In Memoriam: Karen Jenks Brewer, 1961-2014

Karen J. Brewer, a professor of inorganic chemistry at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, died late last month after a long illness. She was 53 years old.

Dr. Brewer was a native of Wiesbaden, Germany. She earned a bachelor’s degree at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina and a Ph.D. from Clemson University. After serving as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, she joined the faculty at Washington State University. She was only the second woman to serve on the chemistry department faculty at Washington State.

Dr. Brewer joined the faculty at Virginia Tech in 1992. She was the third woman to serve on the chemistry department faculty at the university and the second woman to be granted tenure. Dr. Brewer was promoted to full professor in 2005.