2022 M. Frederick Hawthorne Symposium

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Prof. M. Frederick Hawthorne

Current members and alumni of the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry gathered at UCLA on September 16, 2022, for the 2022 M. Frederick Hawthorne Symposium, to honor two recipients of the M. Frederick Hawthorne Award in Main Group Inorganic Chemistry and hear lectures by several prominent chemists.

The keynote speakers honored at the symposium were Professor Karl Christe (University of Southern California, 2021 M. F. Hawthorne Award) and Professor Philip Power (University of California, Davis, 2022 M.F. Hawthorne Award).  Four symposium speakers also presented their research – Professor Ohyun Kwon (UCLA), Professor William J. Evans (University of California, Irvine), Professor R. Tom Baker (University of Ottawa), and Professor Alexandra Velian (University of Washington).  Hawthorne’s widow Diana Hawthorne attended the event.

A photo gallery from the event can be viewed here and select photos can be viewed below.

2022 Hawthorne Symposium speakers with Diana Hawthorne (center) – (from left) Prof. Alexandra Velian, Prof. Ohyun Kwon, Prof. William Evans, Prof. Tom Baker, and honorees Prof. Philip Power and Prof. Karl Christe.
Prof. Alex Spokoyny kicked the symposium off with welcoming remarks. The symposium was held in the new Yoo Conference Room in the Collaboratory.
At the reception following the lectures – the honored speakers Prof. Phillip Power with his laboratory alumni, and Prof. Karl Christe with Ph.D. students from the Diaconescu and Spokoyny Groups
(Left) Diana Hawthorne chats with graduate students at the reception. (Right) Former Ph.D. lab mates at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Prof. Alexandra Velian, Prof. Matthew Nava, and Prof. Paula Diaconescu.
(Left) Hawthorne laboratory Ph.D. alumni (from left): Dr. James Doi, Dr. Donna Speckman, Dr. David Schubert and Prof. Tom Baker, with Prof. Richard Kaner and Dean of Physical Sciences Prof. Miguel Garcia-Garibay. (Right) Prof. Charles Strouse and Dr. Jane Strouse.
Reception attendees gathered for a group photo in the Court of Sciences patio.

In addition to speaker presentations, a reception was held on the Court of Sciences patio during the break and after the symposium.

The 2022 Hawthorne Symposium honored the legacy of Professor M. Frederick Hawthorne (August 24, 1928 – July 8, 2021), whose career spanned over six decades of ground-breaking work in main group chemistry. A true chemistry pioneer, Hawthorne’s discovery of boron cluster structures paved the way in inorganic, organometallic, material, nanotechnology, and medicinal sciences. Hawthorne’s award-winning work in boron chemistry and his time as a distinguished Professor of Chemistry at UCLA, not only shaped and broadened the field, but also touched the lives of countless students, faculty, researchers, friends, staff, and family.

In 2020, in honor of such an outstanding legacy, the American Chemical Society established the “M. Frederick Hawthorne Award for Main Group Inorganic Chemistry” to recognize researchers who have made significant contributions to chemistry involving the elements of groups 1, 2, and 13-18 in the periodic table in keeping with the example provided by Hawthorne.

The 2022 M. Frederick Hawthorne Symposium is made possible by the Raymond and Dorothy Wilson Endowment.

Photos by Penny Jennings, UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, penny@chem.ucla.edu.