McMicken College of Arts and Sciences Alumni and Faculty Members Honored for Achievements

The McMicken College of Arts and Sciences at UC honored two distinguished alumni and recognized the college’s

six faculty award winners

at the McMicken Celebration April 11.  

“We’re extremely proud of the accomplishments we’ve made during the past year, and it was great to connect with alumni who came back to join in the celebration,” says Kristi Nelson, interim dean of the college. “It was also great to honor two very outstanding alumni award winners along with our amazing faculty.”

The college honored distinguished alumni Diane Grob Schmidt, PhD, ’81 (chemistry), who recently was elected president of the American Chemical Society, and Mila Baker, ’75 (psychology), who is a senior advisor for the World Bank.

Mila Baker, Psychology BA ’75, MA ’78, PhD ’82

Mila Baker is an accomplished business executive and licensed psychologist with 25 years of experience at Fortune 100 multinational companies, including Ethicon, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, the Dana Corporation and the World Bank. She has held senior positions with responsibility for the design, implementation and success

of major change initiatives, organization design and leadership programs. Baker was recognized by the Corporate Leadership Council in its Gold Book on Executive Coaching for her pioneering work in the design and implementation of the Pfizer Global Coaching Program, one of the first corporate coaching programs in a

multinational organization. She is a frequent guest speaker and her research focus is on leadership and organization design within entrepreneurial startups and large multinational organizations.

Baker is currently associate professor and academic chair for the M.S. in human resource management & organization development program at New York University-School for Continuing & Professional Studies. She is a visiting professor at the University of Kuwait, a pro bono consultant to nonprofit organizations and a management consultant and executive coach. She is past board chair of the Organization Development Network and the Organization Design Forum, a reviewer for the Academy of Management. Baker is the author of “Peer to Peer Leadership. Why the Network is the Leader.”

Diane Grob Schmidt, Chemistry PhD

’81

Diane G. Schmidt is a section head in R&D at Procter & Gamble, where she leads and manages the Health, Safety & Environment Program for the Beauty Sector at P&G’s Sharon Woods Innovation Center. The Beauty Sector is a major growth engine for Procter & Gamble with more than $20 billion in sales. In addition, Schmidt

is a board member and president-elect of the American Chemical Society (ACS), and will serve as president of the organization in 2015. ACS is the world’s largest scientific society, and Schmidt was first selected as an ACS fellow in 2011.

Schmidt also serves on the Board of Directors of the Oak Ridge Associated Universities [ORAU]. She has served on the Editorial Board of the Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists and currently serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Chemical Health & Safety. Schmidt is the recipient of many awards,

including the Distinguished Scientist of Cincinnati Award by the Engineers & Scientists of Cincinnati, and the Outstanding Alumna Award for Contributions to Profession by the national Alpha Delta Pi Sorority.

Her research interests include chemistry as applied to consumer products, carbohydrate chemistry, heterocyclic chemistry, polymers, separation technology and controlled release/delivery systems. She has numerous scientific publications in refereed journals, as well as U.S. patents with accompanying international filings.

Schmidt resides in Cincinnati with her husband, W. Warren Schmidt and their three dogs.