For Corey Morse Crafton ’95 of
Decatur, science was a natural choice. “Science was always my favorite
subject,” she says. “I remember the leaf collection that most every fifth
grader in the State of Illinois dreads…and I loved it! Both sets of my
grandparents were farmers, and science always made me feel connected to them and
to nature. I always loved the outdoors.”
She
began working for Archer Daniels Midland Company just a few months following
graduation, and explains, “I
started part-time and within a month was given a salaried position. For about a
year, I worked as a fermentation technician in a pilot plant atmosphere. I then
joined the molecular biology group and began helping to optimize metabolic flow
in microorganisms that are used to produce different products by fermentation.
Right now I’m working in the law department helping to draft and prosecute
patent applications.”
In
2000, Crafton took a refresher course at Millikin in biochemistry. She adds,
“This class, along with the courses in genetics and molecular genetics that I
took while a student, encompass close to 90 percent of what I did as a
researcher.”
She
credits her MU professors with helping her make career decisions. “Dr. Terry
Matthews helped to define my direction of choice, which was to work with
genetics. I was originally pre-med and decided against that my junior year.”
Crafton
keeps in close touch with the friends she made while a student at Millikin. She
says, “The friends I met during that time of my life have proven to be some of
the best I have ever or will ever meet. They are a part of me. They have helped
make me what and who I am today. We still try to get together about once a year
and reminisce. I recently went on a cruise with two of them and we had the time
of our lives!”
Crafton
met her husband, Brian, who also works for ADM, while attending Millikin. The
couple is expecting their first child in October.
