Chris’ Bio

My life’s path has been shaped by the connection between three things: my professional career (both in industry and academia), my ACS career, and my passion for education and the arts. In my current role as Deputy Director of the AVIDD/SyneRx grant at the Stanford School of Medicine, my work is focused on translational anti-viral medicine development. My 33-year career at Eli Lilly and Company allowed me to contribute in technical, management and leadership roles. In the early years, I also had the opportunity to serve as an adjunct professor in the graduate programs at IUPUI and Butler Universities. Importantly, over all those years my ACS service was shaped and accelerated by my business experiences at Lilly. In 1989, as a member of a diversity committee in Lilly Research Laboratories, I partnered with WCC leadership to establish the WCC-Lilly Travel Awards, now a 35-year program that has enabled over 800 young women chemists to travel to their first scientific meeting to make a research presentation.

Shortly thereafter, I was asked to chair the WCC, and with an ambitious lead team and informed by management tools learned at Lilly, we transformed the WCC’s mission, vision and goals, which are the precursor of today’s WCC Strategic plan.

Upon completing that service, my ACS attention shifted to leading the Indiana ACS Section in the early 2000’s. Again, a small, ambitious team focused on transformation developed the idea of hosting an ACS National Meeting in Indianapolis. With significant support from not only Eli Lilly and Company, but other Indy-based companies such as Heritage, Dow Agrosciences (now Corteva), Roche Diagnostics, we successfully won the bid. Leading up to the 2013 National meeting, I served as Chair of the Indianapolis Host Committee. It went well enough that a second National Meeting was held in Indianapolis in Spring of 2023.

Finally, the greatest integration of all I learned from my business experience at Lilly, IQVIA and my years of ACS experience was serving for two terms (6 years) on the ACS Board of Directors. During these years, I led a number of subcommittees and task forces focused on strategic planning, diversity and inclusion, and industry participation in the ACS. During this time, I also catalyzed several efforts highlighting the connections between chemistry and the arts, partnering to produce a symposium with the Committee on Education.

It would be a great honor to put this knowledge and experience to work for the governance, membership and staff of the ACS. I have lived at the interface between industry, academia and the ACS for the past 40 years, and I see opportunities to evolve and transform for many years to come. Your vote would allow me to serve and I appreciate your consideration.