Donna Nelson, born 1954 in Eufaula, Oklahoma, USA, studied chemistry at the University of Oklahoma and gained her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Texas, Austin, USA. She did postdoctorate work at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA, with Chemistry Nobel Laureate Herbert C. Brown. Nelson then joined the University of Oklahoma as a faculty member, was a Faculty Fellow in the University of Oklahoma Provost’s Office from 1989 to 1990, and a Visiting Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, USA, in 2003 and in 2010.

Donna Nelson’s research focuses on mechanistic patterns in alkene addition reactions and Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube (SWCNT) functionalization and analysis.

Allison A. Campbell, studied chemistry at Gettysburg College, PA, USA, and received her Ph.D. from the University at Buffalo, NY, USA, in 1991. She then joined the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA, USA, as a postdoctoral researcher. Campbell became Research Scientist there in 1992, Technical Group Leader for Materials Synthesis and Modification in 1999, and was Deputy Director of the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory from 2000 to 2005. Today, she is Acting Associate Laboratory Director for Earth and Biological Sciences at PNNL. In this role, she sets the vision and strategy for PNNL’s biological and environmental research.

Campbell’s research interests include biomaterials and the role of proteins in biomineralization. She co-invented a process to grow a bioactive calcium phosphate layer on the surfaces of artificial joint implants.