebecca Cooper Wingfield, did occasional domestic work.[2] As a young girl the only white people Phillips knew were those who had employed her mother.[2]

Her parents were very supportive of her education, and attended local meetings of the Negro Parent Teachers Association.[2] The Wingfields became more active with the civil rights movement after the Rosa Parks bus boycott in 1956.[2] Her brother was part of the Nashville sit-ins and her family were one of the first to integrate into Nashville. Phillips attended a National Science Foundation summer school for African-American students, which inspired her to study chemistry.[2] She and her boyfriend took part in a statewide mathematics competition 'for colored students'.[2] She eventually majored in chemistry at Tennessee State University, but transferred to Vanderbilt University in 1966.[3]

While Phillips originally intended to study medicine, she was discouraged by her advisor who believed she would not be able to have a family and attend medical school.[2] She pledged to the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and was listed in the Who's Who Among American High School Students.[2] She studied chemistry at Vanderbilt University, where she was the first African-American woman to earn a Bachelor of Arts in 1967.[4] Attending Vanderbilt University was the first time Phillips had white classmates and professors.[2] After graduating, Phillips worked in psycho-pharmaceutical research.[2] She completed her doctoral studies at the University of Cincinnati, and, again, was the first African-American woman in Cincinnati to earn a PhD in biochemistry.[2]

In 1973 the joined the American Chemical Society.[5] She worked on the R17 virus, using circular dichroism and electron paramagnetic resonance to understand the conformation of the viral protein.[2] Whilst researching the R17 virus, Phillips read about the work of Patrick Oriel at Dow Chemical Company, and decided to apply.[2]

Career

After graduating, Phillips joined the Dow Chemical Company as a bench scientist.[6][7] She developed circular dichroism and began to work on antibiotics and herbicides.[2] At Dow Chemical Company Phillips helped students from Michigan State University to analyse the antibiotics in animal feed. She established how they might impact animal growth.[2] She is responsible for several patents in the area, including one to improve lactation and another to improve feed utilisation.[8][9][10]

Phillips joined the Waters Corporation in 1984, where she worked in research and development until 1996.[11] At Waters Corporation Phillips was a member of the Chemical Research and Development department, developing chromatography packing materials and bioseparations.[2] Under her leadership the team developed the AccellPlus exchange packings, which could be used to separate proteins.[2] She began to consult the biotechnology company Millipore Corp., travelling the world to talk about the work of the Waters Corporation.[2] Her work expanded to include high-performance liquid chromatography. Phillips also investigated small molecules, including the drug sildenafil.[2] She served as Clinical Marketing Director and Strategic Marketing Director.[12] She was involved with the development of the Waters Corporation Symmetry columns and Oasis cartridges.[11] At both the Dow Chemical Company and Waters Corporation, Phillips moved from research development to business management.[13] After an almost thirty-year career, Phillips retired from the Waters Corporation in 2013 s Director of Strategic Marketing .[1][14]

Academic service

In 1990 Phillips became involved with the American Chemical Society Northeastern Section.[7] She was involved with the American Chemical Society Project SEED, a scheme which allows high school students from disadvantaged backgrounds to complete summer placements in research laboratories.[2] As a candidate in 2013 for the position of director-at-Large for the American Chemical Society, Phillips stated that if she were elected to the position, she would aim to address two issues: global chemistry enterprise and chemical safety.[13] In 2013 Phillips was appointed director-at-large of the American Chemical Society.[1] Since 2014, Phillips has served as the American Chemical Society board liaison for the society's Science and Human Rights program. This program monitors the cases of scientists worldwide whose rights have been abridged. She was re-elected as director-at-Large in 2016, and seeks to use her tenure to improve their 'globalization and diversity'.[15] In 2017 Vanderbilt University created two faculty fellowships in her honour.[4] The inaugural fellowship holder was Renã A. S. Robinson.[16] In the fall of 2019, Philips was re-elected to serve a third term in 2020 on the board of directors for the American Chemical Society.[17]

Awards and honours

Phillips' awards and honours include;

Personal life

Phillips was married two weeks after graduating from Vanderbilt University. Her brother, Robert C. Wingfield, serves as director of the Fisk Community Environmental Toxics Awareness and Sustainability Program.[2][27] She has two children, Anthony and Crystal, and a step-daughter called Vickie.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Dorothy J. Phillips elected to board of world's largest scientific society". American Chemical Society. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Brown, Jeannette E. (2018-08-08). African American Women Chemists in the Modern Era. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190615185.
  3. ^ "Who Was Who". Celebrating Black History. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  4. ^ a b Communications, Vanderbilt Division of. "Dorothy Phillips, first African American woman to receive an undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt, recognized". Vanderbilt University. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  5. ^ "Facebook Live: Opportunities to Serve Human Rights". American Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  6. ^ "American Chemical Society South Florida Section Newsletter" (PDF). ACS South Florida Section. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  7. ^ a b "Philips, Dorothy". American Chemical Society. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  8. ^ Method for improving lactation in ruminant animals, retrieved 2019-03-28
  9. ^ (Trichloromethyl)pyridine compounds useful for promoting growth and/or improving feed utilization efficiency in ruminants, retrieved 2019-03-28
  10. ^ 3-Trichloromethyl-5-substituted-1,2,4-thiadiazoles as ruminant animal growth promoters, retrieved 2019-03-28
  11. ^ a b "The Analyzer Source". analyzersource.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  12. ^ "Dorothy J. Phillips". C&EN Global Enterprise. 94 (36): 56–58. 2016-09-12. doi:10.1021/cen-09436-acsnews010. ISSN 2474-7408.
  13. ^ a b "Statement with Video". Dorothy J. Phillips, Ph.D. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  14. ^ Robertson, Seth. "Trailblazing alumna Dorothy Phillips discusses her career as a chemist, importance of diversity in the physical sciences". Vanderbilt University. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  15. ^ "Dorothy J. Phillips of Natick, Massachusetts re-elected to board of world's largest scientific society". American Chemical Society. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  16. ^ "Renã A. S. Robinson, PhD | Vanderbilt Memory & Alzheimer's Center". www.vumc.org. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  17. ^ "American Chemical Society announces election results for 2020 officers". American Chemical Society. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  18. ^ "CHEMBOND" (PDF). University of Cincinnati. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  19. ^ a b "Honors". Dorothy J. Phillips, Ph.D. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  20. ^ "Welcome to NESACS - Awards | Henry A. Hill Award Recipients". www.nesacs.org. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  21. ^ "Awards and Grants | American Chemical Society". Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  22. ^ "Silicon Valley Chemist" (PDF). SVACS. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  23. ^ "2010 ACS Fellows | August 2, 2010 Issue - Vol. 88 Issue 31 | Chemical & Engineering News". cen.acs.org. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  24. ^ "For Director-at-Large: Dorothy J. Phillips | Chemical & Engineering News". cen.acs.org. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  25. ^ Blue, Jalen. "Five Vanderbilt Trailblazer portraits unveiled during Reunion Weekend". Vanderbilt University. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  26. ^ "2020 NOBCChE Lifetime Achievement Award Presented to Dorothy J. Wingfield-Phillips, Ph.D." acswcc.org. 30 September 2020. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  27. ^ "Robert Wingfield | Fisk University". www.fisk.edu. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
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