Eric Bruton is UMSL “outstanding alumnus”

Every spring, the last UMSL seminar of the academic year honors outstanding student accomplishment in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Awards and scholarships are presented to undergraduate and graduate students, and an outstanding UMSL alumnus is asked to speak, especially describing where he has gone since UMSL.

This year, the honoree was Dr Eric Bruton, who earned both BS (1997) and PhD (2003) degrees at UMSL. After experience at Chemir, Monsanto, Crosslink, and Jost, Eric now works in the St Louis research laboratories of Boeing. He spoke eloquently about his career path, pointing out how his chemistry degree has led to rewarding experiences, including very active roles in the St Louis Section of the American Chemical Society. He also described some of the extraordinary materials that have resulted from his research. A silver lining of the virtual ceremony/seminar was that Eric’s PhD mentor, Professor Lee Brammer, now at the University of Sheffield (England), was able to participate.