Decorated with a LEGO Marvel Nano Gauntlet, a full-size marble chess set and a signed Shake Weight given to him from past colleagues at AbbVie Pharmaceutical, newly hired assistant chemistry professor Isaiah Speight’s desk is a testament to his personality.
Speight joined the College of William and Mary in August 2023, where he specializes in mechanochemistry and leads a research group focused on sustainability in chemistry from a non-traditional standpoint. Speight hopes to advance sustainable practices in areas like resource management, financial considerations and educational approaches.
“In the pharma industry, there is a lot of waste generated, but the common person doesn’t think too much about it because those medicines are saving lives,” Speight said. “But when you think about how much waste is generated in that process, it’s a lot, like it’s a pretty decent amount. You could fill Olympic swimming pools with the waste you generate from pharmaceutical manufacturing.”
For Speight, sustainability in his field also holds personal significance.
“Thinking about how larger companies can tend to situate themselves in environments that are near lower-income communities and then that waste component, you know, spill off, run off, fumes, etcetera,” Speight said. “Being able to develop new methods of chemistry, that wasted production can also potentially lead to a better quality of life to those communities that are housed near large chemical production plants and sites.”
Speight’s early fascination with science came from his father, who has worked as a radiation therapist at the Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, Va., for the past three decades. Instead of a traditional baking soda volcano, Speight recalled how they grew crystals from scratch together.
His dad also passed down a love for video games. In fact, for a brief period as an undergraduate student at Norfolk State University, Speight pursued computer science to become a game developer. However, the amount of math required eventually turned him back to chemistry.
During the summer before his senior year at Norfolk, Speight collaborated with Vanderbilt University organic chemistry professor Steve Townsend on replicating complex carbohydrates found in human breast milk to use as formula additives.
While he wasn’t particularly interested in biochemistry, the sustainability aspect, as well as Townsend’s mentorship, significantly influenced Speight’s career. He later returned to Vanderbilt to earn his doctorate in chemistry. Speight said that if he did not pursue chemistry as a career path, he probably would have considered psychology.
“NOBCChE creates a very unique environment where we come together as black chemists, but when we are all together, we’re not Black chemists; we are just chemists,” Speight said.
At Vanderbilt, Speight became involved with the National Organization of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers, which gave him a new sense of belonging.
“NOBCChE creates a very unique environment where we come together as black chemists, but when we are all together, we’re not Black chemists; we are just chemists,” Speight said.
He served as the organization’s National Student Representative for two years, then as the Western Regional Chair for two years until eventually stepping down at the start of October 2023. Professor Dana Lashley runs the NOBCChE chapter at the College.
Speight is the first Black male professor in the history of the College’s chemistry department, which feels bittersweet to him.
“There is the bitter part of it, of why I am the one and why did it take so long?” Speight said. “But then there is the sweet part of it. Even though I am one, it doesn’t mean that I have to be the only one. And now that I am here, those students who could not look at the faculty and say that I see myself in this person, they can now, and I can be to them what my mentors were to me.”
Speight recognizes the importance of representation in all fields and ultimately aspires to provide a safe and supportive environment for his students to thrive as their authentic selves while at the College.
“There has to be a level of visibility at various points that allow people to feel included and feel like I can talk to this person about my problems,” Speight said. “I may not be able to talk to everybody, but I got at least one person I can go to, and that makes a difference in the ability to say ‘I can make it the next day. I can continue to push forward, I can continue to go and get this degree that I’ve wanted. I can survive in this space that doesn’t always feel welcoming to me, but I can be welcomed in this corner, and I can use that energy from that corner to go fight against the world.’”
Outside of chemistry, Speight noted his love for cooking.
“Now, if I couldn’t do anything science-related at all, 100% had to be pulled away from science, I would probably spend more time trying to be a better cook,” he said.
Speight shared some advice for students entering the STEM field, advising them to take up chess.
“When you get to the more difficult parts of your STEM degree, whether it’s early or late, nine times out of 10, it is not a problem with the science — it is a problem with your ability to do problem-solving and playing chess removes the rules of science and teaches you how to work within a fixed space with rules,” Speight said. “But to get to a point for an answer that is undefined, the root from the beginning of the game to checkmate does not have a fixed path.”
