Neville L. Holder

Specializing in column chromatographic chemistry, Neville Holder is a distinguished scientist of more than four decades. Curious about chemical compounds since his youth, he recalls when his parents gave him bush tea for ailments his curiosity led him to the fields of chemistry and biology. Matriculating at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, Dr. Holder earned a Bachelor of Science in chemistry and mathematics for science, with honors, in 1965 and a Master of Science in organic chemistry in 1969. He went on to attain a Doctor of Philosophy in synthetic organic chemistry from the University of Waterloo in Canada in 1973, as well as a Master of Science in quality assurance and regulatory affairs from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 2002.

At the start of his professional career, Dr. Holder served the Gillette Research Institute in Rockville, Maryland as a chemist and research chemist between 1968 and 1978. During his tenure here, he synthesized, developed and tested new and novel cosmetic products; including non-sulphur depilatories. After his time at Gillette, Dr. Holder provided his skills and expertise at SmithKline Beecham Pharmacists in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania as an associate senior investigator through 1992. At this point, he went on to spend the next six years, until 1998, as a senior research scientist at Rhone-Poulenc Rorer Pharmacists in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Continuing to progress in his career, Dr. Holder served Aventis Pharmacists, formerly Rhone-Poulenc Rorer Pharmacists, in Bridgewater, New Jersey as a research fellow and principal scientist through 2005. The following two years, he was a principal research investigator with Sanofi until commencing his retirement in 2007.

Serving as a regulatory consultant since 2008, Dr. Holder has also spent time serving as the financial chairperson for the Cherry Hill African American Association and a committee member of the Boy Scouts of America in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Likewise, he has served as president and vice president of the Delaware Valley Chapter of the National Organization of Professional Advancement of Black Chemists & Chemical Engineers and vice president and treasurer of Toastmasters International. Finding great success, he has been the recipient of the Able Toastmaster Award from Toastmasters International in 1997, as well as the Barbadian American Alliance Accomplishment Award and Corporate Liaison Award from the National Organization of Professional Advancement of Black Chemists & Chemical Engineers in 1991.

Before his retirement, Dr. Holder was recognized as a leader in the application of preparative HPLC and SFC to isolate gram quantities of enantiomerically pure ( >99.9%) isomers.  Furthermore, he pioneered the synthesis of alpha, beta-unsaturated carbohydrate-enones and the study of their excited state reactions.