Pauley Science Center Dedication

Jody Aiken is currently Senior Director of Research & Development at the Procter & Gamble Company. He graduated from Hampden-Sydney College with a B.S. in Chemistry (‘93) and from Colorado State University with a Ph.D. in Chemistry (‘98). Jody has devoted his career to the chemistry and science of consumer products. He joined the R&D team at P&G immediately after completing his Ph.D. and has remained there for the past twenty four years, in ever-increasing roles of leadership. Throughout his career he has co-created with others to develop improved laundry detergent formulations for Tide, Cheer, and Gain; commercialize sustainable new cleaning technologies (including new surfactants to improve cleaning in cold water, and new catalytic bleaches); and launch upgraded versions of Pantene and Head & Shoulders shampoos. Jody currently leads a team of more than seventy five scientists working across the US, Germany, China, and Brazil focused on developing and supporting chemical, physical, sensorial, and product performance test methods related to P&G’s Paper Sector — a portfolio that spans Pampers and Luvs diapers, Always and Tampax feminine care products, Charmin tissue, and Bounty paper towels. He is married with two children and is based in Cincinnati, OH.

Walter Randolph "Ranny" Chitwood, Jr. is known for his work as a cardiothoracic surgeon at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University located in Greenville, North Carolina. Chitwood is recognized as the first heart surgeon to perform robot-assisted heart valve surgery in the US. A native of Wytheville, Virginia, he graduated from Hampden-Sydney College and received his medical degree from the University of Virginia. He obtained all of his surgical training at Duke University Medical Center where he spent 10 years training in general and cardiothoracic surgery, as well as basic science research. After his chief residency at Duke in 1984, he was selected to develop and head the new cardiac surgery program at the East Carolina University School of Medicine. Except for a two-year hiatus as the chief of cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Kentucky, Chitwood has spent his entire career at ECU, where he was chairman of the Department of Surgery from 1995 to 2003. He also served as senior associate vice chancellor of the Health Sciences Division for Cardiovascular Diseases and paved the way for the development of a new specialty hospital and research institute - The East Carolina Heart Institute. Chitwood's research activities relate to myocardial preservation, and angiogenesis, as well as endoscopic and robotic tele-manipulation in cardiac surgery. He has been the principal investigator of the FDA robotic mitral valve trials that led to approval for this use in the United States. He is a member of 25 professional societies, serves on numerous editorial boards, and has authored over 150 peer reviewed scientific and clinical articles, as well as many book chapters and several monographs. His lifelong avocations have been photography, amateur radio, and antiquarian medical bibliophilia.

Hampden-Sydney recently published a story about Chitwood in the Record: Read "The Heart of a Surgeon"

Robert Geiger is the co-founder and Executive Vice President of Business Development at AmbioPharm, Inc. We started AmbioPharm in 2007 with the idea that a new business model could take advantage of the latest trend in the industry, keeping down the costs of manufacturing peptides and peptide drugs. For the last five years, Robert has spent a majority of his time working with a team in Washington D.C. to fight for affordable and accessible diabetes medicines. In 2019, Robert and his team launched the MAGIC ACT (Market Access for Generic Insulin Competition) and were ultimately able to convince President Trump to sign an executive order for affordable insulin. After receiving his B.S. in Chemistry from Hampden-Sydney, Robert attended Georgia Tech and graduated with a Ph.D. in Chemistry. Before starting his own company, Robert worked as a sales manager at American Peptide Company in Vista, CA, and UCB Pharma Inc. For the last 8 years, Robert has been on the faculty at the University of Georgia and teaches graduate school class at the school of Pharmacy. In his free time, Robert enjoys working with his family on their equestrian farm in Kennesaw, GA along with his wife, daughter (9), and son (14). Robert has coached his son’s baseball teams for the last 5 years.

Scott Nickerson is Moderna’s Senior Vice President, Manufacturing for strategic partnerships and enterprise expansion. Prior to this role he served as Moderna’s SVP, US Manufacturing leading scale up and execution of COVID vaccine manufacturing during the global pandemic. Mr. Nickerson was previously the Global Head of Quality for Moderna as it pivoted from a preclinical company and scaled clinical GMP operations. Mr. Nickerson has extensive experience in Biotechnology supporting all phases of product development including Toxicology, Phase I - III and commercial launch and supply.  Mr. Nickerson has 24-years’ experience at Pharmaceutical companies of all sizes including Eli Lilly and Company, Imclone Systems, and Alexion Pharmaceuticals.  He has had roles ascending in responsibility in Quality Assurance, Quality Control Labs, and Manufacturing.  His experience includes building and starting up new facilities and laboratories, building and improving quality systems, leading global health authority inspections, and leading quality efforts in support of product approvals globally.  Mr. Nickerson has a B.S. in Chemistry from Hampden-Sydney College (’95) and a Master’s in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Arizona.  Scott lives in the suburbs of Boston Massachusetts with his wife Pam and his 4 children Celia (16), Eliza (15), Greta (13) and Sam (9).

Martin Schmidt’s research interest began at Hampden-Sydney when he was the only student registered for Dr. Weese’s physiological psychology laboratory. Instead of pursuing the typical lab syllabus, Martin joined Dr. Weese’s research program and eventually conducted independent study. Upon graduation from HSC in 2004, Martin leveraged that experience and spent 4 years working at the Neurogenetics and Behavior Center at Johns Hopkins. He then received his PhD in neuroscience at Vanderbilt University and earned a competitive W.M. Keck Fellowship in Molecular Medicine as a postdoc at Washington University in St. Louis. He’s always been interested in technology development and applied science with real world impact and joined Kypha shortly thereafter. Kypha has is developing a proprietary technology for monitoring immune system activation. At Kypha, Martin leads collaborations with academic and pharmaceutical partners and works with physicians to advance platform utility in the clinic. Along the way, he has been awarded NIH small business grants and co-authored numerous publications. Martin lives in Vermont with his wife Alexandra and their two sons. He still plays lacrosse regularly and is looking forward to the next homecoming alumni game.