Science Professor who Advised “Breaking Bad” to offer webinar at WVSU

10/19/2021

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Contact: Jack Bailey
(304) 766-4109
Jbaile19@wvstateu.edu
 
   
INSTITUTE, W.Va. – A science professor from the University of Oklahoma who assisted in the accuracy of chemistry portrayed in the AMC television show “Breaking Bad” will offer a webinar with West Virginia State University (WVSU) titled, “Chemistry in Hollywood,” on Friday, October 22, at 7 p.m. via Zoom.

Dr. Donna Nelson is a proponent of scientific accuracy in television, film, and media, according to her biography. “Breaking Bad” creator, Vince Gilligan, asked Nelson for scientific help with the show — which is about a high school chemistry teacher’s transformation into a manufacturer of a crystal methamphetamine enterprise — and she volunteered to advise the show on its use of organic chemistry. Nelson said she checked the scripts, provided some dialogue for the show, and drew chemical structures and wrote chemical equations that were used as props.

Nelson organized a “Hollywood Chemistry” symposium at the March 2011 American Chemical Society’s (ACS) National Meeting in Anaheim, California, in an effort to bridge the gap between the science and entertainment communities. She was asked to hold a second symposium titled “Science on the Hollywood Screen” for the August 2011 ACS National Meeting in Denver, Colorado, after the first one was so well received.

Nelson served as president of ACS in 2016. She said one of the themes of her presidency was building and strengthening communities in chemistry, with many international scientific alliances formed while she was leading.

To participate in the webinar, use the following Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82480365317

Friday’s webinar is sponsored by the Kanawha Valley Section of the American Chemical Society.

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West Virginia State University is a public, land grant, historically black university, which has evolved into a fully accessible, racially integrated, and multi-generational institution, located in Institute, W.Va. As a “living laboratory of human relations,” the university is a community of students, staff, and faculty committed to academic growth, service, and preservation of the racial and cultural diversity of the institution. Its mission is to meet the higher education and economic development needs of the state and region through innovative teaching and applied research.