Alumni News-From the Faculty

On 19 November 2008 I gave a talk at the Eastern Analytical Symposium, and then had lunch with two alumni, Joyce Shabo and Mike Fasola.  They graduated in 2005, a year after I joined the TCNJ Faculty.  Joyce, Mike and Pat Mahan, who all completed Chemistry degrees with a Forensic Chemistry Concentration, were hired by Schering-Plough.  Joyce and Mike are still there and both seem to be very happy.  They were initially hired into the GMP labs, doing stability and release testing, using methods such as HPLC and GC.  Mike continues to enjoy working at the bench, while Joyce has moved into Project Management.  Joyce enjoys seeing the big picture as new products are developed, and in support of her managerial role, plans to start working on an MBA degree at Stevens Institute of Technology.

And what ever happened to the third graduate who went to Schering-Plough, Pat Mahan?  Pat called me about two weeks before I had lunch with Joyce and Mike.  I remember when Pat was a graduating senior, and when I asked him about his dream job, he thought that he might actually want to teach some day.  Well, that's what he's doing now.  His first year as a science/chemistry teacher at the High School in Jackson, NJ was a great year for him, and his second year is turning out to be just as good.  He says he's doing exactly what he wanted to - teaching and coaching (did I mention that Pat was on the TCNJ football team?).  Side note of interest, Pat is teaching at his old high school, so many of his colleagues used to be his teachers!

This opportunity to talk to some alumni reminded me of others from their class, with whom I stay in contact.  Matt Repp now works at DuPont, in their Regional Analytical Services, which supports the R&D Department.  Harry Rose works for Nova Research, Inc. in their Transportation Security Laboratories at the Atlantic City International Airport.  Harry says he's doing R&D on the trace detection of "things of interest to the federal government", but couldn't elaborate.  Sweet!

We're proud of all of our alumni, and it's great to watch our "kids" grow up.  I'm pleased to be able to report on what some of our recent alums are up to.

John Allison

Professor of Chemistry and Director of Forensic Chemistry