Nobel Prize Laureate to Give Talk at Brooklyn College
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Richard R. Schrock
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Richard R. Schrock, the 2005 Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry, will
visit Brooklyn College to give the Department of Chemistry’s annual
H. Martin Friedman lecture on Thursday, October 26 at 12:30 p.m. in 148
Ingersoll Hall Extension.
The lecture, made possible by an endowment from Dr. H. Martin Friedman,
’35, is presented to inspire and stimulate interest in science as
a career, and each year brings scientists at the peak of their professions
to Brooklyn College.
Schrock’s lecture, “The Road from Fundamental Chemistry
to Applied Chemistry and the Nobel Prize,” will review some of the
highlights of the basic research that led to new discoveries in chemistry
that will benefit both academia and industry. According to the Nobel Prize
committee this “represents a great step forward for ‘green
chemistry’, reducing potentially hazardous waste through smarter
production.” Last year, Schrock, along with R. H. Grubbs and Y.
Chauvin, received the award for his work in the area of olefin metathesis.
Metathesis (to change places) is used daily in the chemical industry,
mainly in the development of pharmaceuticals and of advanced plastic materials.
In metathesis reactions, double bonds are made between carbon atoms in
ways that cause atom groups to change places, similar to a dance where
the couples change partners. These reactions happen with the help of special
catalysts, and in 1990 Schrock was the first to develop an efficient metal-compound
catalyst. The methods he, and the other laureates developed will allow
for synthesis methods that are more effective, simpler to use, and more
environmentally friendly.
Schrock earned his B.A. from the University of California at Riverside
and a Ph.D. from Harvard University. In 1975 he joined the faculty of
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he became full professor
in 1980 and Frederick G. Keyes Professor of Chemistry in 1989. He is a
member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy
of Sciences.
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