Nationality American Name Catherine Hunt | Role Chemist Fields Chemistry | |
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Born June 29, 1955 (age 68)
Bronxville, New York, USA ( 1955-06-29 ) Institutions Rohm and Haas
Dow Chemical Company Known for 2007 President of the American Chemical Society Alma mater Smith College, University of California, Davis Institution Rohm and Haas, Dow Chemical Company | ||
Catherine T. Hunt (born June 29, 1955) is an American chemist. In 2007, she served as the president of the American Chemical Society (ACS). She is a retired former director at Dow Chemical Company.
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Early life and education
One of seven siblings, Hunt was born in Bronxville, New York in 1955. She received her bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1977 from Smith College and her Ph.D. in chemistry in 1981 from University of California, Davis, where she worked on nuclear magnetic resonance supervised by Alan Balch. She then moved to a postdoctoral fellowship with Ian Armitage at Yale University from 1982–84.
Career
After her postdoctoral fellowship, Hunt became a senior scientist at Rohm and Haas in 1984 and subsequently held a variety of management positions within the company. When Rohm and Haas was bought by Dow Chemical Company in 2009, she transitioned into a research and development director role there, and has since retired.
In 2007, Hunt served as president of the American Chemical Society, having been elected in 2006 in the first ACS election for which internet voting was available. 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.
Awards and memberships
Hunt became a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2007 and an inaugural fellow of the American Chemical Society in 2009. She received the Smith College Medal in 2008 and the Outstanding Alumna of the Year Award from UC Davis in 2008. Hunt was also the 2011–12 Sylvia M. Stoesser Lecturer at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.
Personal life
Hunt is married and the couple have one son, born in 1991. She is an avid cyclist.