Herman O. Sintim obtained his BSc from University College London (Medicinal Chemistry). He did his PhD in organic chemistry at University of Oxford under Prof. David Hodgson. He held postdoctoral positions at Oxford and Stanford Universities (with Profs Tim Donohoe and Eric Kool respectively) before joining the University of Maryland at College Park (UMD) in 2006 as an Assistant Professor. In 2012, Herman received tenure and was promoted to Associate Professor. In 2015, Herman was promoted to the rank of Professor at UMD. In October 2015, Herman was awarded an endowed professorship in drug discovery at Purdue University and moved his group to Purdue. In 2017, Herman co-founded KinaRx LLC. From 2020 to 2022, Herman served as Program Director at the NSF (Chemistry). In 2022, Herman became the Richard B. Wetherill Professor of Chemistry and Drug Discovery. In Dec 2023, Herman became a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry.

Herman has won numerous awards, including NSF Career Award, Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer. He served as permanent member of the NIH study section SBCA. He currently serves on the editorial board of Bioorganic Chemistry and is on the editorial advisory boards of the American Chemical Society Journals, ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters and ACS Infectious Diseases.

Dr. Chris Greenhill is a material scientist for the Wire & Cable product development team at The Dow Chemical Company. Since joining in 2020, she has led lab-scale and pilot-scale evaluations of alternative materials for long-term heat stabilizers in some of Wire & Cable’s high-volume (300,000 lbs/yr) power and telecommunications materials. Her contributions projected a savings of $1.8 million/yr. for the business. She now serves as the technical focal point for the Electrical market in North America.

Awarded the prestigious NSF Graduate Fellowship in 2016, she completed her doctoral studies at the University of Michigan. Her work focused on controlling electronic structure in Group III/V semiconductor films through material design. Such materials have increasing commercial presence in integrated electronic systems and photonic applications. She also worked as a solar panel installer for residential homes throughout Southeast Michigan.

Dr. Chris was born and raised in Tennessee to a family of carpenters. “By working alongside my grandmother, I developed a unique enthusiasm for her mentorship and building things, as we replaced floor tiles, installed new light fixtures, and connected electrical receptors to circuit breakers. I connected those special moments with concepts learned in science and extended the connection with others through school science projects.” Chris earned a B.S. in Physics in 2014, a M.S. in Electrical Engineering in 2016, and a PhD in Materials Science & Engineering in 2020. She conducted research at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the Cornell Center for Materials Research (CCMR) in Ithaca, NY. Dr. Chris enjoys writing, spending valuable time with family, and serving her community.

Jesse Hipps, Sr. is an experienced scientist and talent acquisition manager at Michelman, an Ohio-based chemical manufacturer. With over 30 years of expertise in material science and sustainability, he holds 14 patents. Jesse has also taught as an adjunct science professor at the University of Alabama in Birmingham and James Madison University.

As President and Chief Science Officer of the Heritage Center in Birmingham, Alabama, Jesse focused on STEM education for underserved communities. He raised over $14 million for STEM education and authored four books on workforce development.

Jesse is a motivational speaker, published author, and holds degrees in Chemistry from the University of Alabama and Benedict College. He is an active member of professional organizations, including the American Chemical Society, American Oil Chemist's Society, National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers, and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.

Recognized for his exceptional public service in STEM education, Jesse has been awarded the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Medal and the Jefferson Award Medal. In his free time, he enjoys exercise, hiking, movies, music, barbecuing, reading, teaching, and promoting an active lifestyle.

Jesse Hipps, Sr. continues to make a significant impact in material science, sustainability, and STEM education through his experience, leadership, and dedication to empowering others.

Sibrina N. Collins earned a B.A. in chemistry from Wayne State University in 1994 and a PhD in inorganic chemistry from The Ohio State University in 2000. Dr. Collins served as the Founding Executive Director of the Marburger STEM Center on the campus of Lawrence Technological University (2016 – 2023). Beginning January 2023, she was appointed as Executive Director of STEM Education and Associate Professor of Practice in Chemistry for the College of Arts and Sciences (CoAS) at Lawrence Tech. In 2018, she received the Real McCoy Award in Science from the Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program (DAPCEP) for her leadership and public engagement efforts in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education. In 2021, she received the LTU John G. Petty Community Champion Award for her efforts to positively impact the African American community. Her research efforts include storytelling in STEM education, inorganic chemistry, chemical education, history of chemistry, and addressing inclusion and equity in the STEM fields. In 2023, Dr. Collins was selected as the 2024 Gordon Cain Conference Fellow for the Science History Institute in Philadelphia, PA. The theme for the 2024 Cain Conference is “Storytelling as Pedagogy: Historical Biographies in STEM and Social Studies,” which focuses on using historical biographies in contemporary science education.

Dr. Collins joined NOBCChE (National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers) as an undergraduate chemistry major at Wayne State University (WSU) in Detroit, Michigan. She later helped establish the NOBCChE Student Affiliate Chapter as a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry at The Ohio State University and served as the first president. Dr. Collins proudly served as a co-editor of NOBCChE News OnLine (NNOL). In 2005, she received the NOBCChE Service Award for her contributions to the Organization.

She has published in high-impact journals including Nature, Inorganic Chemistry, Nature Chemistry, the Bulletin for the History of Chemistry and the Journal of Chemical Education. Dr. Collins served as editor of the ACS Symposium Series Volume 1381 entitled “African American Chemists: Academia, Industry and Social Entrepreneurship.” She has authored a book chapter in the ACS Symposium Series Volume 1370 entitled “Inorganic Chemistry: Vibranium and Marvel Studios’ Black Panther,” and “Critical Mass Takes Courage: Diversity in the Chemical Sciences” published in the ACS Symposium Series Volume 1256. In 2020, Dr. Collins’ career pathway was featured in the “Career Ladder” spotlight published by Chemical and Engineering News.

Dr. Simms, an HBCU alumna, synthetic polymer chemist, and entrepreneur is currently an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati. Her research focuses on the design and development of functional biomaterials that address public health challenges. Her ultimate goal is to move biomaterials from the benchtop and into the communities that need them most, all while empowering the next generation of STEM scholars.

​A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Davita L. Watkins obtained her B.S. in Chemistry and Anthropology from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.  After working briefly for a bioanalytical company, she received a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Memphis under the tutelage of Dr. Tomoko Fujiwara. As a doctoral candidate, she developed and established multi-step synthetic methods for a series of stimuli-responsive materials. In 2012, she accepted a postdoctoral position at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, with Dr. Ronald K. Castellano where she developed novel self-assembling organic materials for photovoltaic applications. In 2014, she began her independent academic career at the University of Mississippi, focusing on design guidelines towards functional materials with tunable properties through molecular self-assembly. Dr. Watkins is the recipient of several awards, including the Oak Ridge Associated Universities Ralph E. Powe Award, a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, a Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering American Chemical Society Young Investigator Award and the Lloyd N. Ferguson Young Scientist Award. Alongside her research efforts, Dr. Watkins is an active voice for initiatives to increase minorities and women in STEM. 

Shawn Raynard Hitchcock was born in Detroit, Michigan where he attended Wayne State University and obtained his B.S. degree chemistry in 1990.  He conducted his undergraduate research with Professor Kim Albizati working on tandem diastereoselective aldol addition reactions.  This research experience was funded in part by the National Institutes of Mental Health-Minority Access to Research Careers (NIMH-MARC) program. He then went to the University of California, Davis where he worked under the supervision of Professor Mike Nantz on the synthetic preparation of organometallic complexes for asymmetric catalysis. He conducted his post-doctoral studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison with Professor Edwin Vedejs pursuing the study of the asymmetric transformations of oxazaborolidinones.  His post-doctoral study was supported by a NOBCChE-Merck Postdoctoral Fellowship. He joined the faculty of Illinois State University in 1998 and was promoted to associate professor in 2004.  In 2008, He was awarded the 2008 Award for Outstanding College Teaching, College of Arts & Sciences at Illinois State University. He was awarded the 2009 Neuleib Award for Outstanding Scholarship for the College of Arts & Sciences at Illinois State University. He was promoted to professor of chemistry (2010).  He has guided 28 students to their Masters’ degree in chemistry, and has mentored more than 80 students in undergraduate research. He has been funded by the American Chemical Society’s Petroleum Research Fund and the National Science Foundation.  

​Tricia May-Dracka is currently a Principal Research Scientist II in the Global Medicinal Chemistry group where she is a group leader in the AbbVie/Calico collaboration.

Dr. May-Dracka has a BS in Chemistry from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI.  She then went on to earn a PhD in Organic Chemistry at Boston College under Professor Amir Hoveyda where she investigated new chiral N-heterocyclic carbenes as ligands to induce difficult transformations, including the enantioselective formation of all-carbon quaternary stereocenters from catalytic conjugate additions.  She then pursued an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship working for Professor Larry Overman at University of California, Irvine where she expanded on an Aza-Cope cyclization methodology and completed several natural products in the quadrigemine alkaloid family.

Following her academic training, Dr. May-Dracka worked at AstraZeneca in the antiviral and antibiotic group before moving to Biogen to investigate neurological and neurodegenerative diseases.  In 2019, she moved to the Discovery group at AbbVie based in North Chicago.  She is passionate about Diversity and Inclusion and active in various groups including AbbVie Women in Chemistry (co-chair in 2021-2023) and core member of the PharmaLeaders DE&I initiative.

Mark Ondari is a Global Technology Guardian at Corteva Agriscience where he serves as a liaison between R&D, internal manufacturing plants, and Third-Party Manufacturers (3PMs) in Europe, India, and China for Corteva actives and intermediates. In this role, Mark is responsible for and provides chemistry subject matter expertise to enable successful transfer and implementation of the process technology used in large-scale manufacture of select Corteva crop protection active ingredients. In addition, Mark is responsible for continuous improvement of this manufacturing technology intended to reduce waste and the cost of manufacture as well as to improve process safety. Before the merger and split of Dow-Dupont, Mark worked as a research scientist at the Dow Chemical Company between 2011 and 2017 where he worked on process development of crop protection actives as well as catalyst discovery, polyolefin-silicon telechelic materials, and small-molecules organic electronics (OLEDs). Mark holds a BS degree in Chemistry (University of Nairobi) and a PhD in Organic Chemistry (Michigan State University). In his spare time, Mark is an avid walker and a wannabe writer who ruminates on the “illusion” of space-time, the perils of the “hidden brain,” and the “enterprise” of social inequality!

Dr. Boddu received his PhD in organic chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India, in 2020. From 2020 to 2022, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow under Prof. Jennifer L. Stockdill at Wayne State University, focusing on solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) to develop new synthetic methodologies for macrocyclic molecules. In 2022, he transitioned to Prof. Hien M. Nguyen's lab at WSU, working on Phenanthroline-Catalyzed stereoselective glycosylation. His research interests are centered on advancing synthetic techniques in organic chemistry.