Amy C. Anderson

PRINCETON/STORRS, CT - Amy Christine Anderson, Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Head of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Connecticut Storrs, died peacefully on Sunday morning, July 17, under the loving care of her family and the staff at UConn Health - John Dempsey Hospital in Farmington. She was 47. Amy was born in Worcester and raised in Westborough and Princeton, Massachusetts. She received a BS in the life sciences from MIT, a PhD in biophysics from Harvard and was a postdoctoral fellow at UCSF. Amy was a brilliant scientist who used structural biology to study the shapes of protein molecules to guide drug design. She published over 80 research papers and was an inventor on several patents. Her career was dedicated to the treatment of drug resistant pathogens, especially the so-called “superbugs” such as K. pneumonia and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Amy and her husband, Professor Dennis Wright have worked closely together for over a decade with a team of outstanding students to develop a new class of experimental antibiotics to treat these infections. Her work has also helped explain how bacteria become resistant to antibiotics. Amy developed a mathematical algorithm to help scientists identify drug resistant mutations and to synthesize a compounds that can overcome the resistance. Her many honors included the Connecticut Technology Council’s Woman of Innovation in Research award and the University of Connecticut Provost’s Special Achievement Award. She was recently elected to the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering. In 2015, she was included in the list of 100 Inspiring Women of STEM: Insight into Diversity. She chaired the Gordon research Conference on Drug Resistance and was a member of the NIH study section on Drug Discovery and Mechanisms of Antimicrobial Resistance. Amy was also a dedicated and extremely effective educator in the classroom and in the laboratory. She was an inspiring mentor and an outstanding role model for young women in science. Two of her mentees were honored by the Connecticut Technology Council as Women of Innovation. Amy was interested in science from a very young age, and she credits her parents for helping to get her first job in science. They introduced her to a biochemistry professor who directed a laboratory and provided her first exposure to research. While collaborating on antibiotic research at Dartmouth College, Amy meet the love her life, Dennis Wright. In 2005, they married and moved to Storrs, Connecticut where they embarked on their teaching careers and became parents of two boys. She was a fabulous baker, often baking muffins with her sons Evan and Dean and using a rolling pin made by her father, Doug Anderson, and her grandmother’s breadboard. She particularly enjoyed cooking exotic spicy Indian and Thai dishes that would test even the most seasoned palates. Amy was a gifted classical and blues pianist and took great joy in teaching piano to her children. One of her most beloved times was reading stories with her boys at bedtime each night. She loved family vacations and looked forward to her annual pilgrimage and retreat to North Truro on Cape Cod. Last year Amy fulfilled her long time dream of vacationing with her family at Disney World in Orlando. She was a devoted wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend and will be remembered for her tenacious and optimistic nature. She leaves and will be lovingly missed by her husband of 11 years, Dennis L. Wright; her children, Evan Bailey and Dean Stanton Wright; her parents, Douglas W. and Joyce A. (Bailey) Anderson of Princeton; her brother, Mark E. Anderson and his wife, Jennifer A. Anderson of Boylston; a niece, Lydia R. Anderson; two nephews, William and Lucas Anderson; aunts, uncles and cousins; and her snuggly cat, "Sam."