Staff Spotlight: Peggy Schott
By Pam Beck
Margaret Schott, or Peggy, as most of the Chemistry Department knows her, has been at NU since 2008, when she was hired for the arrival of Sir Fraser Stoddart’s team from UCLA. It was a homecoming of sorts, as Peggy was graduated from Northwestern with a PhD in Organic Chemistry in 1982.
Originally Peggy hailed from New Jersey, and from there attended William & Mary for her undergraduate degree. She credits a high school science teacher for sparking an early interest in biology, which switched to chemistry halfway through college. Peggy has worked at a number of places – Dow Chemical Company, the National Cancer Institute, and the Lombardi Cancer Center at Georgetown University. While that might be enough for most mortals, Peggy also received a graduate degree in Theology at St. Louis University and taught chemistry at Dominican University.
Peggy not only uses her background as a chemist working with the Stoddart team, she also uses her writing skills to edit scientific manuscripts, as well as to conduct internet research in writing for the ACS. She’s currently finishing a chapter on Katharine Blodgett for an ACS symposium book. Blodgett was an accomplished scientist with GE from 1918-1963 who discovered methods for working with monomolecular coatings. The project began under the umbrella of an ACS exploration of women who should have won a Nobel, but didn’t. Peggy gave an oral presentation on Blodgett, as Blodgett, and the presentation was such a success she was approached by the University of Wisconsin to make a podcast. You can hear the full podcast: http://podcast.sustainable-nano.com.
Peggy cites the Professor Stoddart’s receipt of the Nobel Prize in the fall of 2016 as one of her NU highlights. She participated in the Stockholm festivities, and the entire research team rode in a float for homecoming that year, cheering on the Wildcats with President Shapiro during the pep rally that followed.
When she’s not at NU Peggy is an accomplished musician and enjoys playing the viola in a local string quartet. She also has a shop where she does woodworking on small furniture and “restoring other people’s junk”.
Peggy’s advice to new staff is to attend department social gatherings and mingle with staff, students and faculty outside your own area. It’s a fun and painless way to meet new people!