Challenges in Graduate Education
January 23-24, 2012
National Academies Keck Center, Room 100
500 5th Street NW
Washington, DC
Monday, January 23
8:30 a.m. Welcome, Objectives, and Introductions; Joe Francisco, Purdue University; Chair, Workshop Organizing Committee
Overview—Drivers for this Workshop
8:45 a.m. Introductory remarks; Matthew Platz, Director, Division of Chemistry, NSF
9:15 a.m. ACS Presidential Commission on Graduate Education; Bassam Shakhashiri, President-Elect, American Chemical Society
9:30 a.m. The Path Forward: The Future of Graduate Education in the US; Patricia McAllister Vice President for Government Relations and External Affairs, Council of Graduate Schools
10:00 a.m. Break
10:15 a.m. “Graduate School. What is it supposed to do?” George Whitesides, Woodford L. and Ann A. Flowers University Professor, Harvard University (via web)
10:45 a.m. Chemistry Education: Fulfillment of Professional and Societal Goals; Gary Schuster, Vasser Woolley Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology
The Social Compact—Addressing Societal Challenges
11:15 a.m. David Berry, Flagship Ventures
11:45 a.m. Lunch
Stressors on the current model for chemistry graduate education
1:00 p.m. Panel Discussion: What challenges may force changes in the way departments currently recruit, fund, and train graduate students in chemistry?
Holden Thorp, Chancellor, University of North Carolina (via web)
Marye Anne Fox, Chancellor, University of California at San Diego
Paul Houston, Dean, College of Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology
Mike Doyle, Chair, Department of Chemistry, University of Maryland at College Park
2:15 p.m. Break
Chemists in Non-Academic Settings: How well is graduate training preparing PhDs to solve problems outside the academic setting?
2:30 p.m. Panel Discussion: What are the skills industry managers need in PhD chemists, and how is employment of chemists and the skills they need evolving?
Thomas Degnan, ExxonMobil Research and Engineering
Bill Beaulieu, Chevron Phillips Chemical
Sandy Mills, Vice President, Discovery and Preclinical Sciences, Merck Sharp & Dohme
David Kronenthal, Vice President of Chemical Development, Bristol-Myers Squibb
Joydeep Lahiri, Division Vice President and Director of Bio and Organic Research, Corning, Inc.
Rajiv Dhawan, Talent Acquisition Manager, Du Pont Technology, E.I. Du Pont de Nemours, Inc.
4:00 p.m. Panel Discussion: What skills have served recent graduates well in their positions, and what additional skills would have been useful as they began their careers?
David Tellers, Merck Sharp & Dohme
Sid Shenoy, E.I. Du Pont de Nemours, Inc.
Heather Gennadios, US Food and Drug Administration
Jake Yeston, Senior Editor, Science, American Association for the Advancement of Science
5:00 p.m. Adjourn
Tuesday, January 24
Preparing the next generation of faculty
8:00 a.m. Panel Discussion: How well does graduate training prepare PhDs to become faculty?
Jennifer Schomaker, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin at Madison
Samuel Thomas, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Tufts University
Julie Aaron, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, DeSales University
9:30 a.m. Agency efforts: NIGMS program to mentor junior faculty; Bob Lees, National Institute of General Medical Sciences
10:00 a.m. Break
10:15 a.m. Open Discussion: Are graduate chemistry programs serving our students well?
• Where are innovations needed to improve or enhance the training our students receive, and their preparedness to address the next generation of research challenges?
• What are the barriers to achieving innovation in graduate chem. programs?
• What should the graduate program of the future look like?
11:30 a.m. Wrap up; Closing remarks, Joe Francisco
12 noon Adjourn
