{"id":1729,"date":"2024-09-25T13:37:07","date_gmt":"2024-09-25T17:37:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/chemistry\/?page_id=1729"},"modified":"2026-10-16T15:03:48","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T19:03:48","slug":"helen-murray-free-endowed-lecture","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/chemistry\/helen-murray-free-endowed-lecture\/","title":{"rendered":"Helen Murray Free Endowed Lecture"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"936\" height=\"528\" src=\"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/chemistry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2026\/06\/Drennan.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2540\" style=\"width:306px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/chemistry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2026\/06\/Drennan.jpg 936w, https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/chemistry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2026\/06\/Drennan-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/chemistry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2026\/06\/Drennan-768x433.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 936px) 100vw, 936px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2026 Events: October 20-22<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-white-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-1\" style=\"background-color:#0f3551\"><strong>Catherine L. Drennan<\/strong>, PhD, Professor of Biology and Chemistry; Investigator and Professor, Howard Hughes Medical Institute<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Learn more about Dr. Drennan&#8217;s research, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/drennan.mit.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Drennan Research and Education Laboratories<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Schedule:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Tuesday, October 20<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>11 AM: Context Session<\/strong>: <strong>Journal Article Discussion<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Ruth W. Williams Hall of Life Science, Room 045<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Topic to be announced<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Thursday, October 22<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>11 AM: Technical Lecture<\/strong>&nbsp;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>Revealing the secrets of&nbsp;metalloenzymes one snapshot at a time<\/em>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Ruth W. Williams Hall of Life Science, Room 060<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>12 PM: Lunch: with students<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Severance 105 (STEM Zone)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>7:30 PM: Public Lecture<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>Exploring the Molecular World<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ruth W. Williams Hall of Life Science, Room 060\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Reception immediately following<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Details:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-white-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-2\" style=\"background-color:#0f3551\">Technical Lecture: <em>Revealing the secrets of&nbsp;metalloenzymes one snapshot at a time<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How do microbes live on the pollutant carbon monoxide? How do microbes split the triple bond of nitrogen gas? When it comes to performing difficult chemistry, microbes often combine a protein scaffold with a highly reactive metallocofactor; they essentially employ a \u201chired gun.\u201d The Drennan lab combines X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy with other biophysical methods to reveal the secrets behind metalloenzyme chemistry. In this seminar, Drennan will present her lab\u2019s structural studies of ribonucleotide reductases (RNRs). RNRs use metallocofactors to generate radical species, enabling the conversion of ribonucleotides (the building blocks of RNA) to deoxyribonucleotides (the building blocks of DNA). These enzymes are chemotherapeutic targets and proposed antibacterial targets. Here, Drennan will describe how her lab has used biophysical methods to reveal RNR\u2019s secrets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-white-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-3\" style=\"background-color:#0f3551\">Get to Know Me Lunch<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Students are invited to meet Cathy Drennan for lunch immediately following the technical lecture. Please <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/forms.cloud.microsoft\/r\/niqsw2hysB\">RSVP<\/a><\/strong> if you wish to attend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-white-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-4\" style=\"background-color:#0f3551\">Public Lecture: <em>Exploring the Molecular World<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Professor Cathy Drennan of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is fascinated by the molecular world. She wants to understand how protein molecules carry out the requisite work for cell survival. How do proteins transport cargo within a living cell? How do proteins break bonds into order to turn the building blocks of RNA into the building blocks of DNA? And importantly, how can one watch a process that is too small to see? Research groups, like the one that Drennan runs, use biophysical methods to determine the three-dimensional structures of proteins at the atomic level. In this presentation, Drennan will provide an overview of the methods that allow her to \u201csee\u201d the atoms that make-up protein molecules. She will tell you how she became an explorer of the molecular world. Her journey was not straightforward. In first grade, she was diagnosed with dyslexia when she was not able to learn to read. By her second time through sixth grade, she learned how to read by memorizing the shapes of words. Now she uses her shape-recognition abilities in her research to investigate the shapes of molecules. Drennan will share her journey and her research in a presentation designed for a general audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Biography:<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/chemistry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2025\/10\/grains-of-paradise-spot-1024x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2365\" style=\"width:242px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/chemistry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2025\/10\/grains-of-paradise-spot-1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/chemistry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2025\/10\/grains-of-paradise-spot-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/chemistry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2025\/10\/grains-of-paradise-spot-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/chemistry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2025\/10\/grains-of-paradise-spot-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/chemistry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2025\/10\/grains-of-paradise-spot.png 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cathy L. Drennan is the John and Dorothy Wilson Professor of Biochemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Professor and Investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). She received an AB in chemistry from Vassar College, and after teaching high school science and drama for three years, she returned to graduate school. Drennan received a PhD in biological chemistry from the University of Michigan, working in the laboratory of the late Professor Martha L. Ludwig. She was also a postdoctoral fellow with Professor Douglas C. Rees at the California Institute of Technology. In 1999, Drennan joined the faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she has risen through the ranks to full professor in the Departments of Chemistry and Biology. Her research interests lie at the Chemistry-Biology interface, combining X-ray crystallography with cryo-electron microscopy and other biophysical methods to \u201cvisualize\u201d molecular processes by obtaining snapshots of metalloproteins in action. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Selected Awards<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>National Academy of Sciences, 2023<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Fellow, 2021<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Member, 2020<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Award, Protein Society, 2020<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Margaret MacVicar Faculty Fellow, 2015-2025<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Howard Hughes Medical Institute, HHMI Investigator, 2008<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Howard Hughes Medical Institute, HHMI Professor, 2006<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Helen Murray Free<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"192\" height=\"294\" src=\"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/chemistry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2024\/09\/helenfree.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1731\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Helen Murray Free, a 1945 College of Wooster graduate and a pioneering scientist who was inducted into the National Inventor\u2019s Hall of Fame in 2000, was honored with the inaugural Helen Murray Free Endowed Lecture, featuring Dr. Mary Lowe Good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The lecture series was established by Helen\u2019s children and endowed through the Al and Helen Free Foundation. Each year, this endowed fund brings a renowned chemical scientist to campus to interact with chemistry students at a technical level and present an all-college convocation on the contributions of science to the quality of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Free, whose research in clinical chemistry not only revolutionized diagnostic testing in the laboratory, but also in the home, developed the \u201cdip-and-read\u201d glucose tests for diabetics. She was awarded seven patents for her clinical diagnostic test inventions, and also helped to develop a product for diagnosing Hepatitis \u2018A\u2019 while working for Miles Laboratories. In addition, she provided invaluable leadership in the testing of newborn infants for genetic or metabolic disorders that might lead to developmental disabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Throughout her career, Free has been an active advocate of science education. From 1987 to 1992, she chaired the American Chemical Society\u2019s (ACS) National Chemistry Week Task Force. In 1980, she was chosen as one of Wooster\u2019s Distinguished Alumni Award winners; in 1992 she received an honorary degree from Wooster; and in 1993 she was elected president of the American Chemical Society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Free has authored more than 150 professional articles, and co-authored two widely used textbooks in the field. Her accomplishments have been recognized in a number of ways, including the awarding of the ACS Garvan Medal and the Professional Achievement Award in Nuclear Medicine from the American Society for Medical Technology, as well as the establishment of the ACS Helen M. Free Public Outreach Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2026 Events: October 20-22 Catherine L. Drennan, PhD, Professor of Biology and Chemistry; Investigator and Professor, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Learn more about Dr. Drennan&#8217;s research, visit Drennan Research and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":2267,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1729","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1729"}],"version-history":[{"count":47,"href":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2595,"href":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1729\/revisions\/2595"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}