Paul S. Anderson

Paul S. Anderson begins the interview with a discussion of his family and his childhood in Vermont. Though he was born in Concord, Vermont, in 1938, his father became the superintendent of Swainton, Vermont, schools soon after his son's birth, and so Anderson's family moved there. Paul Anderson attended Highgate High School, and went on to attend the University of Vermont for his undergraduate studies in chemistry. After receiving his B.S. in chemistry in 1959, Anderson attended the University of New Hampshire, where he earned his Ph.D. in chemistry in 1963. Following a brief post-doctoral fellowship with Jerrold Meinwald at Cornell University, Anderson accepted a senior research position at the Merck, Sharp & Dohme Research Laboratories. Over the next thirty years, Anderson advanced through the ranks of Merck leadership, eventually becoming the vice president for chemistry at their West Point facilities. In 1994, DuPont and Merck formed a joint-venture company, for which Anderson served as the vice president for the chemical and physical sciences. Then, in 1998, DuPont bought out Merck's half of the joint venture and made Anderson the senior vice president of his department for the newly formed DuPont Pharmaceuticals. When Bristol-Meyers Squibb bought DuPont Pharmaceuticals in 2001, Anderson continued with the company as the vice president of drug discovery. Anderson concludes his interview with his feelings about winning the Perkin Medal and the significance of federal funding for scientific research.

Merck Sharp & Dohme Research Laboratories

1964 - 1969 Senior Research Chemist, Medicinal Chemistry Department

Merck Sharp & Dohme Research Laboratories

1969 - 1973 Research Fellow, Medicinal Chemistry Department

Merck Sharp & Dohme Research Laboratories

1973 - 1975 Senior Research Fellow, Medicinal Chemistry Department

Merck Sharp & Dohme Research Laboratories

1975 - 1979 Associate Director, Medicinal Chemistry Department

Merck Sharp & Dohme Research Laboratories

1979 - 1980 Senior Director, Medicinal Chemistry Department

Merck Sharp & Dohme Research Laboratories

1980 - 1988 Executive Director, Medicinal Chemistry Department

Merck Sharp & Dohme Research Laboratories

1988 - 1994 Vice President for Chemistry

DuPont-Merck Pharmaceutical Company

1994 - 1998 Employee

DuPont-Merck Pharmaceutical Company

1998 - 2001 Senior Vice President for Chemical and Physical Sciences

Bristol-Meyers Squibb Company

2001 - 2002 Vice President, Drug Discovery

James G. Traynham

James G. Traynham is a professor of chemistry at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. He holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Northwestern University. He joined Louisiana State University in 1953 and served as chemistry department chairperson from 1968 to 1973. He was chairman of the American Chemical Society’s Division of the History of Chemistry in 1988 and is currently councilor of the Baton Rouge section of the American Chemical Society. He was a member of the American Chemical Society’s Joint-Board Council on Chemistry and Public Affairs, as well as a member of the Society’s Committees on Science, Chemical Education, and Organic Chemistry Nomenclature. He has written over 90 publications, including a book on organic nomenclature and a book on the history of organic chemistry.