2005_vprdoc PSpreads2.qxp - University of Akron

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Coleen Pugh —fashioning polymers Like Dr. Coleen Pugh, Anirudha Singh chose to work in synthetic chemistry despite a background in another discipline. “She believed in my ability to perform well,” Singh says of Pugh. “Her approach to the work is well defined; she considers all the aspects of a problem like economy, time — and definitely — quality, 2 which makes me think effectively to solve my problems.” Singh and Marta Paz-Pazos, another student of Pugh’s, say their mentor’s strict nature, coupled with her accessibility and willingness to help them through problems, are what set her apart as an instructor. “She has incredibly broad knowledge, enthusiasm and a willingness to speak to you when you need her,” Paz-Pazos says. “She is very critical with someone’s work, which teaches you not to settle for the first thing you get. There is always room for improvement. I have learned from her to read, interpret and relate concepts from any scientific document.”
The road that led Dr. Coleen Pugh from California to Akron is not quite a rags-to-riches story. Then again, it’s exactly a rags-to-riches story. Pugh never set out to be a synthetic polymer chemist. To hear her tell it, she hated chemistry. She loved couture and she envisioned a career in the fashion industry. Funny how these things work out. While she was determined to pursue her dream, Pugh — who supported herself at one time by sewing wedding dresses as well as Western wear for horse shows and costumes for a local ice show — also wanted to attend a four-year college. She picked the University of California, Davis because it was the only UC school that offered a fashion program. She quickly learned that the fashion industry was quite cutthroat, and that aspect did not appeal to her. So Pugh switched to textiles. “I said I would never take chemistry in college,” Pugh recalls with a laugh. “The (textile) department required that I take chemistry and I found that it was much different than what I had in high school. I really liked my chemistry teacher. It was a class that was very challenging and much more difficult than the other classes I had taken.” You can see where this story is going now. She changed her original path of textiles and clothing and wound up with a second major: chemistry, “and kind of the combination of textiles and chemistry that brings synthesizing polymers into the picture,” she explains. Pugh went on to earn a master’s and a doctorate at Case Western Reserve University, initially leaving the West Coast because there wasn’t much going on there in the area of polymer research. Her trail, which included postdoctoral work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ultimately led her to the center of the polymer universe: Akron, Ohio. completely change the order in a liquid crystal. We’ve demonstrated that you could convert a nematic liquid crystal to a smectic liquid crystal using immiscible components.” Pugh In layman’s terms, she compares it to logs in a dam. “When the logs are forced to be in order, it’s like their trunks are all next to each other,” Pugh says. “We demonstrated that you could force something where the chemical structure of the rod had no tendency to form layers. We have forced the center of the molecule to organize in that layered type of arrangement.” Not exactly stitching darts and binding seams, but Pugh’s current efforts are just as satisfying. Pugh is now working in an area of research that looks at intermolecular interaction and reactions of aromatic hydrocarbons and aromatic fluorocarbons. “We’re also trying to develop some new chemistry that hasn’t been done before based on that,” she says. Much of Pugh’s research is done with the students doing the work with her at their sides for moral and scientific support. She guides them through the various processes and sees the light bulbs flicker above their heads, as curiosity and confusion morph into comprehension. “The most rewarding part of working with students is seeing their development,” Pugh says. “You go from someone who hasn’t done anything and they grow into someone who makes dreams come true. I tend to get much more excited about that. Usually, something they produce is something we’ve been thinking about for years. You get a student with no experience who may flounder for a couple of years and finally they start producing. I like discovering new things, and I like seeing them discover new things.” Having turned in her Singer for a round-bottom flask, Pugh is now designing new molecules to answer either theoretical questions or controversies in existing literature. “We do a lot of work on intermolecular reactions, as driving forces for performing certain things,” she explains. “One of the things we’ve been very successful at is demonstrating you can Paz-Pazos Singh Pugh holds her students to the same lofty standards to which she holds herself. Satisfactory work is not satisfactory; exemplary work is. The lesson that may be most important to Pugh’s students is that the means to the end may be as important as the result itself. As Singh says, “Research and its management are equally important. I mean, what we do is important, but how we do it matters a lot, too.” Singh says their work is subject to intense scrutiny from Pugh, but you get the feeling the students wouldn’t have it any other way. Science may not always be exact, but that doesn’t mean one can’t at least strive for it. “She scrutinizes (our work), but she also gives us direction to the work and to solve our problems,” Singh says. “She makes us prepare in such a manner that, within a short frame of time, we know how we should proceed and how we should overcome our mistakes. In essence, I’m learning how to optimize the factors ... that make professional life successful.” 3
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2005_vprdoc PSpreads2.qxp - University of Akron

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