Three Chemistry at Illinois alumni returned to campus on Nov. 10, 2023, for a panel discussion about their individual career paths and professional experiences that have taken them in different yet successful directions since they were students at Illinois.
The panelists were (in photo on left, pictured left to right) Alan H. Wu (PhD, '80) Professor of Laboratory Medicine, Chief, Clinical Chemistry Laboratory, San Francisco General Hospital; LaShaunda T. King-McNeil, PhD, (BS, ’95) Senior Director, R&D, Olay Product Development & Packaging Innovation, Procter & Gamble; and Brett McGuire, PhD, (BS, ‘09) Class of 1943 Career Development Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
- Brett McGuire earned his BS in Chemistry at Illinois in 2009 and his PhD from the California Institute of Technology in 2014. He was a National Radio Astronomy Observatory Jansky Fellow and then a NASA Hubble Fellow from 2014-2020 at the NRAO and the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian. In 2020, he joined the MIT faculty where his research uses the tools of physical chemistry, molecular spectroscopy, and observational astrophysics to understand how the chemical ingredients for life evolve with and help shape the formation of stars and planets. Beyond research, he is heavily involved in the design and advocacy for several next-generation astronomical observatories.
- LaShaunda T. King-McNeil has worked at P&G for more than 17 years in various roles that have supported multiple brands across the Beauty Care business including Old Spice, Secret, Olay, Native Skin, SKII, Head & Shoulders, and Pantene. Currently, as R&D Senior Director in the Global Skin Care product development organization, LaShaunda is responsible for leading the transformation of the Skin Care category via creation of strategic product and packaging platforms and holistic product designs that enable strong new market propositions that will expand the Olay and Native brand form offerings and benefit spaces.
- Dr. Alan Wu directs clinical testing at San Francisco General Hospital, conducts translational research and clinical trials for new diagnostic tests and instrumentation, and teaches graduate students, medical students, residents in pathology, and postdoctoral fellows in clinical chemistry. And he has also written several books.
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Greg George (BS, '82) is an analytical and process systems chemist with extensive experience supporting R&D for military and government legacy e-chemical waste cleanups and for an award-winning, high-visibility distilled spirits start-up venture, Persedo LLC. George returned to campus on Oct. 27, 2023, to deliver an Alumni Lecture, sharing various career milestones on his way to winning the R&D 100 Award in Process and Prototyping as part of a four-person start-up company, Persedo LLC, which is the smallest company ever to have won the R&D 100 Award.
