Both Craig Hunter and Tom Whitaker are physicists by training and businessmen by choice. Each has taken his background in science and drawn on specific strengths to build a successful career in the commercial sector. While they work for vastly different companies and face different challenges, both have found a niche in the professional world that bridges science and industry. Craig Hunter finished his bachelor’s degree in physics and math at the University of Winnipeg and then came to UT to get a master’s in nuclear physics. He graduated in 1975. He said although he enjoyed physics, he lacked the passion he thought would be necessary to keep going on the Ph.D. track and have an enjoyable and fulfilling career. Instead, when reviewing his post-master’s options, he chose another path. “I went straight into business school,” he said. After finishing an MBA in finance and international business at the University of Western Ontario, he hit the pavement looking for a job. “I basically started applying to all sorts of different companies,” he said, although he said his MBA was more marketable than his physics degrees at first. He landed a position with The Continental Group, Inc., in New York City, handling financial planning, internal audits, and corporate business development. After a few other stops on the resume trail, he is now Vice President for Business Development and Strategic Growth at MDS Nordion in Ottawa. Tom Whitaker took a different route to the business world. He has a bachelor’s degree in physics, chemistry and math from Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas and a master’s degree in physical chemistry from Princeton. He earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry at the University of Washington while working at Battelle’s Pacific Northwest Laboratory. He was managing the Atomic and Molecular Spectroscopy Section when he decided to move into the private sector. “I succumbed to my entrepreneurial yearning,” he said, explaining that he has far fewer constraints at a small private company than he experienced at a national laboratory. He is now the President and CEO of Atom Sciences, Inc., an Oak Ridge firm that markets resonance ionization technology and its applications. He explained that for a high-tech company, it’s useful for upper management to understand the technology. That’s a sentiment echoed by Hunter, who joined MDS Nordion four years ago. The company is part of MDS, Inc., an international company of 11,000 employees that uses radioisotope technology to prevent, diagnose, and treat disease. They specialize in nuclear medicine, radiation treatment for cancer patients, and gamma sterilization. His position takes advantage of both his physics savvy and his business training. Business incorporates “all sorts of different people from different backgrounds,” he said, and they have different approaches to how they think about problems. “You get people who have a propensity for marketing and sales who think about things a lot less analytically than I would,” he said. The difference his physics and math background brings to the table is a strong bent toward analysis, math skills (“I can do estimates of things in my head”) and above all, a sense of taking a hard look at the conclusion of problem. “Looking at the answer and asking ‘does that make sense’” is something Hunter said he learned as a physics student that has become an important part of the business process for him. For example, his company is looking at the possibility of developing a radiopharmeceutical based on neutron capture. The venture would result in a process that can be used either as a treatment to destroy cancerous cells or as an imaging tool to see how much cancer exists in a patient and where it’s located. While the project has some support in his company, Hunter said he considers factors like available neutron sources and existing cancer treatments and then asks, “How practical is this going to be?” He said a scientific background “gives me the ability to say, ‘will this make sense?’” Whitaker has to ask the same sorts of questions, particularly since his company is much smaller (nine employees, some of whom are part time) and the implications of their business choices are therefore much more obvious. “You have to stay focused on what you’re being paid for,” he said. “The biggest difference is simply that you have to do everything on your own at a small company,” he explained. He personally tackles everything from marketing to graphics to public relations. While the upside is that small companies have more control over the various aspects of their business, Whitaker said the downside is that they don’t have as much interaction with other scientists as they would like. “We try to augment that by going to meetings,” he said, to keep up-to-date on emerging trends, technologies, and opportunities. Although many students decide to pursue academic employment, both Whitaker and Hunter see openings for physics graduates to chart a professional course in business. “There’s a move in industry to recognize that diverse thinking within your company is an asset,” Hunter said. Diversity means innovation, and he explained that innovation is a premium in North American business right now. He said more companies are beginning to see the value of looking beyond business schools for their employees. “The good thing is that it’s a lot better to study something that you’re interested in and enjoy,” he added, because that enthusiasm spills over into attitudes about approaching a project or solving a problem, no matter what the context. He said having the word “physics” on a resume also builds credibility because people who do the hiring “know you’re no dummy.” However, he maintained that additional training is a good idea for anyone who wants to make the leap from physics to business. For example, “anyone who’s good in physics is going to be good in math,” Hunter said, so finance is a logical choice for picking up some additional experience to be better prepared for corporate life. Whitaker agreed with that idea. “Scientists don’t really get a lot of the background they should in business,” he said, pointing out that no business courses are required for a degree in physics. He suggested that graduates looking to one day strike out on their own as business owners pursue an MBA, while others might consider venturing into opportunities like patent law. “One of the tricks here is to be versatile,” Whitaker said, particularly for bachelor’s graduates. Learning about optics, vacuum systems, and even mechanical drawing can arm physics graduates with skills that qualify them for a wide range of professional choices. “Versatility counts at all levels,” he said, pointing out that his company started out in the characterization of materials and is now moving more toward biotechnology projects to expand their business opportunities. That sort of flexible thinking is an attribute he looks for when hiring employees. “We want people who can fix things,” he said, “And make things work.” Cross Sections, Spring/Summer 2002 Issue, Contents Page UT Physics News & Notes Page UT Physics Home Page This page was last updated on June 7, 2002. 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