Remember the Tartans! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Stephanie Kwolek

Stephanie Kwolek (1923-2014) attended Carnegie Mellon intending to become a doctor. When she didn't have the money for medical school, she decided to work in industry long enough to earn her tuition. After being hired by DuPont in 1946, she found polymer chemistry fascinating and decided to make that, not medicine, her career. Working with aromatic polymers, she developed a flame resistant fiber DuPont released in 1961 as Nomex. Three years later, she developed a liquid crystal polymer that was extremely strong - Kevlar. Perhaps best know for its use in bullet proof vests, Kevlar is used in over 200 items, including sports equipment, cut-resistant gloves, airplanes, and car tires.

Kwolek received awards from the American Chemical Society and the American Institute of Chemists and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame and the National Women's Hall of Fame. In 1997 she won the Perkin Medal and the Royal Society of Chemistry grants an award in her name to chemists working outside the UK.

Kwolek retired in 1986 and in retirement served on the National Academy of Sciences.

Answer: John Forbes Nash

John Forbes Nash (1928-2015) began as a chemical engineering student at Carnegie Mellon, eventually switching to mathematics and earning both BS and MS degrees. He then went on to Princeton where he researched game theory and earned his Ph.D in 1950, and his work in this field was the basis of his 1994 Nobel Prize in Economics.

Nash began to exhibit erratic behavior and in 1959 was committed to a mental hospital and diagnosed with schizophrenia. Over the next 11 years he was treated with antipsychotics and spent periods of time as a mental inpatient. By 1970, his condition began to subside and he eventually taught at Princeton.

Answer: E.L. Konigsburg

Elaine Lobi (1930-2013) majored in chemistry at Carnegie Mellon. She spent two years in a graduate chemistry program at the University of Pittsburgh while her husband, David Konigsburg, finished his Ph.D then moved to Florida where she was a science teacher before quitting to raise her children. During this time she engaged her artistic side, taking adult art classes and beginning to write children's novels. Her first two to be published, "From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankwiler" and "Jennifer, Hecate, MacBeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth" won the Newbery Award and were named a Newbery Honor book in 1967, the first time a single author wrote the Newbery winner and a runner-up in the same year. Over the course of her career, she wrote over 20 children's books, many of which she illustrated herself, and won a second Newbery Award in 1997.

"From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankwiler" was made into a 1973 movie starring Ingrid Bergman.

Answer: Barbara Feldon

After her game show appearance, tall, elegant Barbara Feldon worked as a model while taking small parts in episodic TV. In 1966, she was cast as Agent 99 (whose real name was never revealed), the competent colleague and eventual love interest of Agent 86 Maxwell Smart and earned two Emmy nominations for the role.

After "Get Smart" was cancelled, Feldon appeared in several TV movies and a handful of theatrical releases and did voice-over work, before transitioning from acting to writing.

Answer: Judith Resnik

Judith Resnik (1949-1986) entered CMU after being the 16th woman to achieve a perfect 1600 on the SAT. She worked for RCA, and then as a research fellow in biomedical engineering before earning a Ph.D in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland in 1977.

Resnik qualified as a pilot in 1977 and in 1978, was selected as a mission specialist in NASA Group 8 class to include women (other members of the group include Sally Ride and Shannon Lucid). Before going into space she developed software for the robotic arms used to deploy satellites. In 1983 she was chosen as part of the crew for STS-41-D, the first flight of the Discovery space shuttle, and this August 1984 flight made her the second US woman in space, as well as the first American Jewish astronaut. A few months later, she was named to the crew of STS-51-L, a Challenger flight scheduled for January, 1986. On January 28, 1986 Challenger broke apart shortly after launch due to O-rings which failed in the cold weather, killing all seven on board.

Resnik was also an accomplished pianist and as a child considered a music career. On a personal note, seeing her release her long hair in microgravity is what made me, then a 15-year-old with long hair and an interest in engineering, consider CMU.

Answer: Sonia Manzano

Sonia Manzano (born 1950) appeared in the original off-Broadway production of "Godspell" while still a student at Carnegie Mellon. In 1971, she joined the cast of "Sesame Street" as Maria. Over the course of her 44 years on the show, Maria became the co-owner of the Fix-It Shop, married Luis (played by Emilio Delgado), and has a daughter, Gabi (initially played by Manzano's daughter, Gabrielle). Behind the scenes, Manzano also wrote for the show. She left "Sesame Street" in 2015.

Outside of "Sesame Street" Manzano acted in movies and episodic TV series, appeared on stage in "The Vagina Monologues" and "The Exonerated," and wrote for the series "Little Bill." She created and acts as producer and voice actor in "Alma's Way" which premiered on PBS in 2021.

Answer: Billy Porter

Pittsburgh native Billy Porter (born 1969) first appeared on Broadway in "Miss Saigon" in 1991 and as Teen Angel in "Grease" in 1994 and appeared in several Broadway and off-Broadway plays before originating the role of Lola in the 2013 musical "Kinky Boots" (based on the 2005 movie of the same name). He appeared as Pray Tell, the emcee of the balls and mentor to younger members of the ball culture the show focuses on. His 2019 Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series was the first for an openly gay black man in any acting category.

Porter is also a singer, releasing four albums between 1997 and 2017. He's appeared in several movies including "Like a Boss" and "80 for Brady." A fashion lover, he made a splash wearing a ball gown and tuxedo jacket to the 2019 Academy Awards.

Answer: Javier Grillo-Marxauch

While at CMU, Grillo-Marxauch was active in Scotch'n'Soda, the theatrical group for non-theater majors and wrote a column for the weekly newspaper, The Tartan. He wrote for several shows, including "SeaQuest DSV" and "Law & Order SVU" before joining "Lost" in 2004, winning, along with the rest of the writing staff, a WGA award in 2006.

He left "Lost" after two seasons and joined the writing staff of "Medium" as co-executive producer. He's also written comics, starting with "The Middleman" and created a series based on it.

He continues to write for episodic TV.

Answer: Leslie Odom, Jr.

Philadelphia native Leslie Odom, Jr. (born 1981) appeared on Broadway as Paul in "Rent" at age 17, before he entered CMU. He combined stage work in Los Angeles and New York with TV work, including recurring roles on "CSI: Miami" and "Person of Interest" before being cast as Aron Burr in "Hamilton" for which he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. Odom was nominated twice for the movie "One Night in Miami" - as Best Supporting Actor as Sam Cooke and for Best Original Song "Speak Now" which he co-wrote with Sam Ashworth.

He also appeared as charter school magnate Draemond Winding in "Abbot Elementary" and in "Glass Onion." He played Dr. Arbuthnot in the 2017 remake of "Murder on the Orient Express" alongside his classmate Josh Gad.

Answer: Josh Gad

Josh Gad (born 1981) first appeared on Broadway in "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" and in 2011 originated the role of Elder Cunningham in "The Book of Mormon" and was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Lead Actor in a Musical. Between these roles, he was a correspondent on "The Daily Show" and appeared in several TV series and movies.

In 2013, he played the snowman Olaf in "Frozen," a role he has reprised in several sequels. He appeared as Hector McQueen in the 2017 remake of "Murder on the Orient Express" alongside his classmate Leslie Odom, Jr. and created and stars in the animated musical sitcom "Central Park."