Professor Neil Garg has been awarded the EJ Corey award by the American Chemical Society (ACS) for his outstanding original contribution in organic synthesis.
Since 2004, the society has honored young investigators with the award which is sponsored by the Pfizer Endowment Fund.
Garg will be honored at the awards ceremony during the ACS national meeting on April 4, 2017 in San Francisco.
Garg is the first UCLA faculty member to win the prestigious award. Previous winners are Phil S. Baran, Jin-Quan Yu, Martin D. Burke, Jeffrey S. Johnson, Jeffrey W. Bode, Mohammad Movassaghi, Brian M. Stolz, F. Dean Toste, Michael J. Krische, Justin Du Bois, David W.C. MacMillan and Gregory C. Fu.
The award is named for Harvard professor emeritus and Nobel Laureate Elias James “E.J.” Corey, an American organic chemist regarded by many to be one of the greatest living chemists.
To learn more about Garg’s research, visit his group’s website.
From UCLA Newsroom (by Stuart Wolpert)
Neil Garg wins award for outstanding original contribution in organic synthesis
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Neil Garg, professor and vice chair for education in the UCLA Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, has been selected by the American Chemical Society as the recipient for 2017 of the EJ Corey Award for outstanding original contribution in organic synthesis by a young investigator, an award sponsored by the Pfizer Endowment Fund. Garg will be honored at the awards ceremony during the society’s national meeting on April 4, 2017 in San Francisco.
Garg’s award-winning research spans the discovery of new chemical reactions, the understanding of how organic molecules react and the chemical synthesis of biologically important molecules that may ultimately benefit human health. His research group develops new chemical transformations that enable the synthesis of important organic molecules, such as pharmaceuticals and bioactive molecules found in nature that are often referred to as “natural products.” His laboratory develops synthetic strategies and methods to synthesize such molecules.
The recipient of numerous awards and honors for his research and teaching, Garg was selected as the 2015 Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching California Professor of the Year. The U.S. Professors of the Year program honors the most outstanding undergraduate instructors in the country, who are extraordinary teachers and positively influence the lives and careers of their students. Among his other honors are a 2016 Guggenheim Fellowship, the Royal Society of Chemistry’s 2016 Merck Award, the 2016 Thieme-IUPAC Prize, the 2015 Gold Shield Faculty Prize, the 2016 Mitsui Chemicals Catalysis Science Award of Encouragement, UCLA’s prestigious 2014 Eby Award for the Art of Teaching and UCLA’s 2012-2013 BruinWalk.com’s Professor of the Year.
In his teaching, Garg emphasizes the creativity and problem-solving that organic chemistry requires, and its relevance in students’ lives. He teaches an extremely popular organic chemistry course that is arguably UCLA’s most beloved class. He shared his teaching secrets in this 20-minute TEDxUCLA talk.
Garg enlivens student learning with interactive online tutorials combining real-life examples of organic chemistry, human health and popular culture. One tutorial noted that the popular pain reliever Tylenol, taken by more than 100 million people annually, can cause liver damage if overused, a result of oxidation and change in functional groups. Another focused on chemical agents used in cosmetics, food additives and pharmaceuticals. Garg is now expanding these interactive online tutorials to students and educators worldwide.
Photo of Garg at TEDxUCLA talk by Jesse Herring
