Managing Editor,
M. Fiona Shortt de Hernandez

I graduated from the University of Wales, Bangor with a first class honors degree in chemistry and was awarded the Peboc Medal and Prize for the top first in chemistry, as well as the Dr. John Robert Jones Prize (Open Award), the university’s award for outstanding achievement. Having won a university studentship I then studied for my PhD working with Professor Mark S. Baird at Bangor and also spent three months at the Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas working for Professor John Falck.

On completion of my PhD I decided that I wanted a career, which would involve using my chemistry knowledge in a business setting rather than a laboratory, and therefore scientific publishing was my first choice. I joined Chapman and Hall, London, as an editorial assistant in 1994 and gained extensive experience working on a range of electronic chemistry products. Three years later I was promoted to project editor gaining front-line responsibility for a chemical dictionary i.e. Dictionary of Organic Compounds.

Having heard about the Science of Synthesis project and being impressed with its concept I made the decision to join Thieme in 1997 and took up the position of scientific editor at a very early stage in the life of the project. My main tasks involved copyediting and proofreading authors’ contributions. As the project developed I became more and more involved with product development and in establishing in-house editorial procedures and policies to help set the project up. The job also involved collaborating closely with other divisions such as production, software development and, marketing and sales.

During the course of my career at Thieme I have held the positions of scientific editor, senior scientific editor and deputy managing editor.

My current position is that of managing editor for Thieme Chemistry’s flagship product. This particular position is very challenging but extremely rewarding and not only builds on all of my previous work experience but also allows for further personal growth. My main responsibilities include strategic planning, operations management, product development, financial planning, project management, and market research. I’m also responsible for the coordination of the Science of Synthesis project and this involves communicating extensively with many different divisions within Thieme as well as external collaboration partners. The challenges involve meeting tight deadlines, working under pressure, finding solutions quickly and working together with the editorial team, volume editors and authors to help produce the occasional small miracle and meet objectives. All of this makes the job very exciting and lots of fun!

Working at Thieme has also given me the chance to travel extensively to international conferences and meetings (e.g., Japan, Taiwan, US), the opportunity to work within a multicultural office and to learn a new language i.e. German. This “international” aspect of the job is something that I value greatly.