K.C. Nicoloau
K. C. Nicolaou (Scripps and University of California San Diego) studies the chemistry, biology, and medicine of natural and designed molecules with an emphasis on the total synthesis of some of the most intriguing molecules occurring in nature. He is also deeply committed to the education and training of a new generation of men and women in the chemical sciences, in part demonstrated by his authorship of several highly regarded books for various audiences.
Ken Houk
Ken Houk (UCLA) has devoted his career to solving problems in organic and bio-organic chemistry using theoretical and computational methods. As a corollary to his work in theory, he is involved in experimental research to test theoretical predictions and to develop new reactions, reagents, and catalysts which have been designed from theoretical investigations. Of particular interest include the understanding and design of stereoselective organic reactions and catalysts, pericyclic reaction mechanisms, gating in proteins and synthetic hosts, the origins of biological catalysis, reactive intermediates in biology and the atmosphere, and molecular devices and structures and properties of organic materials.
M.G. Finn
M.G. Finn (The Scripps Research Institute and the Georgia Institute of Technology after March 2013) and his coworkers develop chemical and biological tools for the creation of functional molecules, and make such molecules for biomedical purposes. His group has provided click chemistry methods for synthesis and bioconjugation, and has pioneered the use of viruses and virus-like particles as polyvalent agents for cell targeting, immunology, and catalysis. They also have strong interests in materials chemistry, molecular evolution, and analytical techniques that support these missions. He is most proud of being recognized as the inaugural winner of the The Scripps Research Institute Outstanding Mentor Award in 2011. He is Editor in Chief of the ACS journal Combinatorial Science.
Madeline Joullie
Madeleine Joullie’s (University of Pennsylvania) research encompasses a wide range of interests in synthetic organic chemistry including heterocyclic and medicinal chemistry. She is particularly focused on the synthesis and chemistry of five-membered heterocycles and natural products containing such units, the synthesis and chemistry of fungal metabolites, cyclopeptide alkaloids as well as the synthesis of biologically important depsipeptides, novel ninhydrins; and anti- angiogenic agents. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Chemical Heritage Foundation.
Marjorie Caserio
Marjorie Caserio (UCSD), co-author of the immensely important text Modern Organic Chemistry with John D. Roberts, was engaged in teaching and research at the University of California Irvine for 25 years. In 1990, she became Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs at University of California San Diego. In 1995 she served as interim Chancellor at UCSD prior to retiring in 1996. She has served for many years as a consultant to the American Chemical Society on graduate education..
Mike Doyle
Michael P. Doyle (Professor, University of Maryland) is the developer of “Doyle catalysts” – chiral dirhodium carboxamidates that are the most effective catalysts for highly stereoselective intramolecular reactions of diazoacetates that include C-H insertion and cyclopropanation. The fixed stereodefined geometry of these catalysts provides access to highly enantioenriched products in metal carbene reactions and, together with their low oxidation potentials, also affords capabilities for highly selective Lewis acid catalyzed reactions and efficient chemical oxidations with high turnover numbers and high selectivities. His research has encompassed physical organic chemistry, synthetic method development, the bioinorganic chemistry of nitrogen oxides and nitrosyls, and asymmetric syntheses.
Peter Stang
Peter Stang (University of Utah) is Editor in Chief of ‘The Journal of the American Chemical Society’ and previously served as Editor in Chief of ‘The Journal of Organic Chemistry.’ His primary focus of research is molecular architecture and supramolecular chemistry via self-assembly. He also continues to study reactive unsaturated intermediates such as vinyl cations. He also has an interest in biochemistry, in particular examining tPQQ-sequestering and protease and phosphotriesterase inhibition.
Richmond Sarpong
Richmond Sarpong (University of California at Berkeley) is interested in the development of new strategies and methods for the synthesis of complex, biologically active, compounds. His research group has made notable contributions to the synthesis of alkaloid natural products and in the development of metal-mediated methods for natural product synthesis. Richmond has been recognized as a Camille Dreyfus Teacher Scholar and received the UC Berkeley Department of Chemistry teaching award in 2009.
Ronald Breslow
Ronald Breslow (Columbia University), a former President of the American Chemical Society, has made significant contributions to fundamental chemistry, for example, in the study of antiaromatic compounds and also bioorganic chemistry. Currently, he is trying to prepare artificial enzymes that can imitate the function of natural enzymes. Breslow is involved in the synthesis of mimics of antibodies or of biological receptor sites, for example, for modulating the activity of peptide hormones. He also has a long-standing program to develop novel compounds that can induce cells to differentiate. These have important potential in cancer treatment and are now in human trials.
Stephan Hanessian
Stephen Hanessian (University of Montreal, and the University of California, Irvine), has a wide cross-section of interests in organic, bioorganic and medicinal chemistry. His teachings of the simplification of structural and stereochemical complexity in organic synthesis as seen through the mind’s eye, and adopting the Chiron Approach, are pedagogically enlightening and practically useful. In 2012, he was the recipient of the ACS Ernest Guenther Award in Natural Products and the Richter IUPAC Medicinal Chemistry Prize.