The Power List 2019

It’s a small list of 100 scientists from around the globe, yet The Analytical Scientist’s Power List 2019 contains two accomplished Furman University alumni–Fran Ligler ’72 and Aaron Wheeler ’97.

Fran Ligler ’72 at the 2017 Illumination Ceremony.

Ligler is the Lampe Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University. A 2017 inductee to the National Inventors Hall of Fame, Ligler is known for her pioneering work in biosensors. She developed a new chemistry for attaching biomolecules on sensor surfaces that allows them to better detect and identify biological warfare agents, environmental pollutants, infectious diseases, drugs and explosives.

University of Toronto Professor of Chemistry Aaron Wheeler ’97. Photo courtesy of University of Toronto

Wheeler, professor of chemistry at University of Toronto, is focused on the use of microfluidic devices to solve problems in remote or hard-to-reach locations, such as inside the bore magnet of a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer, or in an isolated refugee camp in Kenya. His goal is aimed at using microfluidics to develop solutions to problems spanning the fields of chemistry, biology and medicine.

Each year the publication holds an open nomination. The candidates are then pared down to the final 100 by a panel of independent judges.