Jeannette E. Brown

Jeannette Elizabeth Brown (born May 13, 1934 ) is a retired American organic medicinal chemist, historian, and author.

Life and education Brown was born in 1934 in The Bronx, New York. According to Brown, when she was young, she contracted tuberculosis, and was treated by Arthur Logan. Logan was a young African-American in his intern year of residency, and lived in Brown's building. Brown's later inspiration to study science came from asking Logan how one could become a doctor. He replied, "Oh, you study science". Brown earned her bachelor's degree in chemistry at Hunter College in 1956, one of two African Americans in the inaugural class of Hunter's chemistry program. In 1958, she became the first African American woman to achieve a master's degree from the University of Minnesota in organic chemistry. Her master's thesis was entitled "Study of Dye and Ylide Formation in Salts of 9-(p-dimethylaminophenyl) Fluorene."

Chemical research After receiving her master's degree, Brown began work as a research chemist at CIBA Pharmaceutical Company, where she was involved in research programs for drug development targeting tuberculosis and coccidiosis. She moved to Merck in 1969, where she co-authored 15 publications, obtained one patent and contributed to five others. Brown's work focused on synthesizing novel medicinal compounds. She worked to develop the compound cilastatin sodium. Cilastatin is an inhibitor of renal dehydropeptidase. Since the antibiotic, imipenem, is one such antibiotic that is hydrolyzed by dehydropeptidase, cilastatin is used in combination with imipenem to prevent its metabolism. This combination creates the antibiotic Primaxin (imipenem/cilastatin), which is used to treat severe internal infections, as well as diseases caused by flesh-eating bacteria and some types of pneumonia.

To succeed in industry, she believed that being an effective communicator, working on a team, and having a strong scientific education in an ever-changing field were essential.

Outreach Brown spent 36 years in research before she switched over to education. From 1993 to 2002 she was a visiting professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Her second book, African American Women Chemists in the Modern Era, focuses on contemporary women who have benefited from the Civil Rights Act and are now working as chemists or chemical engineers.

Quotations In an interview with the University of Minnesota, Brown advises young women entering the scientific fields to plow ahead despite the inevitable slights that will come their way. “You just got to keep going,” she said. “You can't stop. If you stop, you're not going to get what you want.”

“Go straight for a Ph.D. Do not stop at a master's degree,” she said. “If you're a Ph.D., then you're the boss.” 2004, Société de Chimie Industrielle Fellow of the Chemical Heritage Foundation (American Section) recipient, University of Minnesota 2005, National Award for Encouraging Disadvantaged Students into Careers in the Chemical Sciences recipient, American Chemical Society 2020, Henry Hill Award, American Chemical Society