��������� Professor of Chemistry Stephen L. Buchwald has received the American Chemical Society Award in Organometallic Chemistry for developing and analyzing better ways for researchers to make pharmaceutical drugs, plastics and other products.
His discoveries include a set of processes for creating a useful but difficult-to-make chemical bond. That wasn't the goal when he started work 11 years ago. "In the beginning, we were trying to make a natural product of interest to cancer research," he said. His work has drawn the interest of pharmaceutical companies because of its usefulness in research on the central nervous system. It is also important for photocopy toner cartridges as well as light-emitting diodes, or LEDs.
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��������� Marvin L. Minsky, the Toshiba Professor of Media Arts and Sciences, has been selected as one of three recipients of the 2000 R.W. Wood Prize of the Optical Society of America. The award recognizes Professor Minsky and two others for "seminal contributions to confocal microscopy."
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��������� Paul M. Newberne, professor emeritus of nutritional pathology, has received the Princess Chulab-horn Gold Medal of Merit in Thailand. The award recognizes his contributions to the training and educational programs and the development of biological research programs of Mahidol University and the Princess Chulabhorn Research Institute. Professor New-berne's research has focused on carcinogenesis and cancer biology as influenced by dietary nutrients.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on April 5, 2000.
