WPI Journal - The Magazine for WPI Alumni

FALL 2014

The Alumni Magazine for Worcester Polytechnic Institute. (WPI)

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20 Fall 2014 n addition to her position as profes- sor of chemistry at Bangkok's Chulalong- korn University, one of the premier research institutions in Asia, Tantayanon has worked to improve environmental safety in Thai- land's petrochemical industry, partnered with UNESCO to create a chemistry lab kit for use in the country's rural schools, and started an innovative "technopreneurship" curriculum to help Thailand's tech sector take off. Her career has included many frsts, including stints as the frst woman president of the Chemical Society of Thailand and the Federation of Asian Chemical Societies. She has also never forgotten her connection to WPI—in 1989, she was instrumental in help- ing to set up WPI's Bangkok Project Center, which has allowed dozens of students to complete their IQPs in Thailand. "Every time I go over there, she's started a new initiative," says Rick Vaz, WPI's dean of interdisciplinary and global studies and the project center's director. "She's one of the most amazing, energetic, determined people I've ever met." CHOOSING A PATH Growing up in the small city of Ratchaburi, in western Thailand, Tantayanon didn't plan on a career in academia. Instead, she thought she might be a grade school teach- er. "Because that's the only thing that we see every day, right?" she says, with a laugh. She was also used to caring for children, since she was often called on to help out with her seven younger siblings. "I cooked breakfast for everyone, then they went to school and I would clean up everything before I went to school," she says. "Maybe that trained me how to work effectively!" That work ethic came in handy when Tan- tayanon made an unorthodox choice for high school. She was interested in science, but it was the 1960s, and the only school in Ratchaburi that offered a science-focused curriculum also had a student body that was overwhelmingly male. "The number of ladies in the school was very little, like 11 or something like that," she says. "I think that infuenced me, because you are a minority, right?" The handful of girls faced relentless teasing from the boys, and Tantayanon felt she had to prove herself. "They made me feel that I cannot make any mistakes," she says. "I could not fail." Standing up to the pressure helped her stick with a challenging science curricu- lum, and Tantayanon would go on to study chemistry at Chulalongkorn before earn- ing a master's degree at Bangkok's Mahidol University. Then, in 1977, she applied to the Fulbright Program for funding to pursue a PhD in the United States. When she won the scholarship, the program applied to fve universities on her behalf. WPI was the frst to reply. "Fulbright asked me whether I will wait for the next four before I choose where I go," she says. "I said 'No. WPI answered me frst. I'll go to WPI.'" Today, she says, "I think it was the best choice." Supawan and Rewat Tantayanon—newly- weds at the time—were the chemistry de- partment's frst Thai students. Supawan's advisor, Professor James Pavlik, recalls the faculty worrying at frst that the couple's Thai education might not have prepared them to do graduate work in the United States. "We quickly learned that our doubts were unfounded," he says. "The Fulbright Pro- gram did us a big favor by sending Supawan and Rewat to WPI. They both had excellent academic backgrounds and they became excellent graduate students. They were also excellent citizens of the department. Every- body liked and respected them very much." In addition to her abilities as a researcher, Tantayanon quickly became known around campus for her skills in the kitchen. Profes- sor Stephen Weininger, who later worked with Supawan to set up the Bangkok Project Center, had an offce two doors down from her lab. "This was before there was a Thai res- taurant on every corner," he says, "and there would be this fantastic smell foating down the hall"—the aroma of lunch that Tantaya- non had brought from home. She eventu- ally indulged her American colleagues' cu- DESPITE THE WEATHER, SHE HAS NO REGRETS ABOUT HER TIME AT WPI, WHICH SHE CREDITS WITH GIVING HER THE CONFIDENCE SHE HAS RELIED UPON THROUGHOUT HER THREE-DECADE CAREER.

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