Profiles of Success

Frank Brown, Jr., Ph.D. 1969, Chemistry

After completing his graduate studies in chemistry under the leadership and direction of Professor Henry Feuer, Frank Brown spent 31 years as a research scientist with Lilly Research Laboratories, a division of Eli Lilly and Co., Inc., where he served as a group leader and Research Advisor in the Chemical Process Research and Development Divisions of Lilly Research Laboratories. He was responsible for the chemical development of specific products through biotechnology, biotransformation, and chemical synthesis at locations within the U.S. and in several European locations. Frank was twice the recipient of Lilly’s prestigious President’s Award, which is presented annually to practicing Lilly scientists for outstanding contributions to the success of Lilly Research Laboratories. He received Lilly’s Quality Advocate Award for his contributions resulting in improving the quality of the Wabash River, which flows past two Lilly manufacturing and chemical development facilities in Indiana. Frank taught high school and college mathematics, freshman chemistry and fundamental organic chemistry to Lilly manufacturing operations personnel, leading to a greater appreciation of their jobs—executing organic chemical reactions at full scale. During his time with Eli Lilly, Frank was a leader in promoting educational opportunities for students, and since his retirement in 2000, he has devoted his time in service to Purdue students.

Nearly 20 years ago, Frank recognized the need to attract and retain top undergraduate students to Science, and took action to establish a scholarship fund. “Back in 1986, I was talking to Irene Johnson [then Coordinator of Minority Programs in the School of Science] over coffee in the Purdue Memorial Union, and she brought up the fact that there weren’t very many scholarships for minority students studying science at Purdue University. I thought about that and decided to ask Lilly for scholarship money because I knew that Lilly awarded funds to several universities for deserving causes.” In response to that first request, Eli Lilly and Company gave enough money to fund scholarships for two minority science students.

While at Eli Lilly, Frank was the driving force behind establishing the Lilly Purdue Alumni Scholarship Fund, a four-year, full ride academic scholarship that is awarded to one research-oriented freshman in Science every year. “The idea was that the Purdue alumni of Eli Lilly could make a real difference if they pooled their money,” he says. “Early on, we asked employees to donate $25, which isn’t much, but when 300 people each give $25 it can amount to a good fund. Our original goal was to collect money for two or three years until we had enough to fund a student, but the money from alumni just poured in. We got about twice as much as we expected, so we were able to fund a student t