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James Flack Norris Award In Physical Organic Chemistry

Sponsored by the ACS Northeastern Section

by Glenn Hess
January 4, 2010 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 88, Issue 1

Baldwin
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Credit: Sally Ann Prasch
Credit: Sally Ann Prasch

The hallmark of John E. Baldwin's career in physical organic chemistry is his "willingness to apply complex mathematical methodologies to challenging kinetic problems and to utilize site-specific isotopic labeling to extract key mechanistic details," says colleague Phyllis A. Leber, a chemistry professor at Franklin & Marshall College.

A representative example, she says, is a 2005 study of 1-13C-2,2,3,3-d 4-cyclopropane, which showed that the cyclopropane rearrangement to propene takes place by way of both a trimethylene diradical (as expected) and a 1-propylidene singlet carbene reactive intermediate in a 9:1 ratio.

Baldwin, who is Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and the William Rand Kenan Jr. Professor of Science at Syracuse University, would deserve the Norris Award "based solely on the sheer volume of his publications, which number 236 to date, including one book and 10 review articles," Leber says. She notes that 40% of his publications have appeared in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

In addition to his outstanding research and teaching, "John has the perspective of a person with national stature who knows how world-class chemists and departments operate. In his gentle and collegial manner, John continues to be an intellectual leader on campus and around the world," Syracuse Graduate School Dean Ben Ware says. "The impact of his career on our chemistry department will continue for decades."

Baldwin, 72, tells C&EN that news of his selection came as a humbling surprise. "I was stunned when I got the call from the ACS president," he says. "I've gained enormously from interactions with other physical organic chemists and feel that I'm part of a shared enterprise even as I'm delighted to see my name added to the list of the prior awardees, real giants in the field. They have provided invaluable leadership and inspiration."

After earning a B.A. degree at Dartmouth College in 1959, Baldwin began doctoral studies in chemistry and physics at California Institute of Technology under the tutelage of John D. Roberts. Baldwin completed his Ph.D. in just three years and accepted a faculty position at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, which he held from 1962 to 1968. He then spent 16 years at the University of Oregon, five of which he was dean of the College of Arts & Sciences.

Since coming to Syracuse in 1984, Baldwin's research has been continuously supported by the National Science Foundation. "NSF funding allowed me to follow my basic research priorities for all of these years, for which I am extremely fortunate and thankful," Baldwin says. "Significant advances in chemistry over the past 25 years have enabled us to conceptualize and execute experiments pertinent to reaction mechanisms that would have been unimaginable earlier."

Other honors and awards garnered by Baldwin include a Daniel Webster National Fellowship, the Charles Lathrop Parsons Scholar Fellowship, an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, and a Senior U.S. Scientist Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

Baldwin will present the award address before the Division of Organic Chemistry.

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