MONMOUTH, ILLINOIS (November 20, 2024) — Monmouth helped provide Chris Knutson ('16) a second chance at college. It was an opportunity that came Knutson's way after he got a second chance at life.
Knutson was back on Monmouth's campus November 15 to share what he's been up to lately at the University of Iowa, where he completed his graduate studies last year with a PhD in organic and analytical chemistry.
While still writing his dissertation, the opportunity arose for Knutson to oversee all of the labs in the environmental engineering program at Iowa's College of Engineering, as well as the university's water-treatment plant. The role encompasses 21 labs across nine buildings, and Knutson works closely with seven faculty members and more than eighty researchers.
A non-traditional non-traditional student
There was a time in Knutson's life when holding such a position didn't seem possible. A non-traditional student at Monmouth, Knutson didn't have it easy in his twenties. A bout with testicular cancer nearly claimed his life and derailed his first attempt at college. Knutson eventually found work at a Verizon call center.
"But I realized that's not what I wanted for my life," he said. "I didn't survive cancer to work in a kiosk in a call center. I was not in a mindset to be managed."
Knutson moved from his hometown of Elgin, Illinois, to the Lake Bracken area of nearby Galesburg, where his mother lived. But he suffered another major health setback, needing to have both hips replaced due to a condition called bilateral avascular necrosis, which occurred due to his cancer chemotherapy destroying the veins in his hips. In his late twenties, he had both hips replaced.
"I was living out by a lake, I was isolated, and I was in my thirties," said Knutson. "I didn't know my way forward. It was either accept that disability or make a change."
The founding Founder
That change was starting college again, this time at Galesburg's Carl Sandburg College.
"I found I really enjoyed education," he said. "It was my second go at college, and I found that, as an adult, I really had an appreciation for the process. I really [excelled] at Sandburg. I had a 4.0, and I began to think about being at a four-year college."
Monmouth can be an attractive option for CSC grads due to its proximity. But there's still the matter of cost to navigate, and Knutson expressed his concern with Monmouth admission representative Kristi Millar (who's now the college's registrar) that her school didn't have a scholarship competition for transfer students.
"I met her at a college fair, and I can't believe I said this, but I told her, 'There's a lot of money on the table here. That's a problem you need to fix,'" he said. "It was complete bluster on my part. But she got back in touch with me a few months later, and she said, 'We've thought about that, and now we have the Wallace Founders Scholarship for transfer students, and I think you should apply.'"
The full-tuition scholarship is now given to an entering Monmouth transfer student who has a record of exceptional academic achievement and leadership in his or her college and community.
"There's a photo that exists with me, [then-Monmouth president] Mauri Ditzler, [then-Sandburg president] Lori Sundberg, and a few other students at the time of the signing of the transfer program agreement between the two colleges," said Knutson.
Chemistry and more
Knutson was in at Monmouth, and chemistry was his major. He explained how he arrived at that subject.
"When I first went to college, I studied computer science, but I found it to be too easy," said Knutson. "The result was that I was uninterested. So the second time around, with the perspective of an adult, I wanted to find the right mixture of something that was challenging, but not so challenging that I'd flunk out. As [Monmouth] Professor [Chris] Fasano would tell you, physics was a no for me, so I went with chemistry."
Knutson made himself at home in a department that featured current professors Audra Goach and Laura Moore, as well as recently-retired Brad Sturgeon. He learned valuable lessons outside the department, too.
"I knew I wanted to get an education in chemistry, but what I didn't have yet was an appreciation for the liberal arts side of things — how important writing and communication skills are," said Knutson. "You can make an important discovery in chemistry, but then you have to be able to communicate what you've found and why it matters."
As he works in his lab manager role at Iowa — which has seen him host visits to campus by Monmouth students and faculty — those communication skills are essential to his career. He'll rely heavily upon them during his assignment as chair of the 2025 Iowa PFAS Conference, which will be held in April at the University of Iowa.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are human-made chemicals that can contaminate the environment in many ways. The conference is designed to exchange ideas and findings, provide learning and networking opportunities, and explore new ways to test and deal with PFAS in environmental and biological samples.
During his November 15 presentation, Knutson shared some of the findings of his research, which was focused on environmental transformation products and their contamination risks. Simply put, an ETP is a new product that emerges after the starting material, which was likely regulated, is lost. The new product isn't regulated.
"This is something, as simple as it seems, that has never been seen before, and not a lot of research is being done with them," he said. "We need to inform the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), 'You've got to be looking out for this stuff.'"
