Catherine T. Hunt (born June 29, 1955) is an American chemist. In 2007, she served as the president of the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...

(ACS). She was a director at

Dow Chemical Company The Dow Chemical Company, officially Dow Inc., is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. The company is among the three largest chemical producers in the world. Dow manufactures plastics ...

Early life and education

One of seven siblings, Hunt was born in

Bronxville, New York Bronxville is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States, located approximately north of Midtown Manhattan. It is part of the Administ ...

, in 1955. She received her bachelor's degree in

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the elements that make up matter to the compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, proper ...

in 1977 from

Smith College Smith College is a private liberal arts women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith and opened in 1875. It is the largest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite women's coll ...

and her Ph.D. in chemistry in 1981 from

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The inst ...

, where she worked on

nuclear magnetic resonance Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a physical phenomenon in which nuclei in a strong constant magnetic field are perturbed by a weak oscillating magnetic field (in the near field) and respond by producing an electromagnetic signal with a ...

supervised by Alan Balch. She then moved to a

postdoctoral fellowship A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to pu ...

with Ian Armitage, Robert Shulman, and James Prestegard at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

from 1982 to 1984.

Career

After her postdoctoral fellowship, Hunt became a senior scientist at

Rohm and Haas Rohm and Haas Company is a manufacturer of specialty chemicals for end use markets such as building and construction, electronic devices, packaging, household and personal care products. Headquartered in Philadelphia, the company is organized i ...

in 1984 and subsequently held a variety of management positions within the company. When Rohm and Haas was bought by

in 2009, she transitioned into a

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

director role there, and has since retired. In 2007, Hunt served as president of the

, having been elected in 2006 in the first ACS election for which internet voting was available. She has expressed her belief that the U.S. should "reignite its commitment to science" both in her inaugural speech and her petition to President George W. Bush prior to her presidency. She ran on a platform of broader public outreach and interest in science education. She also served on the board of directors from 2006 to 2008 and is part of the Women Chemists Committee of Philadelphia ACS.

Awards and memberships

Hunt became a

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

in 2007. Hunt was named one of the ''“Best 50 Women in Business”'' in Pennsylvania by Governor Rendell in 2007. She received the Smith College Medal in 2008 and the Outstanding Alumna of the Year Award from UC Davis in 2008. She was an inaugural fellow of the American Chemical Society in 2009. Hunt was also the 2011–12 Sylvia M. Stoesser Lecturer in Chemistry at the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Un ...

. She held the Brent Halsey Distinguished Visiting Professorship in 2017.

Personal life

Hunt is married and the couple have one son, born in 1991. They live in Upper Dublin together. She is an avid

cyclist Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

. She has also joined the board of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University. Hunt has encouraged and mentored many women who were seeking a STEM education. As one of the role model scientist for many women, she was one of the 25 women who represented the U.S. in the People to People Ambassador Program’s Women in Science Delegation to Cuba, where she presented a paper entitled Virtuous, not just Virtual, Teams: Analytical Networks Deliver. During her free time, she enjoys mentoring, judging science fairs and serving on the Upper Dublin Library Board.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Catherine 1955 births Living people People from Bronxville, New York American women chemists Smith College alumni University of California, Davis alumni Dow Chemical Company employees 20th-century American chemists 21st-century American chemists 21st-century American scientists 20th-century American women scientists 21st-century American women scientists Scientists from New York (state) Presidents of the American Chemical Society