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DR. KEVIN HUNT Linking science and business takes a special chemistry
BY PHIL RIDDLE
Dr. Kevin Hunt is a Texan…and a pioneer.
Hunt, a 1994 chemistry graduate, is the Director of the Biopharmaceutical Product Development Office for Technology Development and head of the Translational Science Center for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
A tough position to pronounce, and also an innovative job, created just for Hunt and his impressive skillset.
After earning his Ph.D. at the University of Indiana, Hunt began a 13-year stint at a biopharmaceutical company in Boulder, Colo. From there, he was recruited by Google’s neuroscience and aging company to develop technology under the auspices of UT Southwestern.
The job was set to relocate to San Francisco, but Hunt, a native of Huckabay, was not keen on leaving Texas.
“I met with some of the key stakeholders here and we created this job,” Hunt related, “which is the first of its kind for an academic institution.” With that development, he was able to call Texas home.
A primary goal of his position, Hunt said, is to add bio-tech jobs in North Texas by linking business and science.
“I’m very fortunate,” he said. “This is a good gig.”
One of six kids and a first-generation college student, he took advantage of dual credit classes, putting him ahead of the curve before college.
“Tarleton offered a summer enrichment program where I was able to take my freshman year of chemistry between my junior and senior years of high school,” he said. “Tarleton did that for me, which set me up for success.”
A member of the Texan cross-country team and the Chemistry Club during his time on campus, Hunt remembers classes in what he calls the “old chemistry building,” and the individual attention from his professors. He relished, and profited from, the opportunity to start undergraduate research projects as a freshman.
“That individual attention was really important,” he said. “I still remember things they taught me—slow things down, don’t make problems bigger than they are.”
Using the education he received at Tarleton, Hunt formulated the basis for the trailblazing position he now holds.
“At Tarleton, you learn a lot of different things,” he said. “It’s the aggregation of what you learn, not necessarily exactly what you learn but the ability to bring ideas together, even those you may not know much about. Tarleton taught me to ask questions.
“The key is really assembling ideas from different areas of science and business to create a program, hopefully to create jobs in the bio-tech sector in Dallas.”
Spoken like a true pioneer.
Dr. Kevin Hunt
