Scott was born in St. Louis, MO, and graduated from Chaminade College Preparatory. He came to Tulane for the first time to carry out Bachelors degrees in Chemistry, Mathematics, and History in 1996, and then moved to the University of Bradford where he completed a masters degree in Archaeological Chemistry under the direction of Professor Carl P. Heron in 1998. He completed his doctoral studies in Chemistry in 2002 at the University of California, Berkeley, with Professor Jean Fréchet, developing new dendritic architectures for biological applications. He continued his training as a post-doctoral researcher in the labs of C. Grant Willson, at the University of Texas at Austin, developing new polymer materials for photolithography and biosensing, and has been an Assistant Professor at Tulane University since 2005. Please follow the links for more information on the Grayson group and his recent paper in Polymer Chemistry.
What was your inspiration in becoming a chemist?
My first and most important scientific inspirations were my parents and older brothers. My dad is a mass spectrometrist and my mom a Calculus teacher, so I was doomed from an early age. In addition to some exceptionally inspiring chemistry teachers and mentors, I think my primary attraction to chemistry, rather than other sciences, is that I consider it the “mesoscience”. Chemistry ties together the fundamental aspects of math and physics to the more complex and applied fields of the biological sciences as well as materials science and engineering. I find exploring in this middle ground more intellectually appealing than elsewhere in the sciences.
What was the motivation behind the research in your recent Polymer Chemistry paper?
The field of cyclic polymers is one of the under-explored frontiers in polymer chemistry. Although there are some tremendously valuable early studies in this field, recent synthetic advances are opening up the field to enable more in-depth explorations. In addition to providing invaluable fundamental insight into polymer structure-property relationships, recent studies suggest that the unique physical and biological properties of cyclic polymers will lead to applications that justify these research efforts. Jessica’s review highlights some of these issues as they relate specifically to cyclic polyesters.
Why did you choose Polymer Chemistry to publish your work?
I believe Polymer Chemistry fills a void which has existed in the journal geography for some time and therefore is poised from its onset to be a high impact and broadly relevant journal.
At which upcoming conferences may our readers meet you?
I will be helping to organize the International Dendrimer Conference (IDS7) in Washington, DC (26 June – 1 July 2011), and attending the American Society for Mass Spectrometry meeting in early June (Denver).
How do you spend your spare time?
Ha! I am coming up for tenure at Tulane University next year, so this is a moot question. But I do try to run regularly to keep myself healthy (mentally as much as physically) and spend every other spare moment with my fiancée.
Which profession would you choose if you were not a scientist?
I actually studied Archaeological Chemistry in the UK before pursuing my PhD in Chemistry with Jean Fréchet, so if I won the lottery I might become an archaeologist. However, I would limit myself to studying a civilization in some place warm that also has fantastic food and culture, like the Romans/Italy or the Mayans/Yucatan. (You now see why I live in New Orleans.)
