Doug Chrisope is an organic chemist by training with over a dozen scientific and technical publications. A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Doug attended high school and college in Atlanta, Georgia. At Georgia State University, he performed significant undergraduate research with Professor Al Baumstark and Professor David Boykin. Doug served as teaching assistant for organic chemistry labs and served as President of the GSU student affiliates chapter of the American Chemical Society. He received the American Institute of Chemists Award for Scholastic Achievement in 1981. Doug earned the B.S. degree in chemistry in 1981, graduating with Distinction in Chemistry.
Doug then began graduate studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, aided by a Conoco Fellowship in Chemistry. Under the direction of Professor Peter Beak, Doug's investigations at Illinois earned him the R.C. Fuson Memorial Travel Award for excellence in research in 1986. The work required both synthesis of isotopically labeled molecules and elucidation of chemical reaction mechanisms. The following year Doug received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry with a thesis entitled The Mechanism of Formation of p-Allyl Palladium Complexes from Olefins. Three other publications also resulted from this work.
Doug next joined the research group of Professor Gary Schuster, also at Illinois. Here he chose post-doctoral projects to strengthen his skills in physical chemistry. After the synthesis of several series of organometallic complexes these were investigated by laser spectroscopy on a nanosecond to picosecond time scale. Doug studied two interesting problems in mechanistic organic photochemistry, producing three more publications.
In 1989, Doug joined Ethyl Petroleum Additives, now Afton Chemical, and studied the interaction of friction materials found in clutch plates with the additives used in automatic transmission fluids. The decomposition products of the additives were investigated by scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray analyses. Here he also began his study of statistical methods in research and manufacturing to ensure quality. Doug also gained experience formulating synthetic automatic transmission fluids and co-authored a book chapter on this subject. As Senior Research Chemist, Doug authored or co-authored three publications and three patents.
Doug joined Monsanto in 1991 where he developed, improved and optimized manufacturing processes for herbicides under the title of Research Specialist. He also continued his study of statistical tools to improve processes and quality. Doug discovered reactions generating hazardous gas by-products in processes and raw materials, alerting the industry to previously unrecognized safety issues. Doug moved to Monsanto’s Luling, Louisiana plant in 2000 where he served as Analytical Specialist for the same processes and extended this work by improving lab processes.
Doug currently lives in LaPlace, Louisiana with his family. When not studying chemistry, Doug enjoys watching and photographing wildlife, listening to classical music, reading and golf.
