MIT Chemistry Department
Encyclopedia
The Chemistry Department at MIT is one of the top university faculties in the world. Research interests cover the entire field of chemistry, ranging from organic chemistry
and biological chemistry to physical chemistry
, inorganic chemistry
, environmental chemistry
, materials science
and nanoscience.
The department can boast several Nobel Laureates among its faculty and alumni. They are:
In 1866, the department moved to its new quarters in the basement of the Rogers Building in Boston. Cyrus Warren joined the faculty, and became MIT's first professor of organic chemistry
.
In 1907, MIT awarded its first Ph.D. to three students in the field of physical chemistry
.
Organic chemistry
Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of carbon-based compounds, hydrocarbons, and their derivatives...
and biological chemistry to physical chemistry
Physical chemistry
Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic, atomic, subatomic, and particulate phenomena in chemical systems in terms of physical laws and concepts...
, inorganic chemistry
Inorganic chemistry
Inorganic chemistry is the branch of chemistry concerned with the properties and behavior of inorganic compounds. This field covers all chemical compounds except the myriad organic compounds , which are the subjects of organic chemistry...
, environmental chemistry
Environmental chemistry
Environmental chemistry is the scientific study of the chemical and biochemical phenomena that occur in natural places. It should not be confused with green chemistry, which seeks to reduce potential pollution at its source...
, materials science
Materials science
Materials science is an interdisciplinary field applying the properties of matter to various areas of science and engineering. This scientific field investigates the relationship between the structure of materials at atomic or molecular scales and their macroscopic properties. It incorporates...
and nanoscience.
The department can boast several Nobel Laureates among its faculty and alumni. They are:
- Robert B. Woodward (Chemistry, 1965)
- Robert S. MullikenRobert S. MullikenRobert Sanderson Mulliken was an American physicist and chemist, primarily responsible for the early development of molecular orbital theory, i.e. the elaboration of the molecular orbital method of computing the structure of molecules. Dr. Mulliken received the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1966...
(Chemistry, 1966) - H. Gobind Khorana (Medicine & Physiology, 1968)
- Geoffrey WilkinsonGeoffrey WilkinsonSir Geoffrey Wilkinson FRS was a Nobel laureate English chemist who pioneered inorganic chemistry and homogeneous transition metal catalysis.-Biography:...
(Chemistry, 1973) - Charles J. PedersenCharles J. PedersenCharles John Pedersen was an American organic chemist best known for describing methods of synthesizing crown ethers. He shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1987 with Donald J. Cram and Jean-Marie Lehn...
(Chemistry 1987) - Sidney AltmanSidney AltmanSidney Altman is a Canadian American molecular biologist, who is currently the Sterling Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and Chemistry at Yale University. In 1989 he shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Thomas R...
and Thomas R. Cech (Chemistry, 1989) - Elias J. Corey (Chemistry, 1990)
- Mario Molina (Chemistry, 1995)
- K. Barry SharplessK. Barry SharplessKarl Barry Sharpless is an American chemist known for his work on stereoselective reactions.-Early years:Sharpless was born in Philadelphia. He graduated from Friends' Central School in 1959. He continued his studies at Dartmouth College and earned his Ph.D from Stanford University in 1968...
(Chemistry, 2001) - Aaron CiechanoverAaron CiechanoverAaron Ciechanover is an Israeli biologist, and Nobel laureate in Chemistry.- Biography :Ciechanover was born in Haifa, British mandate of Palestine, a year before the establishment of the State of Israel...
(Chemistry, 2004) - Richard R. SchrockRichard R. SchrockRichard Royce Schrock is an American chemist and Nobel laureate recognized for his contributions to the metathesis reaction used in organic chemistry.-Biography:...
(Chemistry, 2005).
History
MIT's Chemistry department has been around since the Institute opened its doors in 1865. It started with two professors, Charles W. Eliot and Francis H. Storer, and a class of 15 students.In 1866, the department moved to its new quarters in the basement of the Rogers Building in Boston. Cyrus Warren joined the faculty, and became MIT's first professor of organic chemistry
Organic chemistry
Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of carbon-based compounds, hydrocarbons, and their derivatives...
.
In 1907, MIT awarded its first Ph.D. to three students in the field of physical chemistry
Physical chemistry
Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic, atomic, subatomic, and particulate phenomena in chemical systems in terms of physical laws and concepts...
.
Current members
- Robert A. Alberty
- Moungi G. Bawendi
- Klaus BiemannKlaus BiemannKlaus Biemann is a Professor Emeritus of chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His work was centered on structural analysis in organic and biochemistry...
- Stephen L. Buchwald
- Jianshu Cao
- Sylvia CeyerSylvia CeyerSylvia T. Ceyer is a professor of chemistry at MIT, holding the John C. Sheehan Chair in Chemistry. Until 2006 she held the chemistry chair of the National Academy of Sciences.-Background:...
- Arup K. Chakraborty
- Christopher C. Cummins, Ph.D. 1993
- Rick L. Danheiser
- Alan Davison
- John M. DeutchJohn M. DeutchJohn Mark Deutch is an American chemist and civil servant. He was the United States Deputy Secretary of Defense from 1994 to 1995 and Director of Central Intelligence from May 10, 1995 until December 15, 1996...
, S.B. 1961, Ph.D. 1966 - Mircea Dincă
- Catherine L. Drennan
- John M. Essigmann, S.M. 1972, Ph.D. 1976
- Robert W. FieldRobert W. FieldRobert W. Field is the Haslam and Dewey Professor of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he has been a professor since 1974. His AB degree is in chemistry from Amherst College, and his PhD is in chemistry from Harvard University, where he worked with Bill Klemperer...
- Gregory C. Fu, S.B. 1985
- Carl W. Garland
- Frederick D. Greene
- Robert G. Griffin
- Barbara Imperiali, Ph.D. 1983
- Timothy F. Jamison
- H. Gobind Khorana
- Alexander M. Klibanov
- Stephen J. LippardStephen J. LippardStephen J. Lippard is an American bioinorganic chemist and the Arthur Amos Noyes Professor of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.-Career:...
, Ph.D. 1965 - Mohammad Movassaghi
- Keith A. Nelson
- Daniel G. NoceraDaniel G. NoceraDaniel George Nocera is an American chemist and university professor.-Career:Nocera received a B.S. degree in Chemistry from Rutgers University in 1979. He received a Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology in 1984, after working with Professor Harry B...
- Sarah E. O'Connor, Ph.D. 2001
- Irwin Oppenheim
- Richard R. SchrockRichard R. SchrockRichard Royce Schrock is an American chemist and Nobel laureate recognized for his contributions to the metathesis reaction used in organic chemistry.-Biography:...
- Dietmar Seyferth
- Robert J. Silbey
- Jeffrey I. Steinfeld, S.B. 1962
- JoAnne StubbeJoAnne StubbeJoAnne Stubbe is an American chemist. She is currently the Novartis Professor of Chemistry & Biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.-Career:...
- Timothy M. Swager
- Steven R. Tannenbaum, S.B. 1958, Ph.D. 1962
- Alice Y. TingAlice Y. TingAlice Yen-Ping Ting is a professor of bio-organic chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Alice Ting was born in Taiwan and emigrated to the United States when she was three years old. She was raised in Texas and attended the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science . She received...
- Andrei Tokmakoff
- Troy Van Voorhis
- John S. WaughJohn S. WaughJohn Stewart Waugh is an American chemist and Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is known for developing average hamiltonian theory and using it to extend NMR spectroscopy, previously limited to liquids, to the solid state...
- Gerald N. Wogan
Former members
- Isadore Amdur
- Avery Ashdown
- James A. Beattie
- Arthur A. Blanchard
- James Mason Crafts
- Charles W. Eliot
- Leicester F. Hamilton
- Daniel S. KempDaniel S. KempFor the American actor, see Dan Kemp.Daniel Schaeffer Kemp is an American chemist. He is a professor of chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is best known for being the author of a widely-used organic chemistry textbook.-Background:Kemp was born in Portland, Oregon...
- Frederick G. Keyes
- Gilbert Newton Lewis
- Mario Molina
- Forris Jewitt Moore
- Avery A. Morton
- Lewis M. Morton
- Samuel Parsons Mulliken
- James Flack Norris
- Arthur Amos NoyesArthur Amos NoyesArthur Amos Noyes was a U.S. chemist and educator. He served as the acting president of MIT between 1907 and 1909. He received a PhD. in 1890 at Leipzig under the guidance of Wilhelm Ostwald. Roscoe Gilkey Dickinson was one of his famous students. Noyes served as Professor of Chemistry at the...
, S.B. 1886 - Walter C. Schumb
- George Scatchard
- K. Barry SharplessK. Barry SharplessKarl Barry Sharpless is an American chemist known for his work on stereoselective reactions.-Early years:Sharpless was born in Philadelphia. He graduated from Friends' Central School in 1959. He continued his studies at Dartmouth College and earned his Ph.D from Stanford University in 1968...
- Joseph Sadighi
- Walter Stockmayer
- Franis H. Storer
- Henry P. Talbot
- William Walker
- Cyrus Warren
- Mark S. WrightonMark S. WrightonMark Stephen Wrighton is an American academic, a chemist, and the current Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis. Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Wrighton received his B.S. in Chemistry from Florida State University in 1969. While at Florida State, he won the Monsanto Chemistry Award for...
- Douglas YouvanDouglas Youvan-Biography:Prior to founding Karios Scientific Inc. with Mary M. Yang, Youvan was an Associate Professor of Chemistry at MIT, and his Ph.D. degree in biophysics was from UC Berkeley. Extensive litigation over Youvan's KCAT patent for solid phase enzyme kinetics screening in microcolonies set case...
Notable alumni
- Sidney AltmanSidney AltmanSidney Altman is a Canadian American molecular biologist, who is currently the Sterling Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and Chemistry at Yale University. In 1989 he shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Thomas R...
, S.B. 1960 - Elias J. Corey, S.B. 1948, Ph.D. 1951
- Roscoe G. DickinsonRoscoe G. DickinsonRoscoe Gilkey Dickinson was a U.S. chemist, known primarily for his work on X-ray crystallography. As professor of chemistry at the California Institute of Technology , he was the doctoral advisor of Nobel laureate Linus Pauling and of Arnold O...
- Robert S. MullikenRobert S. MullikenRobert Sanderson Mulliken was an American physicist and chemist, primarily responsible for the early development of molecular orbital theory, i.e. the elaboration of the molecular orbital method of computing the structure of molecules. Dr. Mulliken received the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1966...
, S.B. 1917 - Charles J. PedersenCharles J. PedersenCharles John Pedersen was an American organic chemist best known for describing methods of synthesizing crown ethers. He shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1987 with Donald J. Cram and Jean-Marie Lehn...
, S.M. 1927 - Ellen Swallow RichardsEllen Swallow RichardsEllen Henrietta Swallow Richards was the foremost female industrial and environmental chemist in the United States in the 19th century, pioneering the field of home economics. Richards graduated from Westford Academy...
, S.B. 1873 - Robert B. Woodward, S.B. 1936, Ph.D. 1937