Kevin McDonald joined the Department of Chemistry in 2008 after completing his bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Miami University in Oxford, OH. Dr. McDonald pursed a Ph.D. in organic chemistry under the direction of Amar Flood, where he designed and synthesized anion-binding small molecules and polymers. During his graduate career, he received several awards and fellowships including the Jack K. Crandall Award in Organic Chemistry, Charles J. Paget Organic Fellowship, and the Chester Davis Organic Fellowship. After completing his degree in 2014, he took a position at Ecolab as a Principal Chemist within their Polymer RDE group, focusing on developing new polymers to support industrial customers in Paper and Mining applications. In 2018, Dr. McDonald took a new position as Staff Scientist within Ecolab’s Operational Innovation RDE group, a technical team that manages optimization of the direct materials portfolio in close collaboration with the raw material sourcing team. In 2021, he moved from RDE into Ecolab’s strategic sourcing team and now serves as the global Category Manager for Ecolab’s chlor-alkali, metals, minerals, nitrogen, and sulfur portfolio. His global team is responsible for driving the sourcing strategy across a $600M portfolio.