American synthetic chemist
Kay Michille Brummond is an American synthetic chemist who is Professor of Chemistry and Associate Dean of Faculty at the University of Pittsburgh. Her interests consider cycloaddition reactions that can realise molecules and natural products for organic photovoltaics and targeted covalent inhibitors. She was elected a Fellow of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in 2010, a Fellow of the AAAS in 2021, and awarded the ACS National Award for Encouraging Women into Careers in the Chemical Sciences in 2021.
Early life and education.
Brummond grew up in the town of Herman in eastern Nebraska. She grew up on a corn and soybeans farm, and was the first member of her family to attend college. She attended the Tekamah-Herman High School and earned her undergraduate degree in secondary education (B.S.) at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. She moved to Pennsylvania State University for her doctoral research, where she focused on organic synthesis with Raymond L. Funk. In 1991, she joined the University of Rochester, where she spent two years as a postdoctoral researcher with Robert K. Boeckman, Jr.
Research and career.
In 1993, Brummond joined the faculty at West Virginia University, where she was promoted to associate professor. She moved to the University of Pittsburgh in 2001, where she was promoted to professor in 2006 and elected department chair in 2014. Brummond served as the Associate Dean of Faculty for the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh (2017–2023). 
Brummond studies the Pauson–Khand reaction, targeted covalent inhibitors, transition-metal catalyzed cyclocarbonylation, and dearomative cycloaddition reactions. She works on the design, synthesis, and characterization of guaianolide analog covalent inhibitors with muted reactivity to thiols. In particular, she is interested in identifying the structure–activity relationships of these analogs. To assemble the 5,7,5-ring system, Brummond uses an allenic Pauson–Khand reactions and other cyclization process. To regulate the thiol reactivity and increase affinity for the kinase and protease targets, Brummond modifies the covalent reactive groups.
She has designed novel transition metal catalysts, including Rh(I). She has shown that stereoconvergent allenic Pauson–Khand reactions catalysed by Rh(I) can result in highly enantioselective 5,7-ring systems, which enable the enantioselective synthesis of compounds such as thapsigargin. Her approach includes collaborations with computational chemists for the rational design of transition metal catalysts and ligands through analysis of transition-state structures and energies to achieve stereoselective reaction products.
Academic service.
Brummond has advocated for women and underrepresented groups in science. She has worked with both her home institutions and the American Chemical Society to improve gender balance, and recognized for this work as the Diversity Catalyst Lecturer by the Open Chemistry Collaborative in Diversity Equity (OXIDE) partnership mechanism in 2014. She established the University of Pittsburgh Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program, which offers research placements to undergraduate students. She launched various outreach programs to introduce young girls to scientific careers. Brummond has created a list of actions that people can take to become an ally to women working in chemistry, namely;
Symposiums and Conferences Organized.
Brummond has been active in organizing or co-organizing several national chemistry conferences including:
Selected publications.
For comprehensive listing of publications, see: [URL]
References.
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