Main navigation | Main content
Professor Hisashi Yamamoto from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Chicago is the featured lecturer for the Gassman Lectureship in Chemistry, from Monday, April 25, through Thursday, April 28.
In addition to visiting with students and faculty members, Professor Yamamoto will present three lectures: #1 Rapid Synthesis of Polyketides, 3:45 p.m. Monday, April 25, 100 Smith Hall, with a reception following in 117/119 Smith Hall; #2 Designer Lewis and Brønsted Acid Catalysts, 9:45 a.m. Tuesday, April 26, 331 Smith Hall; #3 Asymmetric Oxidation, 9:45 a.m. Thursday, April 28, 331 Smith Hall. For additional information about this seminars, download an abstract from the Department of Chemistry web page.
Professor Yamamoto has been a professor at the University of Chicago since 2002, and previously was a professor at Nagoya University in Japan, the University of Hawaii, and Kyoto University in Japan. He earned his bachelor's degree from Kyoto University, and his doctorate from Harvard University. During the past 30 years of his research, Professor Yamamoto has had a tremendous impact on the field of organic chemistry through his reports of dramatic new advances in organic synthesis. He has uncovered novel aspects of Lewis and Brønsted acid catalysts in selective organic synthesis, and his research in the area of organoaluminum chemistry has had a great impact on synthetic organic chemistry. He has developed new asymmetric oxidation processes based on an acid catalysis concept. His nitroso chemistry offers an entirely new access to selective organic synthesis and provides catalytic enantioselective reaction to introduce oxygen and/or nitrogen into the molecule. To read more about the accomplishments of this world-renowned professor, visit his website.
The Gassman Lectureship in Chemistry honors the legacy of Regents Professor Paul G. Gassman. He was internationally known in the chemical community, and died in April 1993, at the age of 57. He left behind a legacy of achievement. During his career, he served as mentor and adviser to 85 doctoral and master’s candidates as well as dozens of postdoctoral associates and undergraduate students. Numerous awards, honors, and honorary degrees were bestowed in recognition of his contributions to research and his service to the scientific, professional, and university communities. Some of these awards include election to the National Academy of Sciences (1989) and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1992), the James Flack Norris Award in Physical Organic Chemistry (1985), Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award (1986), and the National Catalyst Award of the Chemical Manufacturers Association (1990). He served as president of the American Chemical Society in 1990. He was co-chair of the organizing committees of the National Organic Symposium (1991) and the National Conferences on Undergraduate Research meeting (1992), on the University of Minnesota campus. It was his wish that a lectureship be established to bring distinguished organic chemists to the Department of Chemistry.