Laura Beth Dong is a native of the Mississippi Delta, Laura Beth Dong earned a BS degree in Chemical En-gineering with minors in Chemistry and Mathemat-ics from Mississippi State University in 2004 and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from North Carolina State University in 2010. While at NC State, she was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. Dr. Dong joined Albemarle Corporation in Ba-ton Rouge, Louisiana, upon completing her doctorate degree. As a Senior Process Development Engineer,

she works with cross-functional teams to develop and scale-up challenging specialty chemical processes. Her work includes efforts on the bench, pilot, and commercial scales at different Albemarle locations.

Trinity Hale is the Olefin and Methanol Derivatives Group Leader at Celanese Chemicals in Pasadena, TX. She earned her B.S. in chemistry from Ohio State University in 2002, completing an undergraduate re-search project with Dr. David Hart. She was an Alfred P. Sloan fellowship recipient at Purdue University, where she earned her M.S. in inorganic chemistry with Dr. Jon Wilker in 2005. Her thesis topic was “Marine Adhesive Mimics”. After graduation, she be-gan working at Celanese Chemicals where she has

moved from a bench chemist to a group leader. During this time she worked on several different projects in the Acetyls Derivatives Division and earned Six Sigma Green Belt certification.

Sabrina Lewis has worked for Albemarle Corporation for 3 years as an Information Specialist supporting Fine Chemicals, Polymer Additives, and Catalysts divi-sions. Her area of focus is technical research for the R&D team. Prior to Albemarle, Mrs. Lewis worked for Ferro Corporation as a technical support chemist for 9 years working in the areas of Electrolytes, Glymes, and Catalyst. She received her Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from Xavier University of Louisiana and her Master of Science in Organic Chemistry from

Louisiana State University. In addition, she has an Education Specialist degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Louisiana State University.

Amy Paris is an Advanced Chemical Engineer on the Pilot Plant Staff of Eastman Chemical Company in Longview, Texas. She graduated with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Arkansas in December of 2003. She then attended graduate school in chemical engineering at University of Arkansas, characterizing accidental releases of high pressure liquids in Dr. Tom Spicer’s group. While a graduate student at the University of Arkansas, she implemented an experimental program to validate a model for initial velocity

of aerosol jets. In 2007, Amy was named an American Society of Safety Engineers/UPS Diversity Scholar. She completed her Ph.D in Engineering from the University of Arkansas in June of 2008, and immediately began working for Eastman Chemical Company.

Jacqueline Besinaiz Thomas is currently a Scientist at Procter & Gamble and located in Cincinnati OH. In 2003, she received a BS in Chemistry from Texas A&M University-Kingsville. As an undergraduate, she conducted multiple research efforts in the areas of green chemistry, polymer chemistry, and compu-tational chemistry that were funded through the Ronald E. McNair Scholars program at TAMUK and NSF-REU Summer Internship program at TAMU. In 2008, she earned a PhD in Chemistry from Texas A&M University, specializing in physical organic

chemistry. Her dissertation focus was on Mechanistic Investigations into the Origin of Selectivity in Organic Reactions under Dr. Daniel A. Singleton. As a graduate student, she was awarded Pathways to Doctorate and NSF-GK12 Fel-lowships. Over the years she has received many awards and recognitions, and has multiple publications and patents.

1:00 pm Introductory Remarks 1:15 pm Laura Beth Dong, Albemarle Corporation 1:25 pm Trinity Hale, Celanese Chemicals 1:35 pm Sabrina Lewis, Albemarle Corporation 1:45 pm Amy K. Paris, Eastman Chemical Company

1:55 pm Jacqueline Besinaiz Thomas, Procter & Gamble 2:05 pm Moderated Panel Discussion 3:05 pm Intermission 3:20 pm Q&A Session 4:20 pm Concluding Remarks

Women Chemists of Color in IndustryTuesday, April 9 • 1:00 pm - 4:25 pmLocation: Morial Convention Center Room: 205Sponsored by: PROFCosponsored by: SCHB, WCC

Jacqueline Besinaiz Thomas, Procter & Gamble

Trinity HaleCelanese Chemicals

Sabrina LewisAlbemarle Corporation

Laura Beth DongAlbemarle Corporation

Amy K. ParisEastman Chemical Company

American Chemical Society www.acs.org

AGENDA