two summers of research with Sumter, attend conferences and acquire graduate school entrance exam preparation.


His graduate school preparation paid off. He pursued a Ph.D. in chemical biology at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. “I felt very prepared for the Ph.D. program thanks to Dr. Sumter and the McNair Scholars program.”


Reid began graduate school thinking he would be a professor, but soon realized that wasn’t for him. He happened (again, destiny at work?) to attend a career panel and one of the panelists was a patent agent, something that intrigued Reid.


DESTINED FIND HIS CALLING to


Derion Reid ’14 admits that destiny shaped his future during his time at Winthrop. One different reaction or encounter could have changed his life’s trajectory.


Hailing from the small town of McCormick, Reid, a first-generation college student, wanted to experience a bigger city, and Winthrop’s ideal location near Charlotte was a perfect fit. The university’s commitment to diversity also was important to him.


“As soon as I stepped foot on campus I saw myself as a student there. I was sold,” Reid said.


During his summer Orientation session, he bonded with his Orientation Leader (OL) who was a chemistry major. “I didn’t really have a career path in mind. I thought I might major in political science, but my OL encouraged me to take a general chemistry course, which I did and loved. My OL also was working on a research project with Dr. Takita Sumter and suggested that I look into the undergraduate research experience.


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I, too, got involved with Dr. Sumter’s research and declared myself a chemistry major. It is interesting to think about how different my life could have turned out if I had been assigned a different OL,” said Reid.


Reid remembered how learning from someone that looked like him was a motivating force. “It was good to see someone like me teaching chemistry, and I appreciated Winthrop’s commitment to hiring professors that look like the students they’re teaching,” he said.


Finding His Fit As a member of Winthrop’s Learning Excellent Academic Practices (LEAP) program and the Ronald McNair Scholars program, Reid excelled.


“These programs taught me many skills and supported me when I needed it,” said Reid.


Through McNair, which prepares first-generation, low-income, and/or underrepresented groups for graduate school, Reid was able to complete


“It is a great field because you have this exposure to science and get to use all of your science expertise but you aren’t actually producing the science,” said Reid.


Protecting Meaningful Work He started learning about intellectual property, took the federal patent bar exam, and became a patent specialist at Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. “I loved my time there because I was helping patent technology and pharmaceuticals that were saving lives,” he said.


This past fall, he joined the intellectual property firm of Dority & Manning, P.A., in Greenville, as a patent agent. A typical day involves meeting with clients ranging from universities to pharmaceutical companies to medical device companies that are wanting to patent and protect intellectual property. “I write a lot of patent applications and help our clients work through the process of obtaining a patent which can sometimes take several months or years,” said Reid.


The work excites him because he gets to see cutting-edge technology before it’s released. “We get to protect drugs and equipment that


It is interesting to think about how different my life could have turned out if I had been assigned a different OL.


- Derion Reid


help people. We meet the researchers that are working on different types of untreatable cancers and help protect their very rewarding work,” Reid said.


Ultimately, he enjoys building relationships with his clients. “A lot of the clients have been with our firm for one or more decades, and it’s excit- ing to see their growth,” he said.


Speaking of relationships, something else for which he thanks Winthrop is meeting his wife, Heather Williams Reid ’11, ’13. A church friend introduced them, another life turn he credits to destiny. “She was an education major and I was a chemistry major so we didn’t really run into each other. But destiny intervened and crossed our paths,” said Reid. He and Heather have four children.


As for his future plans, Reid will attend law school this fall to become a patent attorney, which will allow him to expand into patent litigation.


This past December, he brought his oldest son to a Carolina Panthers football game and made the drive south to show him Winthrop’s campus. “It was a special time for me to show him the place that made me into who I am now and that brought his mom and me together,” Reid said.


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