Friday March 26, 1999 Meeting

 

Professor Ronald Breslow

Columbia University

 

 

“What’s left to do in chemistry ?”

 

 

            As many of you know, Professor Ronald Breslow will be the featured speaker at the Annual Bnquet of the Northeast Georgia Section of the ACS.  This event will be held on Friday March 26th at the Athens Country Club.  The social hour begins at 6:30 pm, while dinner will start at 7:30 pm.  The title of Professor Breslow after dinner talk is:  “What’s left to do in chemistry ?”  The cost for each meal is $18.00 and includes a salad bar, two fresh seasonal vegetables, the Chef’s selection of a starch, shrimp scampi, grilled salmon and angus prime rib.  The caterers require an accurate headcount by Wednesday March 24th.  Towards this end, please notify me or Barbara Cherry (bcherry@chem.uga.edu) prior to then if you will be joining us.

 

            Professor Breslow has kindly agreed to present a seminar based on his research to the Department.  This seminar is tentatively scheduled be held at 4:00 pm in room 430 (main lecture hall) and is entitled “The Chelate Effect in Binding, Catalysis, and Chemotherapy”.  I hope you will be able to attend his talk and will encourage your students to do likewise.  A limited quantity of time exists in Dr. Breslow’s schedule for direct interaction with the faculty.  Please notify me if you are interested in meeting with Ron during either Friday afternoon or Saturday morning before his departure for the Atlanta airport at 11 am.  When making your request, please keep in mind that any travel delays are common occurances nowadays.  Finally, a variation of this message will be sent to the department in order to make the others in the department aware of Professor Breslow’s visit.   This “spamed” message should be discarded.

 

 

Professor Breslow’s Biography 

 

Ronald Breslow was born in Rahway, New Jersey on March 14, 1931. He received his undergraduate and graduate training at Harvard University, where he did his Ph.D. research with Professor R.B. Woodward. He then spent a year in Cambridge, England as a postdoctoral fellow with Lord Todd, and came to Columbia University in 1956 as Instructor in Chemistry. He is now the Samuel Latham Mitchill Professor of Chemistry at Columbia.

 

            Professor Breslow's research interests involve the synthesis of new molecules with interesting properties, and the study of these properties. Examples include the cyclopropenyl cation, the simplest aromatic system and the first aromatic compound prepared with other than six electrons in a ring.  His work establishing the phenomenon of anti-aromaticity has involved the synthesis of novel molecules, as well as their study.  Although he continues his interest in unusual conjugated systems, his major emphasis in recent years has been on the study of molecules that imitate enzymatic reactions. This work has included the development of remote functionalization reactions and the development of artificial enzymes. He is the author of over 350 publications.

 

            Professor Breslow is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (Chairman of the Chemistry Division 1974-77), of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and of the American Philosophical Society (member of the Council, 1987-92.  He has been the Chairman of the Board of Scientific Advisors of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and a member of the Board of Trustees of Rockefeller University. He is on the Editorial Board of a number of Scientific Journals, and has held over 150 named and visiting Professorships.  His major scientific awards include the American Chemical Society Award in Pure Chemistry (1966), the Fresenius Award of Phi Lambda Upsilon (1966), the Baekeland Medal (1969), the Centenary Medal (1972), the Harrison Howe Award (1974), the Remsen Prize (1977), the Roussel Prize in Steroids (1978), the James Flack Norris Prize in Physical Organic Chemistry of the American Chemical Society (1980), the Richards Medal (1984), the Arthur C. Cope Award (1987), the Kenner Award (1988), the Nichols Medal (1989), the National Academy of Sciences Award in Chemistry (1989), the Allan Day Award (1990), the Paracelsus Award and Medal of the Swiss Chemical Society (1990), and the U.S. National Medal of Science (1991). He was recently named one of the top 75 contributors to the chemical enterprise in the past 75 years by Chemical & Engineering News (1997).  He was President-Elect of the American Chemical Society (1995), was ACS President (1996), and was ACS Immediate Past President (1997).