2025 Ullyot Public Affairs Lecture and Award: Sir David W. C. MacMillan

This lecture will first discuss the advent and development of asymmetric organocatalysis in the MacMillan Laboratory. It will also include the exploration of the concepts of chemical reactivity, catalysis, and the asymmetry of organic molecules, as well as the impact of organocatalysis on modern synthetic chemistry and the real-world applications of this technology. We will then look to the future and consider how organocatalysis may continue to influence scientific research and society. The second part of the talk will be a lighthearted discussion of the life-changing experience of becoming a Nobel Prize winner, and the ways in which this experience shapes your perspective of science and society.

As a courtesy to our awardee, our door policy stipulates that all guests must arrive before 7pm.

Sir David W. C. MacMillan was born in Bellshill, Scotland, and received his undergraduate degree in chemistry at the University of Glasgow, where he worked with Ernie Colvin. In 1990 he began his doctoral studies under the direction of Larry Overman at the University of California, Irvine, before undertaking a postdoctoral position with Dave Evans at Harvard University in 1996. He began his independent career at the University of California, Berkeley, in July of 1998 before moving to Caltech in 2000 as the Earle C. Anthony Chair of Organic Chemistry. In 2006 MacMillan joined Princeton University as the A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Chemistry. He served as department chair from 2010 to 2015 and is currently the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Chemistry and a Ludwig Distinguished Scholar.

MacMillan shares the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Benjamin List “for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis.” He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in July 2022. His research interests encompass a wide range of organic chemistry, including the development of new areas in organocatalysis and photoredox catalysis.

Endowed in 1990 by chemist Glenn Edgar Ullyot, this annual lecture seeks to emphasize to the general public the positive role the chemical and molecular sciences play in our daily lives. It is organized jointly with the Department of Chemistry and the Department of History and Sociology of Science at the University of Pennsylvania; the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of the Sciences; and the Philadelphia and Delaware sections of the American Chemical Society.

Header photo of Liberty Bowl by Rachael Balascak