Gooch-Stephens Lecture To Celebrate 38th Year with Leading Nano Researcher

Baylor University's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry will welcome Sir J. Fraser Stoddart, board of trustees professor of chemistry at Northwestern University, as the lecturer for its annual Gooch-Stephens Lectures Series March 6-7, in room B.110 of the Baylor Science Building on the Baylor campus. The lectures are free and open to the public.

At the March 6 lecture, which starts at 8 p.m., the topic will be "Mingling Art with Science." "My presentation will draw attention to how art in its many different guises has fashioned my chemistry in its numerous diverse shapes and forms over the years," Sir Fraser said.

On March 7 at 4 p.m., Sir Fraser will discuss "Chemistry and Molecular Nanotechnology in Tomorrow's World," which will highlight how the concepts of molecular recognition and self-assembly have been pursued actively during the production of two families of redox-controllable mechanically interlocked molecules.

Born in Scotland, Stoddart obtained his bachelor's and his doctorate from Edinburgh University. One of his major contributions has been creating a new field of organic chemistry in which the mechanical bond is a pre-eminent feature of molecular compounds. Stoddart has pioneered the use of mechanically-interlocked molecular architectures to create nanomechanical systems.

He was appointed a Knight Bachelor by Queen Elizabeth II in 2007 for his services to chemistry and molecular nanotechnology. He also received the Albert Einstein World Award in Science and the American Chemical Society's Arthur C. Cope Award.

An accomplished researcher and lecturer, four of his 800 publications have been cited more than 500 times. He is ranked by the Institute for Scientific Information as the third most cited chemist with a total of 14,038 citations from 304 papers.

The Gooch-Stephens Lecture Series was established as a permanent annual event in recognition of the contributions of two longtime, highly respected chemistry professors and former department chairmen, Dr. W. T. Gooch and Dr. W. R Stephens.

For more information, contact the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at (254) 710-3311.