All the Best — UNL Chemistry Faculty Tell Their Stories
Season 1
Robert Powers, NMR-Assisted Drug Discovery
David Berkowitz, Enzyme-Assisted Organic Synthesis; NSF Officer
George Sturgeon, Metal Fluoride Compounds; Vice Chair
by Mark Griep
Dr. Robert Powers became a chemistry professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2003 and is about to retire after 23 years. Prior to UNL, Bob was a drug discovery researcher for 11 years at American Cyanamid, which eventually became Wyeth and is now part of Pfizer. Bob was born in Jersey, New Jersey. Something in his youth must have sparked an interest in chemistry because he earned a bachelor's in that subject from Rutgers University of New Brunswick, New Jersey. Then he traveled 1200 miles west to Purdue University in Indiana where he earned his doctorate. Next, he did postdoctoral research at the National Institutes of Health in the labs of Marius Clore & Angela Gronenborn. They were pioneers of using NMR to study biological macromolecules. At UNL, Bob’s lab has studied NMR-Assisted Drug Discovery.
Dr. Dave Berkowitz was born in 1960 in Urbana, Illinois. He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Chicago, where he did undergraduate research. Next, he earned his doctorate from Harvard University. However, his advisor, Steve Benner, moved from Harvard to ETH Zurich, also called the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Dave accompanied him to Zurich where he completed his dissertation work. When Dave returned to the US, he did a postdoc with the legendary Samuel Danishefsky at Yale University. In 1991, he joined UNL as an assistant professor of Chemistry and quickly rose through the ranks. Dave is now in his 35th year in the department. Let me mention three remarkable things about Dave before we start. One is that he served as chair of the department, except that his term was interrupted when he agreed to return to NSF after they had an unexpected opening in a leadership position (Chemistry Division Director) that they needed to fill quickly.. Another is that he co-established the Nebraska Drug Discovery and Development Pipeline (ND3P), a partnership between UNL and the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Finally, and most recently, he served as Assistant Director of the NSF Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences.
Dr. George Sturgeon was a chemistry professor at the University of Nebraska -Lincoln for 39 years, from 1964 to 2003. During his time at UNL, he spent 15 years as the vice chair. I like to say that multiple chairs served under him. George was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, but grew up in Jamestown, North Dakota. Something in his youth must have sparked an interest in chemistry because he earned a bachelor's in that subject from the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. Then he traveled 870 miles east to Michigan State University in East Lansing where he earned his doctorate. Immediately after graduating, he joined the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1964 as an assistant professor but was soon promoted to associate professor. His lab studied metal fluoride compounds including xenon difluoride.
This oral history is part of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Emeriti Association Oral Histories https://mediacommons.unl.edu/luna/servlet/detail/UNL~86~86~135~1448694?qvq=lc:UNL~86~86&mi=19&trs=48