The 2019 Department of Chemistry Alumni of the Year awardee is Rebecca Centko ’00. The award is presented by the Department of Chemistry. Rebecca was invited to campus during a special Departmental Honors Day ceremony in April.

Rebecca graduated with research honors (Cum Laude) in Chemistry in 2000. She did an honors project in Professor Mohan’s lab, and the title of her thesis was “A Study of The Solvolysis Reactions of Tetrahydrofurfuryl Tosylate.” 

Following graduation, Rebecca joined Pfizer Pharmaceuticals (formerly Pharmacia), where she worked with a program team to design and synthesize therapeutic agents to treat disorders of the CNS.

In 2003, she joined Regis Technologies in the Chicago area. At Regis, Rebecca rose through the ranks and is currently Director of Project Management & Account Management. Regis manufactures small molecule Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) in pre-clinical and clinical development through commercial supply.