By Erwin Boschmann
“Happiness lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of the creative effort.” -Franklin D. Roosevelt
The FDR quote on happiness certainly applies to the chemistry alumnus we are featuring this spring. David Robbins is living not only an accomplished life, but one that is truly fulfilling. He radiates an air of gratefulness when he speaks, how he speaks, how he writes, and how he lives.
Not having significant financial resources, he needed to work to pay his own way through college and IUPUI offered that opportunity. He made up his mind to take demanding courses and to major in a challenging field like chemistry, and that made all the difference. Working towards a B.S., he took organic chemistry with Professors Ted Cutshall and Martin O’Donnell, analytical chemistry with David Nurok (as well as his MS degree, ‘86), physical chemistry with Prof. Patricia Boaz, and Quantum Mechanics with Prof David Malik (a very tough course). He also took advanced inorganic chemistry with me and remembers my drawing a large energy diagram on the board, running out of space, and just continuing to draw on the wall – with non-erasable ink.
Initially David considered biology and pre-med as a major, but soon focused on chemistry where he made friendships that have lasted a life-time. As an undergraduate in the early to mid-70’s, he was fortunate to meet and befriend a number of Viet Nam veterans who were going to school on the GI bill. They were mature, motivated, and goal oriented. They were also excellent role models as members of study groups and helped keep Dave and others focused.
After graduating he chose Eli Lilly where he was employed from 1979 to 2014. As a scientist in research and development environments at Lilly he had a wide variety of interesting, and often unique experiences. These ranged from being the only chemist in a group studying human skin for Elizabeth Arden Cosmetics R&D (once a division of Eli Lilly), to becoming a subject matter expert at Eli Lilly on developing methods to monitor trace level genotoxic impurities in new drug substances and intermediates. While at Arden he was responsible for developing novel techniques to support basic research into the effects of aging on skin along with a variety of other conditions and disease states. When Arden was sold in 1987 he moved to the pharma side of the business, joining the Chemical Process R&D (CPR&D) organization, which later became Small Molecule Design & Development (SMDD), where he remained until retirement.
During his career he developed significant expertise in liquid and gas chromatography as well as mass spectrometry (GC-MS, LC-MS), for both qualitative and quantitative applications. While in CPR&D he established what became known as the Trace Organic Analysis Mass Spec Lab (TOAL) at Lilly, which was a primary source of methods used to detect potential genotoxic impurities, carcinogens, and other toxic species which may form during the synthesis of new drugs, helping ensure patient safety. In 2008 he became a Senior Research Scientist.
As the result of corporate restructuring he retired from Lilly at the end of 2014 but was hired by Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories to go back as a contractor and oversee his old lab for an additional two years. After leaving that position in 2017 he has since worked at Corteva Agriscience as a contractor/consultant initially for Eurofins, then Kelly Scientific Services. In his current role as an analytical chemist he contributes to development of new agricultural chemicals through research activities in the Mass Spec Center of Expertise (MSCOE). The MSCOE is the core mass spectrometry lab at Corteva which uses state of the art instrumentation to solve challenging analytical problems from across the company. His primary role in the MSCOE is to develop MS friendly methods to help enable efforts to identify metabolites, impurities, degradants, etc. He also participates in efforts to investigate new technologies.
Shortly after graduating in 1979 he made the other major life changing decision: life partner. His wife, Kathy, graduated from Ball State University with a BS in graphic arts. She was the art director of a company based in Indy for a time before switching to other pursuits including raising a family. They have three daughters who are successful in their respective fields. One is a physician specializing in palliative/hospice medicine in the Palliative & Supportive Care group at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland OH. One is a professional chef in the Indianapolis area, and one is manager of a Kohl’s department store in Indiana.
After more than 40 years, his degree in chemistry has allowed him to contribute to basic research, drug discovery, drug substance and drug product development, large molecules, agricultural chemicals, patent defense, environmental health and safety, and investigations for manufacturing. I asked David what advice he might pass on to today’s students – his answers were immediate.
- Take tough courses like chemistry and math.
- Be skeptical – ask questions, don’t believe that something can’t be done just because someone says so, find out for yourself. He spent much of his career proving people wrong.
- Don’t play around – stay focused on the ultimate goal.
- Don’t get discouraged – be persistent and keep plugging away.
- Always tinker – be curious.
- Chemistry is an extremely broad field with activities ranging from basic research to applied technology in industry – as an example one can have a career in developing new instrumentation for an instrument vendor or have a career in another industry using the instrumentation to answer real world questions.
- Consider going to graduate school – a BS or even MS in chemistry are great options for employment, but industry has moved towards desiring PhD’s for higher level roles in lab environments. Depends on what your aspirations are.
- A degree in chemistry can open many doors for employment but can also provide potential opportunities in other fields such as law school or medicine.
Once during a meeting someone spoke despairingly of IUPUI, and David became a forceful defender. He said that it is not the school that will determine your success, but what is inside of you, the student.
He was very mechanically inclined and as a youngster took clocks apart (ended up with a few extra pieces), worked on cars and motorcycles, and was always involved in lots of things. He was very fortunate and had a great career. He’s not sorry he took tough courses. When I asked about retirement he was quick to respond: “But I am having too much fun.”