Eric N. Jacobsen
Sheldon Emery Professor of Chemistry

Harvard University
Department of Chemistry, 12 Oxford Street
Cambridge, MA 02138

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Mechanistic and synthetic chemistry. Development of new methods for organic synthesis, with particular emphasis on asymmetric catalysis. Physical-organic studies of reactivity and recognition phenomena in homogeneous catalysis. Stereoselective synthesis of natural products.

EMPLOYMENT

1993-present: Harvard University
Professor (July 1993-June 2001)
Sheldon Emery Professor of Chemistry (July 2001-present)
1988-1993: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Associate Professor (September 1991-June 1993)
Assistant Professor (June 1988-September 1991)

CONSULTING (Current positions)

Sepracor, Marlboro, MA, since 1990 (consultant)
Merck, Rahway, NJ, since 1994 (consultant)
PTC Therapeutics, South Plainfield, NJ, since 2001 (SAB member)
Amgen, Thousand Oaks, CA, since 2003 (consultant)
NIH General Medical Sciences Council Member 2004-present
Member, Editorial Board: Advanced Synthesis and Catalysis, Science of Synthesis
Editorial Advisory Board: Journal of Organic Chemistry, Synthesis, Synlett, Organic Letters, Journal of Combinatorial Chemistry, Journal of Molecular Catalysis, Current Opinion in Drug Discovery & Development, Chemistry: An Asian Journal

EDUCATION

1986-1988: National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellow
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Research advisor: Professor K. Barry Sharpless
Development of the osmium-catalyzed asymmetric dihydroxylation reaction.

1982-1986: University of California, Berkeley, California.
Degree awarded: Ph.D.
Research advisor: Professor Robert G. Bergman
Thesis title: Synthesis and Reactions of Dinuclear Transition Metal Complexes Containing Bridging Ligands Relevant to Heterogeneous Catalysis.

1978-1982: New York University, New York, New York.
Degree awarded: B.S. in Chemistry
Research advisor (1981-1982): Professor Yorke E. Rhodes

AWARDS AND HONORS

• Mitsui Catalysis Award (2005)
• Elected Member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences (as of 2004)
• AIC Chemical Pioneer Award (2004)
• NIH General Medical Sciences Council Member (2003-present)
• Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Prize (2003)
• NIH Merit Award (2002)
• ACS Award for Creative Work in Organic Synthesis (2001)
• NIH Medicinal Chemistry Study Section Permanent Member (1996-2000)
• Baekeland Award (1999)
• Piero Pino Prize (1999)
• Van’t Hoff Prize (1998)
• Harvard College Professorship (1998-2003)
• Fellow of American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1997)
• Thieme-IUPAC Award in Synthetic Organic Chemistry (1996)
• Fluka Prize “Reagent of the Year” (1994)
• Arthur C. Cope Scholar (1994)
• Zeneca Chemistry Award (1993)
• Pfizer Young Faculty Award for Synthetic Organic Chemistry (1993)
• University of Illinois Scholar (1992)
• Cyanamid Young Faculty Award (1992)
• Camile and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award (1992)
• A. P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship (1992)
• Union Carbide Innovation Award (1992)
• Merck Faculty Development Award (1991)
• Eli Lilly Grantee (1991)
• Packard Fellowship (1991)
• Beckman Fellow (1991)
• NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award (1990)
• UIUC List of Teachers Ranked as Outstanding by Their Students (5 semesters, 1989-1993)
• University of Illinois School of Chemical Sciences Teaching Award (1989)
• National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellowship (1986-88)
• University of California Regents Fellowship (1984, 1985)
• New York University Chemistry Alumni Award (1982)
• George Granger Brown Award (1981)
• New York State Regents Scholarship Award (1978-82)

Plenary and Named Lectureships

American Chemical Society National Meeting Plenary Lecture, New York, NY, August 26, 1991.
Scripps Research Institute, "Frontiers of Science", La Jolla, CA, February 21, 1992.
Philadelphia Chemists Club Lectureship, Philadelphia, PA, February 27, 1992.
Harvard University "Merck Centennial Lectureship", Cambridge, MA, June 1, 1992.
New York Academy of Sciences Lecturer, New York, NY, November 10, 1992.
IIIme Cycle Lecturer (Neuchâtel, Bern, Geneva), Switzerland, May 13-19, 1993.
Zeneca Pharmaceuticals "Excellence in Chemistry Address", Wilmington, DE, October 21, 1993.
SUNY Stony Brook, Schering-Plough Lecturer, Stony Brook, NY, April 14, 1994.
Rhône-Poulenc Roher "Visions in Science", May 3, 1994.
Dartmouth University "Dartmouth Lecture", Hanover, NH, May 11, 1995.
Hope College 1995 Distinguished Scholar, Holland, MI, June 9, 1995.
Merck-Lecturer, University of Geneva, University of Basel and University of Zurich, June 21-26, 1996.
Thieme-IUPAC Prize Award Lecture, 11th International Conference on Organic Synthesis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, July 2, 1996.
Merck-Frosst Lectureship, University of Ottawa, September 9, 1996.
Merck, Frosst, Sharp & Dohme Lecturer, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, November 18-19, 1996.
Myron L. & Muriel S. Bender Lectureship, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL,
August 11-13, 1997.
Ziegler Lectureship, Max Planck Institute, Muelheim, Germany, December 1-5, 1997.
Van’t Hoff Prize Lecture, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, November 30, 1998.
Piero Pino Prize Lecture, Naxos, Italy, September 1, 1999.
Baekeland Award Lecture, ACS North Jersey Regional Section, Madison, NJ, October 26, 1999.
Beckman Lecture, Caltech, Pasadena, CA, January 19, 2000.
Dowd Lectures, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, March 9-10, 2000.
Phillips Lectures, Haverford College, Haverford, PA, April 5-6, 2000.
McElvain Lecture, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, December 5, 2000.
Calvin Lecture, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, December 6, 2000.
Creativity in Organic Synthesis Award Lecture, ACS Meeting, San Diego, April 2, 2001.
Wyeth-Ayerst Award Lectureship, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, November 1, 2001.
1st BMS Lectureship, Caltech, Pasadena, CA, January 28-February 17, 2002.
Lilly Grantee Symposium Alumni Lecturer, Eli Lilly, Indianapolis, IN, March 4, 2002.
BMS Lectureship, Columbia University, New York, NY, April 18, 2002.
Case Western Reserve University “Frontier of Science” Lecturer, September 5, 2002.
1st BMS Lectureship, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, March 19, 2003.
Carl Shipp Marvel Lectureship, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, April 9-10, 2003.
Cliff Hamilton Award Lectures, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, April 17-18, 2003.
Stieglitz Lecture, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, May 5, 2003.
Organic Synthesis Lecture, Carleton College, Northfield, MN, May 9, 2003.
Ruzicka Lecture, ETH, Zurich, June 30-July 1, 2003.
BMS Lectureship, University of California, Berkeley, CA, March 16, 2004.
Abbott Lectureship, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, April 23, 2004.
Eli Lilly Lectureship, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, May 27, 2004. Pfizer Symposium, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, September 15, 2004.
Dawson Lecture, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, September 30, 2004.
Eisai Lecture, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada, February 2, 2005.
Bachmann Lectures, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, March 2-3, 2005.
Derome Lectures, Oxford University, Oxford, UK, April 27-28, 2005.
Gordon Hodgson Lecture, Glaxo SmithKline, Research Triangle Park, NC, October 10, 2005.
Ernest Campaigne Lecture, Indiana University, October 19, 2005.
Merck Lectures, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK, June 27-30, 2006.
MIT Wyeth Lectureship, Cambridge, MA, October 17 and 24, 2006.

PERSONAL

Born February 22, 1960, New York, N.Y. Married to Virginia on May 17, 1997. Three daughters (Adriana, Isabel, and Emilia)