Dorothy J. Phillips

Phillips grew up in segregation in the southern United States.[1] She was one of eight children. Her father, Reverend Robert Cam Wingfield, was a Baptist minister, and her mother, Rebecca Cooper Wingfield, did occasional domestic work.[2] As a young girl the only white people Phillips knew were those who had employed her mother.[2]

Her parents were very supportive of her education, and attended local meetings of the Negro Parent Teachers Association.[2] The Wingfields became more active with the civil rights movement after the Rosa Parks bus boycott in 1956.[2] Her brother was part of the Nashville sit-ins and her family were one of the first to integrate into Nashville. Phillips attended an National Science Foundation summer school for African-American students, which inspired her to study chemistry.[2] She and her boyfriend took part in a statewide mathematics competition 'for colored students'.[2] She eventually majored in chemistry at Tennessee State University, but transferred to Vanderbilt University in 1966.[3]

While Phillips originally intended to study medicine, she was discouraged by her advisor who believed she would not be able to have a family and attend medical school.[2] She pledged to the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and was listed in the Who's Who Among American High School Students.[2] She studied chemistry at Vanderbilt University, where she was the first African-American woman to earn a Bachelor of Arts in 1967.[4] Attending Vanderbilt University was the first time Phillips had white classmates and professors.[2] After graduating, Phillips worked in psycho-pharmaceutical research.[2] She completed her doctoral studies at the University of Cincinnati, and, again, was the first African-American woman in Cincinnati to earn a PhD in biochemistry.[2]

In 1973 the joined the American Chemical Society.[5] She worked on the R17 virus, using circular dichroism and electron paramagnetic resonance to understand the conformation of the viral protein.[2] Whilst researching the R17 virus, Phillips read about the work of Patrick Oriel at Dow Chemical Company, and decided to apply.[2]

After graduating, Phillips joined the Dow Chemical Company as a bench scientist.[6][7] She developed circular dichroism and began to work on antibiotics and herbicides.[2] At Dow Chemical Company Phillips helped students from Michigan State University to analyse the antibiotics in animal feed. She established how they might impact animal growth.[2] She is responsible for several patents in the area, including one to improve lactation and another to improve feed utilisation.[8][9][10]

Phillips joined the Waters Corporation in 1984, where she worked in research and development until 1996.[11] At Waters Corporation Phillips was a member of the Chemical Research and Development department, developing chromatography packing materials and bioseparations.[2] Under her leadership the team developed the AccellPlus exchange packings, which could be used to separate proteins.[2] She began to consult the biotechnology company Millipore Corp., travelling the world to talk about the work of the Waters Corporation.[2] Her work expanded to include high-performance liquid chromatography. Phillips also investigated small molecules, including the drug sildenafil.[2] She served as Clinical Marketing Director and Strategic Marketing Director.[12] She was involved with the development of the Waters Corporation Symmetry columns and Oasis cartridges.[11] After an almost thirty-year career, Phillips retired from the Waters Corporation in 2013.[1]