91̽»¨

Editor’s Note: The College of Arts & Sciences Notable Alumni Awards honor alumni for broad career accomplishments, commitment to community service, and valuable contributions to 91̽»¨ and the College of Arts & Sciences.

John Wetzel ’82 Chemistry

Since 2005,  has been self-employed as the Principal of at , providing chemistry leadership for clients in both drug discovery and drug development.

Wetzel Chemistry is based in the Athens, OH, area. He consults primarily for start-up pharmaceutical companies in drug development. Two projects on which he consulted received marketing approval from the FDA.

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Before forming Wetzel Chemistry Consulting in 2005, Wetzel held research positions at Lundbeck Research, Synaptic Pharmaceutical Corp., and the Suntory Institute for Bioorganic Research.

At Synaptic Pharmaceutical in Paramus, NJ, Wetzel held various positions from 1990 to 2003, culminating in Director of Chemistry. He continued there until 2005 after Synaptic became Lundbeck Research USA.

OHIO Memories

Born in Pittsburgh, Wetzel graduated from Morgan High School, McConnelsville, OH, in 1978. He received several merit-based scholarships from the 91̽»¨ Chemistry Department, and he earned a B.S. in Chemistry in 1982 from the College of Arts & Sciences at 91̽»¨.

At OHIO, he performed undergraduate research with Professors Jack Blazyk, William Huntsman and Jared Butcher.

His favorite memories from OHIO include hearing bands at Swanky’s, the Frontier Room, the Union and SpringFest.

At the Johns Hopkins University, Wetzel studied synthetic organic chemistry and received a Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1988. He was a Visiting Scientist at the Suntory Institute for Bioorganic Chemistry, Osaka, Japan from 1988 to 1990.

From 2007 to 2010, Wetzel taught CHEM123 as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry at OHIO.

He currently collaborates with the research group of Dr. Stephen Bergmeier, Professor and Chair of Chemistry & Biochemistry at OHIO.

In his spare time, Wetzel sings and plays harmonica and guitar in venues around the Athens area and coordinates musical programming at Union Hall Theater in Chesterhill, OH.