The Division of Business Development & Management (BMGT) of the American Chemical Society (ACS) recognizes three outstanding chemists for their contribution to the leadership and management of the chemical enterprise with their selection as 2023 BMGT Awards recipients.

Alexa Dembek has been selected as the recipient of the 2023 Henry F. Whalen, Jr. Award for Excellence in Business Development and Management in the Chemical Enterprise.

The Whalen Award was established in 2002 to recognize outstanding contributions to the development and management of business within the chemical enterprise and is presented biannually by BMGT. Congratulations Dr. Dembek!

Dr. Alexa Dembek is the Chief Technology & Sustainability Officer for DuPont.

Alexa is a born problem-solver, innovator and education advocate. Through her leadership, she actively champions the company’s purpose – to empower the world with the essential innovations to thrive – while building enduring partnerships with customers and strategic partners.

The business success Alexa has achieved is emblematic of her passion for enabling innovation to flourish, a consistent theme spanning three decades at DuPont. Among her many accomplishments, she transformed the company’s centralized R&D model to a more responsive, market-oriented innovation engine embedded within each business unit.

Today, Alexa leads business, innovation and sustainability strategy alignment to make the most impactful portfolio choices for DuPont. She is passionate about elevating the role sustainability plays in guiding investment and growth decisions. Through her leadership, Alexa established DuPont’s 2030 Sustainability Goals ensuring sustainability is embedded in the company’s enterprise-wide strategy for long-term growth and value creation.

Alexa joined DuPont as a research chemist and a technical manager, with increasing levels of responsibility in innovation, supply chain, operations, sales and marketing. She held business leadership positions in Advanced Fibers Systems, Building Innovations and Performance Polymers. In addition, she served as Global Business Director for the corporate new business development venture in Energy Storage and led the company’s Central Research and Development function before being named to her current role.

Both in her work for DuPont and her personal endeavors, Alexa is a passionate champion of talent development and mentorship for the next generation of innovators. Through her involvement in education initiatives, she creates opportunity through diverse, cross-generational collaboration. Since June 2021, she serves on the Board of Directors for CoorsTek. In addition, she serves on the dean’s advisory board for Penn State’s Eberly College of Science, is a member of the Board of Directors for the Delaware Innovation Space, the Board of Trustees for Hagley Museum and Library. She also received the Penn State Eberly College of Science Outstanding Science Alumni Award in 2015 and the Penn State Outstanding Alumni Fellow Award in 2020.

She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Northern Illinois University and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Chemistry from the Pennsylvania State University.

Ben Glasspoole has been selected as the 2023 recipient of the Dr. Nina I. McClelland Emerging Leader Award.

The McClelland Award was established to recognize an outstanding individual at a mid-level career position who has demonstrated success and possesses significant promise for contributions to business development and management within the chemical enterprise. Congratulations Dr. Glasspoole!

Ben Glasspoole is the Head of Emerging Chemical Synthesis at MilliporeSigma, where he leads a team responsible for the commercialization of new technology into the chemistry catalog. To achieve this, he and his team work closely with academic collaborators, industrial partners and MilliporeSigma’s own R&D groups; in so doing, they help turn new discoveries into chemistry that can actually be used by researchers around the world. Under Ben’s leadership, the portfolio has expanded into high-growth areas like catalysis, chemical biology, instruments and digital tools that together have refreshed and invigorated the chemistry portfolio at MilliporeSigma.

Prior to joining MilliporeSigma (then Sigma-Aldrich) in 2013, Ben completed a Ph.D. in catalysis at Queen’s University (Prof. Crudden) and a post doc in synthesis at UT Austin (Prof. Krische).

Joseph P. Stoner has been selected as the 2023 recipient of the BMGT Nexus Award.

The Nexus Award was established to recognize strategic, outstanding, and sustainable contributions to the ACS Division of Business Development & Management – the nexus of chemistry, business, and management. Congratulations Mr. Stoner!

Joe is retired from Shimadzu Scientific Instruments, where he capped a thirty year career in sales and marketing of analytical instruments, primarily high pressure liquid chromatography.  He served as Chair of BMGT in 2016, where his diplomacy took advantage of the best skills and wisdom from all proponents, and his commitment to strategic planning allowed development of a consensus-based vision and a focused purpose to achieve it.  His leadership helped to define what BMGT is today. Joe is the 2021-2022 Henry Hill Award recipient. He has chaired two large ACS local sections and two divisions.  He served on the Budget & Finance Committee for a decade, and he currently serves on the Division Activities Committee.