Alexander J. Grenning, Class of 2012

Associate Professor of Chemistry at the University of Minnesota.

I learned so much during these formative years. (1) How to "go all in to your Ph.D. work and find balance.” I absolutely fell in love with organic chemistry while working on my Ph.D. with Jon Tunge. It was incredibly rewarding professionally and personally to have this feeling, and drive, and give it my best shot. Jon was a supportive advisor whom gave me a lot of ideas, and freedom, which helped me grow as a creative thinker. I try to replicate this in my own lab. I also learned the importance of balance. My friends at The 8th Street Taproom (shout out to Ruben Molina!) provided a fun break from chemistry many nights of the week. A major hobby of mine at this time was billiards, and our team went to the Kansas “American Pool Association (APA)” Championship (and lost). Go find our plaques at the taproom! (2) It’s ok to be wrong and to challenge ideas. My dear friend and senior lab mate at the time, Jimmie Weaver, never ceased to let me know when I was, and challenged me daily, intellectually. His critiques and equally deep thoughts were exciting to experience and have helped shape me as a scientist and person. I respect him for it to this day.

Jon Tunge, Paul Hanson, and Jeff Aubé. Jon for being the best Ph.D. advisor I've ever had, with awesome projects that really caught my interest. And for being an enjoyable person to talk to outside of chemistry. We regularly chatted chemistry and music. It was fun to get to know many sides of him. Paul for being the most genuinely enthusiastic person, maybe, that I have ever met. His commitment to every student in the department was inspiring. His antics live rent free in my mind to this day. Though that’s a story for a different day! And Jeff for also always having time to talk science, be helpful, and discuss music too. These three people were incredibly invested in the students, interesting on a multitude of levels, and personable.

Physical Organic Chemistry taught by Jon Tunge. I loved learning from him. His encyclopedic knowledge of the subject and careful delivery of material made for a great classroom atmosphere. I later learned that the organic chemistry community also respects Jon for his insights, humor, and personality. I have an even greater respect for him now than I already had as a student. I would be remiss not to point out that my classmates at this time also were so smart and driven, especially Laura Peterson. She always got better grades, but I always had to try and beat her! A bit of healthy competition can take you even further on your journey.

My answer here is not going to be satisfactory. But I’d like to be honest and say that I did not know what I wanted to do after college. But free graduate school seemed like a reasonable reason to kick the can down the road. That said, I had an absolutely incredible organic chemistry advisor at Lake Forest College, Prof. William Martin, who helped me find my initial excitement for organic chemistry. I did not do well in “O Chem 1,” but I knew I liked it. Prof. Martin told me if I did better in "O Chem 2" I could join his lab for my junior year, and onward. I did do better. I was able to find that I liked organic chemistry research, and this helped push me to make an 11th hour decision to go to graduate school and pursue a Ph.D. studying organic chemistry. 

The people and the place. The People: Having visited a few other schools for "recruiting weekends,” KU was a standout. I thought I wanted to do total synthesis and I really liked Prof. Paul Hanson’s research program. Paul’s unrelenting enthusiasm was ultimately key for me committing to KU. He phoned me several times asking If I would be joining the program. I liked this feeling a lot. In general, all the people doing organic chemistry research, which was what I had my sights set on, seemed not only knowledgeable, but very talented and personable professors. The Place: my beloved Lawrence, KS had me hook, line, and sinker. I could tell it was such a cool college town. I am a big music nerd. The live music scene “walking distance” away was an important draw for me and I went to many concerts while pursuing my Ph.D.

 I’d love to and I have so many! (1) Listening to the Hold Steady and Interpol and other aughts indie rock loudly in the lab with Jimmie Weaver and Tony Recio. I should also take this opportunity to publicly apologize to Prof. Ward Thompson for the noise violations. Retrospectively, we were sonically flying too close to the sun! (2)  “Molecule of the Semester (MOS)” meetings. It was a super fun and useful creative thinking exercise. At a MOS meeting, we had to devise retrosyntheses of bioactive molecules and develop new reactivity concepts simultaneously. Paul Hanson would try to impress on us the importance of “NIH funding standards” that we needed to adhere to while working on a MOS project. It was a really important exercise to my development as an organic chemist. (3) I have no problem throwing myself under the bus. An embarrassing favorite memory of mine is when I somehow got a drop of butyric acid (rancid butter smell) on my shoe. My olfactory senses were already saturated from this mistake. Thus, unbeknownst to me, I trekked this unpleasantness to the bar and cleared it out! I finished my PBR in solitude.