Dr. Hildegard Nimmesgern, formerly at Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, now Senior Executive Consultant at Dr. Nimmesgern Consulting, celebrates her 70th birthday on October 23, 2021.
Nimmesgern works as a freelance career development consultant. In addition, she serves as Chair of the Commission for Equal Opportunities in Chemistry of the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh, German Chemical Society). She is committed to equal opportunities for women and men in chemistry so that women experience the same visibility, appreciation, and opportunities as men, including equal pay for equal work and access to top positions in business, academia, and politics. In 2021, she was named an Honorary Member of the GDCh, which is the highest honor granted by the society.
Hildegard Nimmesgern studied chemistry at the University of Hamburg, Germany, where she received her Ph.D. in organic chemistry in 1984 under the supervision of Ernst Schaumann. Then she served as a postdoctoral researcher at Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA, working with Albert Padwa.
In 1985, Nimmesgern became Laboratory Supervisor for Medicinal Chemistry at Hoechst AG, Frankfurt am Main. In 1989, she switched to International Marketing as Product Manager, where she came to lead the global marketing department of the vasotherapeutics business unit. After Hoechst AG merged with other companies to form Hoechst-Marion-Roussel (HMR), she became Head of Human Resources for Global Research in 1996.
After another merger with Rhône-Poulenc to form Aventis in 1999, Nimmesgern led strategic projects in global research and development. In 2002, she became Head of the international department for Knowledge Networks Management in R&D. Here, she was responsible for the areas of knowledge management, alliance management, and risk management. After a merger with Sanofi to form Sanofi-Aventis in 2004, she took over the management of Scientific Relations for R&D, Germany.
Selected Publications
- Chancengleichheit geht uns alle an!,
H. Nimmesgern,
Chem. unserer Zeit 2021, 55, 2–3.
https://doi.org/10.1002/ciuz.202110005 - Why Are Women Underrepresented in STEM Fields?,
H. Nimmesgern,
Chem. Eur. J. 2016, 22, 3529–3530.
https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.201600035 - Reactivity of N-Alkylthiiranimines toward Simple Nucleophiles and Iso(thio)cyanates,
H. Nimmesgern, E. Schaumann, G. Adiwidjaja,
Heterocycles 2012, 84, 945–961.
https://doi.org/10.3987/COM-11-S(P)75 - Synthesis of the pyrrolidine ring system by radical cyclization,
A. Padwa, H, Nimmesgern, G. S. K. Wong,
J. Org. Chem. 2002, 50, 5620–5627.
https://doi.org/10.1021/jo00350a038 - Oxidation of thioketenes by singlet oxygen,
V. Jayathirtha Rao, V. Ramamurthy, E. Schaumann, H. Nimmesgern,
J. Org. Chem. 2002, 49, 615–621.
https://doi.org/10.1021/jo00178a007 - Methyl Shifts in 1,4-Dipoles from Sulfonyl Isocyanates and Ketene O,N-Acetals,
E. Schaumann, T. Marr, H. Nimmesgern, S. Sieveking,
Chem. Ber. 1987, 120, 335–337.
https://doi.org/10.1002/cber.19871200314 - A Novel Method for the Synthesis of Thiiranimines,
E. Schaumann, H. Nimmesgern, G. Adiwidjaja,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 1982, 21, 694–695.
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.198206941 - Cycloadditionsreaktionen von Heterocumulenen, XXIV. Selenazol-Derivate aus Carbondiselenid und 3-(Dimethylamino)-2H-azirinen,
E. Schaumann, H. Nimmesgern, G. Adiwidjaja, L. Carlsen,
Chem. Ber. 1982, 115, 2516–2525.
https://doi.org/10.1002/cber.19821150714
