Scots Nobel Prize winner and College Honorary Fellow Professor Sir David MacMillan is set to give the inaugural 425th Anniversary Leadership Lecture at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow this week.
The lecture, ‘Pathways in discovery and in life: from Bellshill to the US to the Nobel Prize’, will take place at the College on Thursday 3 April.
Sir David’s work has enhanced the power of organic chemistry to benefit human health. As a faculty leader at Princeton University, he has worked with colleagues to build his department of chemistry into one of the world’s best.
The Royal College’s 425th Anniversary Leadership Lectures series has been developed to inspire the healthcare leaders of today and tomorrow.
In the lecture he will share his personal insights on what it takes to be successful, including how to overcome challenges and become an inspiring and motivating leader.
"We’re thrilled to welcome Sir David to deliver the first lecture in this series. He is a true innovator who embodies what it means to be an amazing leader in his field. To be joined by someone who started such an incredible journey here in Glasgow is a great pleasure."
Sir David was born in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, and received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from the University of Glasgow. In 1990, he began his doctoral studies at the University of California, Irvine, before undertaking a postdoctoral position at Harvard University in 1996.
In 2006, he moved to Princeton University as the A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Chemistry. He served as Department Chair from 2010–2015 and is currently the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Chemistry.
Sir David is the recipient of numerous international awards, including the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry he shares with Professor Benjamin List for their development of a precise new tool for molecular construction: asymmetric organocatalysis.
Organocatalysts, made from organic, carbon-based molecules, are greener than traditional metal catalysts, which tend to be rare and expensive, and are often toxic enough to require safety gear to use. With organocatalysis, these biodegradable and benign molecules are used to construct new drugs and materials. The impact is immeasurable, reaching from industrial applications to pharmaceuticals to everyday products like clothing, shampoo, carpet fibres and more.
A number of reactions and catalysts developed in his labs have been employed throughout the pharmaceutical, agrichemical, and fragrance industries.
As Founder and Director of the Princeton Catalysis Initiative, he has worked to secure external funding for numerous collaborative faculty/industry partnerships, and has signed agreements to conduct collaborative research with companies including Merck, Pfizer, Bristol Myers Squibb, Janssen, Genentech and GenMab.
He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Boards of Firmenich, Rapport Therapeutics, and Isomorphic Labs, and a permanent member of the RSRC board at Merck Research Laboratories. He is a co-founder of companies focused on new strategies and screening techniques for identifying drug-like molecules.
Sir David was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in July 2022 and by King Charles III at Buckingham Palace in February 2023 for his services to science and chemistry.