UC Merced to host chemistry Nobel Prize winner

Nobel Prize winner and professor of chemistry K. Barry Sharpless will visit UC Merced on Friday where he will discuss his latest research findings on new, efficient ways to build drug molecules.

Sharpless, who was recognized with the prestigious award in chemistry in 2001, will be the first scientific Nobel Prize winner to visit the campus. In 2010, former President Jimmy Carter, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, stopped by UC Merced to deliver the keynote speech at a National Parks Institute seminar.

Sharpless’ presentation will take place at 3 p.m. in Room 120 of the Classroom and Office Building.

UC Merced assistant professor of chemistry Jason Hein, who is responsible for inviting Sharpless to speak at the campus, said Sharpless is a pioneer in the field of organic chemistry. “If anyone were to win two Nobel Prizes in their life, it would be professor Sharpless,” Hein said.

Sharpless, 73, is a professor of chemistry at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla. He previously taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University. Sharpless is known for coining the concept of “click chemistry,” which refers to the synthesis of drug-like molecules used to accelerate the drug discovery process.

Hein, who worked with Sharpless at Scripps from 2005 to 2009, said that Sharpless has been a great asset to the pharmaceutical industry by helping design new drugs that are faster, cheaper and easier to manufacture.

Hein said because he still keeps in contact with Sharpless, all he had to do was “ask very nicely” to get the laureate to speak on campus. “He is interested in seeing how (UC Merced’s) chemistry department is developing. We just finished hiring two new faculty members last year and we’re growing very quickly,” Hein said.

Friday’s event is free and open to the public.

This story was originally published October 28, 2014 at 7:34 PM with the headline "UC Merced to host chemistry Nobel Prize winner."