ACS NEWS
and inclusive chemical profession with a focus on gender, ethnic, and racial diversity, as well as on the needs of bachelor/master’s chemists and industrial chemists, who have been underrepresented as recipients of national awards, in holding national offices, and even in ACS programs that serve these constituencies.”—Madeleine Jacobs, Council of Scientific Society Presidents
ACS Award in Industrial Chemistry: George P. Lahm Sponsor: ACS Division of Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Citation: For his outstanding accomplishments in the discovery of the anthranilamide class of insecticides and the commercialization of Rynaxypyr and Cyazypyr. Current position: DuPont Fellow, DuPont
Education: B.S., chemistry, State University of New York; Ph.D., organic chemistry, Indiana University
Lahm on what he hopes to accomplish in the next decade: “There is a constant need to renew crop protection products to fight the extraordinary ability of crop pests to develop resistance. The single best way to meet this challenge is to identify molecules that act by new biological mechanisms. My continuing objective is to find these molecules and bring them forward to create a sustainable pipeline of tools for today and well into the future.” What his colleagues say: “Lahm has a truly rare combination of abilities in organic synthesis, scientific leadership, and business acumen combined with an innate ability to recognize the promise of areas which have not yet been exploited. These traits single him out as a true outlier in field of crop protection as someone who is able to make extraordinary contributions to his discipline.”—Thomas Stevenson, DuPont
Current position: Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Chemistry, Emory University Education: B.A., chemistry, Queens College, City University of New York; Ph.D., chemistry, City University of New York Liotta on his scientific role model and why: “Although I have many scientific role models, the one that inspired me the most was Gertrude (Trudy) Elion, the 1988 Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine. She was, of course, brilliant and creative. But she also had to struggle throughout most of her professional life to get the recognition she so amply deserved. When she had an idea that she believed in, she pursued it relentlessly until she figured out how to make it work. Creativity without persistence probably won’t result in anything of lasting value.” What his colleagues say: “As one of the discoverers of the antiviral agent FTC and numerous other antiviral agents, professor Liotta has changed the lives of countless numbers of HIV/AIDS patients. Not only are these drugs extremely effective in controlling the virus, but their incorporation into once-daily treatment combinations has significantly enhanced the quality of life of these individuals.”—George R. Painter, Emory University
Ronald Breslow Award for Achievement in Biomimetic Chemistry: David R. Liu Sponsor: Ronald Breslow Award Endowment Citation: For the development and application of powerful methods that integrate biomimetic chemistry and biological evolution to solve major problems in chemistry, biology, and medicine.
Current position:
Alfred Burger Award in Medicinal Chemistry: Dennis C. Liotta Sponsor: Gilead Sciences Citation: For inventing antiviral drugs that more than 90% of HIV-infected persons on therapy in the U.S. take or have taken.
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C&EN | CEN.ACS.ORG | JANUARY 8, 2018
professor of chemistry and chemical biology, Harvard University, and Richard Merkin Professor and director of the Merkin Institute of Transformative Technologies in Healthcare, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard Education: B.A., chemistry, Harvard University; Ph.D., chemistry, University of California, Berkeley
Liu on what gets his creative juices flowing: “Playing! Being fortunate enough to have a job that is almost always highly enjoyable means that every day feels like playing with molecular or cellular Legos.” What his colleagues say: “David Liu is an outstanding, gifted, and remarkably accomplished scientist whose work defines the very essence of modern biomimetic chemistry.”—Alanna Schepartz, Yale University
Gabor A. Somorjai Award for Creative Research in Catalysis: David W. C. MacMillan Sponsor: Gabor A. & Judith K. Somorjai Endowment Fund Citation: For his pioneering work in the development of organocatalysis, including fundamentally new methods based on radical intermediates, SOMO catalysis, and photoredox catalysis. Current position: James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Chemistry and chair of the department of chemistry, Princeton University Education: B.Sc., chemistry, University of Glasgow; Ph.D., organic chemistry, University of California, Irvine
MacMillan on what gets his creative juices flowing: “An unusual result, a key insight, or a new understanding of a chemical concept that you have found in the lab. It’s like finding a hidden trap door in the back of an attic and when you look down inside—it’s full of gold (or even wine). It’s a great feeling when it happens, and I only wish it would happen more often.” What his colleagues say: “Organocatalysis has become the single most published-on field of catalysis in the world. Moreover, primarily due to MacMillan’s contributions, practical applications on large scale have begun to emerge. Further, a second field that he invented, photoredox catalysis, has the promise to be even more important than organocatalysis. MacMillan’s work has been carried out with an exceptional level of scholarship, focusing on what is important and conceptually innovative. His work has been and will continue to be used by others.”—Stephen L. Buchwald, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
