Chemical & Engineering News celebrates LGBTQ+ chemists

WASHINGTON, April 11, 2022 — Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, is celebrating LGBTQ+ chemists with a special Trailblazers issue.

“This collection gives voice to LGBTQ+ members of the chemistry community and celebrates their contributions,” says Tehshik P. Yoon, Ph.D. issue guest editor and chemistry professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. “Our hope is to provide visibility to a population that has been marginalized for far too long and whose basic human dignity is only beginning to enjoy legal protection. You may not know who we are, but we work beside you. … Science must create a place for queer people. The inclusion of all our voices in research and education benefits us all.” 

“C&EN is proud to recognize LGBTQ+ chemists with the 2022 edition of Trailblazers. We are thrilled to highlight some of the voices within this community and celebrate their contributions to the chemical sciences,” says C&EN’s Editor-in-Chief Bibiana Campos-Seijo, Ph.D. “Trailblazers symbolizes C&EN's commitment to making the chemical sciences a diverse and welcoming environment for all scientists, and the 2022 edition carries an important message: We strongly oppose discrimination against sexual and gender minorities. Science welcomes all.”

The 2022 Trailblazers are Polly Arnold, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley; Nicholas Ball, Ph.D., Pomona College; Barbara Belmont, California State University, Dominguez Hills; Carolyn Bertozzi, Ph.D., Stanford University; Kelly Chacón, Ph.D., Reed College; Benny  Chan, Ph.D., College of New Jersey; Melissa Gish, Ph.D., National Renewable Energy Laboratory; Andre Isaacs, Ph.D., College of the Holy Cross; Carolyn Ladd, Ph.D., Dow Chemical; Song Lin, Ph.D., Cornell University; Raul Navarro, Ph.D., Occidental College; Jennifer Petter, Ph.D., Arrakis Therapeutics; David Smith, Ph.D., University of York; Jason Tedrow, Ph.D., Sanofi; Charlie Wand, Ph.D., University of Exeter; Alison Wendlandt, Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Nancy Scott Burke Williams, Ph.D., Claremont McKenna College. Additionally, 10 historical LGBTQ+ Trailblazers are featured in the issue.

LGBTQ+ writers created all original content in the 2022 Trailblazers issue of C&EN, and many of the commissioned photos of the Trailblazers were taken by LGBTQ+ photographers. The article is in the C&EN April 11 issue and the accompanying website is available now.