How one longtime patent attorney catalyzed his love for biochemistry
After graduating with a chemical engineering degree from ASU in 2004, William Vancuren went back to school for a law degree, built a career as a patent attorney, and then 16 years later, returned once more, this time to pursue a biochemistry degree that reconnected him with the science that had first captured his interest. Courtesy photo
Editor’s note: This story is part of a series of profiles of notable fall 2025 graduates.
William Vancuren has built a life around the belief that it’s never too late to learn something new.
After graduating with a chemical engineering degree from Arizona State University in 2004, he went back to school for a law degree, built a career as a patent attorney, and then 16 years later, returned once more, this time to pursue a biochemistry degree that reconnected him with the science that had first captured his interest.
“What really started as a way to build the subject-matter base so I could do my job better turned into just this love of the subject,” Vancuren said. “I’m obsessed. I’d run downstairs to my wife saying, ‘Did you know this is how this works? This is what insulin actually does!’ And she’s like, ‘I got it. Go back upstairs. Finish your thing.”
For Vancuren, the message he wants others to hear is simple: Don’t let age, timing or fear convince you that a difficult path isn’t meant for you.
“People shouldn’t be apprehensive about their stage in life, their age or the difficulty of the coursework,” he said. “I’m not unique in choosing a hard path. Biochemistry is not easy, especially when you’re resurrecting 20-plus-year-old coursework. But I wasn’t the only person doing it. Not by a long shot.”
When he arrived on campus for in-person biochemistry labs, he met others like him, professionals, parents, career-changers, all returning to school in different stages of life. That realization fueled him. And despite the challenge, he’s finishing strong.
“I might get a B,” he joked. “I’m really hoping I don’t; I’m trying to keep my straight-A streak alive. That’s not something I thought I’d be able to do. If I can do it, anybody can. That’s the truth. That’s the message I want people to understand.”
We spoke with Vancuren to learn more about his journey, what he has learned along the way, and what’s next.
Question: What was your “aha” moment when you realized you wanted to study the field you majored in?
Answer: I've been practicing as a patent attorney for 16 years, since 2009 and patent law is heavily based on what you studied in undergrad. In my undergrad I studied chemical engineering, so a lot of what I do professionally is patents and technology related to that field. When I started working at Impossible Foods, I inherited a group of patents related to life science, specifically genetically modified organisms, and target proteins and was fascinated, but I was inefficient. It's not something I love experiencing. So I sort of started to wade into the coursework to get a little bit more efficient and better at the subject matter. Frankly, to do my job better, not be as slow at it.
Q: What's something you've learned at ASU that surprised you or changed your perspective?
A: I think it's a little abstract, but I have a whole different perspective on the way things work, the way our bodies work, and the way the world around us works, and I didn't expect to get that. At some point between the first and second biochemistry course, I started to get more insight into how these processes work and what was happening in these biochemical interactions. The complexity and the inefficiency that's built into our systems from all our years of growing from a cell to person is something I never would have understood or expected. I was fascinated and remain fascinated.
Q: Why did you choose ASU?
A: I graduated from ASU with a chemical engineering degree 21 years ago. I worked for a law firm in Arizona for a long time. ASU has a good reputation, and as I looked into online course work, I saw that ASU Online’s reputation was just as strong as it was in person. There was a lot of material online to help me understand what it would be like to do the online course work.
Q: Which professor taught you the most important lesson while at ASU?
A: Professor Jim Allen has been super helpful because he has a perspective that helps cut through noise and that helps maintain perspective, to not get lost in the details. He would pull you back and say, what are you looking at here? Is this what you expected in general? Before you go digging into graphs, did this behave the way you thought it should? And that was super helpful.
Q: What's the best piece of advice you'd give to those considering going back to school?
My advice would be, get started. If you think you're ready, put together a plan and do it. I spent a couple years preparing, and those years weren't necessary. If there's any apprehension about the program or how it's going to run, put that aside and do it.
Q: What are your plans after graduation?
A: I'm going to campus (to attend convocation), but then I’ll actively look for expanded professional work in this area. I have this tool, and I'm excited by it. Patent and tech work see what people have invented that's usually not out in the world yet. You get access to these cutting-edge technologies. I want to be involved in that more. Drug discovery and looking at regulatory pathways, specifically, is super interesting to me.
Q: If someone gave you $40 million to solve one problem on our planet, what would you tackle?
A: I would use the money to tackle obesity. I think it's very misunderstood, and it’s so heavily influenced by everything around us. I think everybody agrees that we have a historic problem that needs a better understanding of how to address it medically and with education. I'd probably burn through the $40 million pretty quickly, but that's the thing I am closest to and, I think, would benefit the world very directly and very significantly. So, if you got it, I'm ready to receive it; I have a solid plan ready to go.
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