December 20, 2011
Chemistry alumna named to Forbes 30 Under 30
Here, Leigh Anne is pictured with her coworker, Christopher Morgan, with whom she shares the Forbes Magazine 30 Under 30 h...
Leigh Anne (Furgerson) Ihnken ’04 made the magazine’s list in the category of science for her work at GlaxoSmithKline, where she and a colleague are using synthetic biology to make pharmaceutical chemistry less expensive and less harmful to the environment.
As a student at Lake Forest College, Ihnken was not only a science star but a star athlete as well, helping lead the Forester softball team to the 2002 NCAA Division III national championship game and finishing her career with more victories than any other pitcher in program history. After graduating, Ihnken went on to earn a Ph.D. at U of Ill., Champagne-Urbana and now, at age 29, works for GlaxoSmithKline.
Like Leigh Anne, many Lake Forest science grads go on to great Ph.D. programs at places like
- Columbia University
- Duke University
- Johns Hopkins University
- Northwestern University
- Stanford University
- Princeton University
- University of Chicago
- University of Wisconsin
- Washington University - St. Louis
Learn more about the science programs at Lake Forest College.