Clockwise from top left, David Tirrell,
Harry Gray, John Baldeschwieler, Robert
Grubbs, Michael Hoffmann, and John
Roberts display their ACS awards.

Awards stack up for Caltech chemists

Out of 50 national awards recently presented by the American Chemical Society, six—count ’em, six—went to Caltech faculty members. The researchers were honored at the ACS’s 221st meeting in San Diego for their numerous and diverse contributions to the field of chemistry.

John Baldeschwieler, Johnson Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Chemistry, Emeritus, received the ACS Award for Creative Innovation. His colleague John Roberts says that Baldeschwieler’s “inventive contributions span an extraordinary range of scientific techniques. His work shows characteristic flair for creativity and originality, coupled with a pragmatic recognition of important practical applications.”

Harry Gray, Beckman Professor of Chemistry and director of the Beckman Institute, received the George C. Pimentel Award in Chemical Education. A Caltech colleague says that Gray’s “influence on chemical education has been deep and profound through the students and teachers he has inspired and his many textbooks at both the freshman and advanced levels.”

Robert Grubbs, Atkins Professor of Chemistry, was awarded the Herbert C. Brown Award for Creative Research in Synthetic Methods. His research, focusing on the synthesis of metal complexes that serve as catalysts in organic reactions, has transformed the field of synthetic chemistry, says MIT’s Timothy Swager, one of Grubbs’s former students.

Michael Hoffmann, Irvine Professor of Environmental Science, received the ACS Award for Creative Advances in Environmental Science and Technology. His research in environmental chemistry, which “showed that the atmosphere must be understood as a multiphasic medium” with a critical liquid phase, has been key in understanding the chemical processes involved in air pollution.

John Roberts, Institute Professor of Chemistry, Emeritus, was awarded the Nakanishi Prize for his work in physical organic chemistry and development of nuclear magnetic resonance, which has placed him “among the intellectual founders of modern quantitative bioorganic chemistry.”

David Tirrell, McCollum-Corcoran Professor and professor and chair of chemistry and chemical engineering, received the ACS Award in Polymer Chemistry, for his research, particularly the creation of precisely engineered artificial proteins, which “pushes the frontiers of the interface of polymer science and biology.”
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