I. M. Kolthoff Lectureship

Professor Izaak Mauritis Kolthoff holding a flask

Izaak Maurits Kolthoff was born on February 11, 1894, in Almelo, Holland. He died on March 4, 1993, in St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1911, he entered the University of Utrecht, Holland. He published his first paper on acid titrations in 1915. On the basis of his world-renowned reputation, he was invited to join the faculty of the University of Minnesota’s Department of Chemistry in 1927. By the time of his retirement from the University in 1962, he had published approximately 800 papers. He continued to publish approximately 150 more papers until his health failed. His research, covering approximately a dozen areas of chemistry, was recognized by many medals and memberships in learned societies throughout the world, including the National Academy of Sciences and the Nichols Medal of the American Chemical Society. Best known to the general public is his work on synthetic rubber. During World War II, the government established a comprehensive research program at major industrial companies and several universities, including Minnesota. Kolthoff quickly assembled a large research group and made major contributions to the program. Many of Kolthoff’s graduate students went on to successful careers in industry and academic life and, in turn, trained many more. In 1982, it was estimated that approximately 1,100 Ph.D. holders could trace their scientific roots to Kolthoff. When the American Chemical Society inaugurated an award for excellence in 1983, he was the first recipient.

Ben Garcia 2023 headshot

Spring 2024 Lecture

Professor Benjamin A. Garcia
Head of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics
Washington University

 

  • 2023: Cathleen Crudden, Queen's University (Lecture 1, Lecture 2, Lecture 3)
  • 2023: Luis A. Colón, SUNY Buffalo (Lecture 1, Lecture 2, Lecture 3)
  • 2022: Shelley Minteer, University of Utah (Lecture 1Lecture 2Lecture 3
  • 2022: Jonathan R. Nitschke, University of Cambridge, UK (Lecture 1, Lecture 2, Lecture 3)
  • 2021: Joseph Francisco, University of Pennsylvania (Lecture 1, Lecture 2)
  • 2021: Omar Yaghi, University of California, Berkeley (Lecture 1, Lecture 2, Lecture 3)
  • 2021: Timothy Swager, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Lecture 1, Lecture 2, Lecture 3)
  • 2020: Catherine Drennan, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • 2019: Graham Cooks, Purdue University
  • 2018: John Groves, Princeton
  • 2018: Carlos Bustamante, University of California, Berkeley
  • 2017: Cynthia Friend, Harvard University
  • 2016: Jim Mayer, Yale University
  • 2016: McLuckey Scott, Purdue University
  • 2015: Barbara Finlayson-Pitts, University of California Irvine
  • 2013: Mary Wirth, Purdue University
  • 2012: William Jorgensen, Yale University
  • 2012: Michael Graetzel, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
  • 2011: John Yates III, Scripps Research Institute
  • 2010: Richard Van Duyne, Northwestern University
  • 2010: Markus Antonietti, Max-Planck-Institut
  • 2009: Jeanne Pemberton, University of Arizona
  • 2009: Cathy Murphy, University of South Carolina
  • 2009: Joseph Hupp, Northwestern University, postponed
  • 2008: Joel M. Harris, University of Utah
  • 2008: Sir Richard Friend, University of Cambridge, UK
  • 2007: Richard Wolfenden, University of North Carolina
  • 2006: Henry S. White, University of Utah
  • 2006: Royce Murray, University of North Carolina
  • 2005: Barbara Imperiali, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • 2004: Paul Alivisatos, University of California, Berkeley
  • 2004: Richard Mathies, University of California, Berkeley
  • 2004: Charles Lieber, Harvard University
  • 2003: Geraldine Richmond, University of Oregon
  • 2003: Jacqueline Barton, California Institute of Technology
  • 2002: Rene Schwarzenbach, ETH, Zurich, Switzerland
  • 2002: John Bercaw, California Institute of Technology
  • 2001: Edward Yeung, Iowa State University
  • 2001: J. Mike White, University of Texas, Austin
  • 2000: David Tirrell, California Institute of Technology
  • 2000: Charles Knobler, University of California, Los Angeles
  • 1999: Geoffrey Ozin, University of Toronto
  • 1999: Alan Marshall, Florida State University
  • 1999: Joshua Jortner, Tel Aviv University
  • 1999: Brian Hoffman, Northwestern University
  • 1998: H.W. Spiess, Max-Planck-Institut fur Polymerforschung
  • 1998: Alan Fersht, University of Cambridge, UK
  • 1997: Ahmed H. Zewail, California Institute of Technology
  • 1997: Gregory A. Petsko, Brandeis University
  • 1997: Thomas Mallouk, Pennsylvania State University
  • 1996: Louis E. Brus, AT&T Bell Labs, Murray Hill, NJ
  • 1995: Stephen J. Lippard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • 1995: Roald Hoffman, Cornell University
  • 1995: Graham R. Fleming, University of Chicago
  • 1994: Harold Kroto, University of Sussex
  • 1994: David Chandler, University of California, Berkeley
  • 1994: Stephen J. Benkovic, Pennsylvania State University
  • 1993: Karl Wieghardt, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany
  • 1993: Robert H. Grubbs, California Institute of Technology
  • 1993: MaryeAnne Fox, University of Texas, Austin
  • 1992: Alexander Pines, University of California, Berkeley
  • 1992: G. Ertl, Fritz-Haber-Institut, Berlin
  • 1992: Peter Dervan, California Institute of Technology
  • 1991: Brian F.G. Johnson, University of Edinburgh, Scotland
  • 1991: Robin Hochstrasser, University of Pennsylvania
  • 1991: Robert Bergman, University of California, Berkeley
  • 1990: Richard E. Smalley, Rice University
  • 1990: Jack E. Baldwin, University of Oxford, England
  • 1989: Albert Weller, Max Planck Institute, Gottingen, West Germany
  • 1989: Tobin Marks, Northwestern University
  • 1989: Jeremy R. Knowles, Harvard University
  • 1988: Albert Eschenmoser, ETH, Zurich, Switzerland
  • 1988: Mostafa Amir El-Sayed, University of California, Los Angeles
  • 1988: Duilio Arigoni, ETH, Zurich, Switzerland
  • 1987: Barry Trost, University of Wisconsin, Madison
  • 1987: Gabor A. Somorjai, University of California, Berkeley
  • 1987: William Klemperer, Harvard University
  • 1986: Mark S. Wrighton, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • 1986: Orville Chapman, University of California, Los Angeles
  • 1985: George Parshall, E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Company
  • 1985: Jerrold Meinwald, Cornell University
  • 1984: George Whitesides, Harvard University
  • 1984: Aaron Kupperman, California Institute of Technology
  • 1984: Richard Dickerson, University of California, Los Angeles
  • 1983: Yuan T. Lee, University of California, Berkeley
  • 1983: John Brauman, Stanford University
  • 1983: Fred Anson, California Institute of Technology
  • 1982: J. Calvin Giddings, University of Utah
  • 1982: F.A. Cotton, Texas A&M University
  • 1982: J.L. Beauchamp, California Institute of Technology
  • 1981: Dieter Seebach, ETH, Zurich, Switzerland
  • 1981: R.A. Marcus, California Institute of Technology
  • 1981: Harry B. Gray, California Institute of Technology
  • 1980: Richard N. Zare, Stanford University
  • 1980: Frank H. Westheimer, Harvard University
  • 1980: Allen J. Bard, University of Texas, Austin
  • 1979: Jean-Marie Lehn, Université Louis Pasteur De Strasbourg, France