Jeannette Elizabeth Brown
Personal Information
Born: 1934
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: Black
Education
Hunter College BS Chemistry 1956; University of Minnesota MS Organic Chemistry 1958
Professional Life
Field of Study: Organic Chemistry
Institution/Corporation: CIBA; Merck; NSF; NJ Institute of Technology
Degrees & Memberships: Member: American Chemical Society (1952) Princeton Research Forum (2010)National Organization for the Professional Advance of Black Chemists & Chemical engineers(NOBCChE 1996) Fellow of the Chemical Heritage Foundation (2004) Fellow Association for Women in Science (2007)
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 1991 Hunter College Hall of Fame; 2005 Outstanding Achievement Award, University of Minnesota; 2005 National Award for Encouraging Disadvantaged Students Into Careers in the Chemical Sciences, American Chemical Society; 2009 Glenn E. & Barbara Hodson Ullyot Scholar, Chemical Heritage Foundation; 2020 Henry Hill Award, American Chemical Society
Achievements: helped develop cilastatin sodium a drug to make renal antibiotics more effective; wrote 7 biographies of Black chemists & 2 books about Black female chemists
Had TB as a child
Was a research chemist at CIBA Pharmaceutical company working on drug development targeting TB & coccidiosis
Began working at Merck 1969; co-author of 15 publications. obtained 1 patent & contributed to 5 others while there
Helped develop cilastatin sodium leading to the creation of Primaxin which is used to treat severe internal infections, diseases caused by flesh-eating bacteria, & some types of pneumonia
Spent 36 years in research before switching to a career as an educator
Has written 2 books profiling African-American women in chemistry