Brian Frey

Class of 1991: Advancing medical knowledge

Scientific research often is based on a team dynamic more so than individual work, said Brian L. Frey of Madison, Wisconsin. He is a senior scientist doing research in the Chemistry Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has more than 50 publications which have been cited more than 2,000 times, and he also is an inventor with six U.S. patents.

“I like learning how things work,” Frey said. “I like the variety of working on interesting new studies that have a high failure rate, as well as working on smaller tasks that are more routine and work out every time.

“In research, you get to understand processes more deeply and help contribute to our understanding of the world. This can lead to bio-medical breakthroughs and things that will help people’s health in the future.”

Frey was born July 17, 1969, in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, and grew up in Whitewater. At Ripon, he majored in chemistry with a minor in mathematics. He was an intramural doubles badminton champion, was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and won outstanding chemistry student awards all four years, including the Leone Oyster Chemistry Award and the Guy and Maude Russell Chemistry Scholarship Award, as well as a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.

“I truly blossomed at Ripon College, so much so that after earning my Ph.D. in chemistry from UW-Madison I became a chemistry professor at Lake Forest College to help other students blossom,” Frey said. “But it turns out that was not my calling. I realized early on that it was a struggle for me to try to teach broadly to dozens of students at the same time. Mentoring students one-on-one is my forte. I love small-group and individual interactions.”

He returned to UW-Madison and became part of a research team of 15 people. There are always multiple projects going on involving several team members, and often led by a graduate student. “I help guide research projects, design experiments, and analyze data; I write grant proposals, research papers and reports; and I manage the budget for this large research group,” Frey said.

“A large part of science is applying your area of expertise and thinking about how ideas in your field can impact other areas of science. You keep trying to push the envelope and forge new directions.”

Frey has mentored numerous Ripon College students over the past 20 years, including Bridget Campion, Class of 2003 (Minnesota), Jessica Jarecki, Class of 2004 (Wisconsin), Jenan Kharbush, Class of 2009 (Scripps Institute), Sam Sondalle, Class of 2011 (Yale), and Lincoln Wurtz, Class of 2017 (Mayo Clinic).

Each of these students went on to earn Ph.D.s, with Sondalle and Wurtz engaging in highly competitive M.D./Ph.D. dual-degree programs. Kharbush and Sondalle each have won Ripon’s Outstanding Young Alumni Award.

Frey also presents seminars for Ripon’s Department of Chemistry and provides access to UW laboratory spaces for Ripon summer research students. He received Ripon’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2021.

“Science is fascinating,” Frey said. “It’s rewarding and it’s also a struggle. Chemistry is really interesting and at the center of so much science. I have spent my time as a chemist learning how the world works and striving to improve medical care.”

Frey and his wife, Becky Hustad, Class of 1991, have two children.