for Undergraduates, which brings undergraduate students from small liberal arts
schools to the department to spend the summer conducting research. The residential
research experience has proven to be successful in attracting its participants to UT-
Austin for graduate school. The program serves as a pipeline for students who might
not otherwise consider attending a large research university, and because of the
program they realize their potential and the rewards of research. Professor Brodbelt
also oversees the Sloan Foundation Fellowship Program here at The University of
Texas at Austin. The Program supports underrepresented minorities by providing
fellowships at the doctoral level in amounts ranging from $8,000 to $15,000 that the
students can use to defray the costs of their studies as they see fit. Professor Brodbelt
jointly at Purdue and Finnigan and commercialized
also served for many years as the department’s Chair of Admissions. This year she has
as the ITMS. This very successful instrument - on
passed the baton to junior faculty members, but remains an experienced resource for
which much subsequent ion trap research was
them. She is also a member of the College of Natural Sciences’ Women in Natural
based – also gave Jenny the opportunity to be
Sciences committee, whose mission is to find ways to support women at all levels of the involved with instrumentation development in
academic community: undergraduate, graduate, and faculty. As Professor Brodbelt partnership with fellow student John Louris.
observes, “If you look at our undergrad population you see plenty of young women in
She balanced this with attention to unimolecular
Welch hall majoring in chemistry or pre-medicine. Then at the graduate school level
kinetics and energy partitioning (topics of her
the breakdown is still about 30-35 percent women, but at the faculty level it drops
subsequent post-doctoral research with Mike
off precipitously. We’re trying to find ways to turn back this tide.” Furthermore, in
Bowers in Santa Barbara). It is interesting to
reflect back on the fact that the Purdue research
Professor Brodbelt’s teaching she is improving the health of our student community,
group she was in at the time had a number of
particularly that of women students. She has co-taught a course called “Women in
talented female students – all of whom have
Natural Sciences” for several years. The aim of the course is to help undergraduates
gone on to successful careers. Like Jenny herself,
and graduate students develop their professional skills so that they may succeed in
Vicki Wysocki (Arizona) and Hilkka Kenttamaa
whatever career they choose. (Purdue) established themselves in careers at
Professor Jenny Brodbelt: A Profile of Health
major research universities while others went
into pharmaceutical industry or government labs.
Needless to say, Professor Jennifer Brodbelt eats at least five servings of fruits and
Jennifer ran, played tennis and worked efficiently
vegetables a day. Along with a well balanced diet, she has a well-balanced national
and with such ease that I once asked her to
outlook. She is the proud product of public institutions of higher education. Brodbelt
struggle more, to fail occasionally – I don’t think
grew up in Maryland and earned her undergraduate degree in chemistry (with a minor
she understood these concepts. She probably
does not recognize them now. Go Jenny!”
in mathematics) at the University of Virginia. She then went on to graduate studies
—Graham Cooks
at Purdue University, and departed for the West Coast to do her postdoctoral research
Henry B. Hass Distinguished Professor of
at the University of California at Santa Barbara. She then came to Austin and joined
Analytical Chemistry
our faculty. Once here, she met Professor Charles “Buddie” Mullins who is on the
Department of Chemistry, Purdue University
faculty of the Department of Chemical Engineering. Theirs was a perfect match, not
only because of common research interests, but also a shared love of sports. When not
running for fitness, Professor Brodbelt joins her favorite doubles partner, Professor
Mullins, for a tennis match, or they retreat for a peaceful outing on the golf course.
Enhancing the Health of Research with Endowments
When asked about the benefits of endowment funding, Professor Brodbelt replied, “I
think it’s flexibility. That is the dream that we all long for. Increasingly federal grants
are inflexible in terms of budget and pursuit of scientific goals. Having alternative
sources such as an endowment would offer flexibility, especially for exploring new
research ideas or opportunities to send students on conference trips. Federal grants
are very restrictive so even having a small pool of flexible money has a huge impact.”
—M. A. Sims
11

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