(58d) Late-Stage Industry to Academia Career Transition

After a 38-year career in the pharmaceutical industry, Jean Tom is embarking on an academic career as a teaching faculty. She was the 2024 Brenton Halsey Distinguished Visiting Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Virginia and is currently a Professor of Practice at Princeton University’s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. Jean recently retired from Bristol Myers Squibb, where she served as Executive Director of Development Engineering - Chemistry Process Development. In this role, she led a group of chemical engineers focused on developing chemical processes to synthesize small-molecule drug candidates for new therapeutics. Before joining BMS in 2006, Jean spent 19 years at Merck Research Laboratories.
In her industrial role, Jean has been a strong advocate for increasing the impact of chemical engineering in the pharmaceutical industry. She introduced new approaches to accelerate the generation of process knowledge needed at different stages of development and promoted pre-competitive collaboration to advance new technologies for developing new compounds. Jean is actively involved in her profession through the AIChE (American Institute of Chemical Engineers), CACHE (Computer Aids for Chemical Engineering), and the NAE (National Academy of Engineering). She also contributes to the chemical engineering educational community as an ABET program evaluator, an external advisory committee member for several departments, and through STEM outreach programs.