Nobel Prize winner and Chemistry Alumnus to visit department, receive honorary doctorate

Robert Grubbs, winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in chemistry, is scheduled to visit the Chemistry Department on Friday. Grubbs, who earned a master's degree in chemistry from UF in 1965, jointly received science's supreme honor for work that has revolutionized the plastics and pharmaceutical industries.

Grubbs’ achievement marks only the second time a University of Florida alumnus has been awarded a Nobel Prize. Grubbs will receive an honorary doctorate during the UF Graduate Degree Commencement Ceremony on Friday, at which he will also speak.

Grubbs, Richard R. Shrock of MIT and Yves Chauvin of the in Rueil-Malmaison, France, were cited specifically for the development of the metathesis method in organic synthesis. According to the Nobel citation, metathesis has already led to industrial and pharmaceutical methods that are more efficient and less wasteful, simpler, and more environmentally friendly. "This represents a great step forward for 'green chemistry,' reducing potentially hazardous waste through smarter production," the Royal Swedish Academy announced.

Researchers have recently begun using the process to try to develop new medicines for diseases including hepatitis C, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, arthritis and AIDS. ''Metathesis is thus an important weapon in the hunt for new pharmaceuticals for treating many of the world's major diseases,'' the Nobel committee said.

A native of Kentucky, Grubbs earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Florida. After completing his doctorate in chemistry at Columbia University, he spent a year at Stanford University as a postdoctoral fellow, and then joined the Michigan State University faculty in 1969. He moved to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in 1978 with full tenure as a professor, and has taught there since.