Throughout the academic year many special lectures and symposia are sponsored by the chemistry department. Listed below are those affiliated with organic chemistry.
C. S. Marvel Lectures in Organic Chemistry
This lectureship is held annually to host internationally recognized senior researchers in the field of organic chemistry. Professor John D. Roberts of the California Institute of Technology was the inaugural Marvel Lecturer in 1982.
R. C. Fuson Visiting Professors
This visiting professorship is held annually to host young faculty members who have made significant contributions to their field of research. Professor Eiichi Nakamura of the Tokyo Institute of Technology was the inaugural Fuson Visiting Professor in 1990.
Frontiers in Organic Chemistry Symposium
This biennial fall symposium celebrates research at the frontiers of organic chemistry in the general areas of synthesis, bioorganic and materials chemistry. This unique symposium is organized by a committee of graduate students representing each organic chemistry research group. Graduate students serve as the hosts for the five speakers who are chosen after consultation with all organic chemistry students. The symposium has been sponsored since 2000 by R.W. Johnson Pharmaceutical Research Institute (now Janssen Pharmaceuticals).
Beak-Pines Organic Area Allerton Conference
The annual Beak-Pines Organic Area Allerton Conference is held at beautiful Allerton Park, an English-style estate located approximately 20 miles southwest of Champaign. At this conference one student from each organic chemistry research group presents his/her work in the old library of the Robert Allerton House. Two more students from each group present their work in the form of a poster. Lunch is enjoyed in the grand dining hall, and after lunch free time is used to wander through the more than 5,000 acres of forest and prairie along the Sangamon River. The park features formal English gardens and over 100 outdoor sculptures. At the end of the day, the Seemon Pines award is given to the most outstanding presentation.
Organic Reactions Lectureship Series
This biennial lectureship (initiated in 1989 by Organic Reactions, Inc.) recognizes the accomplishments of younger (under 40) synthetic organic chemists not residing in North America and is provided to the departments of the active Board of Editors. Organic Reactions (founded in 1942) is one of the landmark publications created by Roger Adams at Illinois.
Organic Syntheses Lectureship Series
This lectureship, sponsored by Organic Syntheses, Inc., is provided to the departments of the active Board of Editors of the publication. Organic Syntheses, the first landmark publication created by Roger Adams at Illinois, had its beginnings as Summer Preps Laboratories during World War I.
3M Lectures in Organic Chemistry
| 2024 | Craig Hawker (University of California, Santa Barbara) |
| 2022 | Dr. Mike Wendland (3M) Prof. Oren Scherman (University of Cambridge) |
| 2019 | Dr. Sean Smith (3M) Prof. Konrad Tiefenbacher (U of Basel) |
| 2018 | Dr. David Hays (3M) Prof. Bert Meijer (Eindhoven University of Technology) |
AbbVie Lectures in Organic Chemistry
(Originally Abbott)
Abbott Laboratories has generously sponsored this annual lecture series since 2007. The lectureship provides funds to invite internationally recognized researchers for a one-day mini-symposium that includes a lecture from an Abbott Laboratories scientist.
| 2023-2024 | Patrick Brady (AbbVie Laboratories) Daniele Leonori (RWTH Aachen University) |
| 2022-2023 | Dr. Ryan Phelan (AbbVie Laboratories) Prof. Stefan Matile (University of Geneva) |
| 2020-2021 | No Lecture |
| 2019-2020 | No Lecture |
| 2018-2019 | Dr. Brad Shotwell (AbbVie Laboratories) Prof. Cristina Nevado (University of Zurich) |
| 2017-2018 | Dr. Xueqing Wang (AbbVie Laboratories) Prof. Shu-Li You (Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry) |
| 2016-17 | Dr. Violeta L. Marin (AbbVie Laboratories) Prof. Gregory C. Fu (California Institute of Technology) |
| 2015-16 | Dr. Kristine E. Frank (AbbVie Laboratories) Prof. Jay S. Siegel (Tianjin University) |
| 2014-15 | Dr. Michael Schrimpf (AbbVie Laboratories) Prof. Kazuaki Ishihara (Nagoya University – Japan) |
| 2012-13 | Dr. John Randolph (Abbott Laboratories) Prof. John Vederas (University of Alberta) |
| 2011-12 | Dr. Philip Kym (Abbott Laboratories) Prof. Makoto Fujita (University of Tokyo) |
| 2010-11 | Dr. Dale Kempf (Abbott Laboratories) Prof. Ian Paterson (University of Cambridge) |
| 2008-09 | Dr. Yi-Yin Ku (Abbott Laboratories) Prof. Antonio Echavarren (Universidad Autonoma de Madrid) |
| 2007-08 | Prof. David B. Collum (Cornell University) |
Amgen Lectures in Organic Chemistry
| 2024 |
Dr. Carolyn Wei (Amgen) |
| 2022 |
Dr. Liang Zhang (Amgen) |
| 2020 | Dr. Kyle Quasdorf (Amgen) Prof. Jonathan Clayden (University of Bristol) |
| 2019 |
Dr. John Allen (Amgen-canceled due to weather) |
| 2017 | Dr. Matthew Beaver (Amgen) Prof. Greg Challis (University of Warwick) |
| 2017 | Dr. Ana Minatti (Amgen) Prof. Dirk Trauner (New York University) |
| 2015 | Dr. Sheng Cui (Amgen) Prof. David Milstein (Weizmann Institute of Science) |
Bristol-Myers Squibb Lectures in Organic Synthesis
Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) has generously sponsored this annual lecture series since 2001. The lectureship provides funds to invite internationally recognized researchers for a one-day mini-symposium that includes a lecture from a BMS scientist.
| 2023-2024 | Dr. Jennifer Riggs (Bristol-Myers Squibb) Paolo Melchiorre (University of Bologna) |
| 2022-2023 | Dr. Andrew Degnan (Bristol-Myers Squibb) Prof. Darren Dixon (University of Oxford) |
| 2020-2021 | No Lecture |
| 2019-2020 | Dr. Antonio Ramirez (Bristol-Myers Squibb) Prof. Michinori Suginome (Kyoto University) |
| 2018-2019 | Dr. Ryan Moslin (Bristol-Myers Squibb) Prof. Eric Meggers (Philipps-Universität Marburg) |
| 2017-2018 | Dr. Francisco González-Bobes (Bristol-Myers Squibb) Prof. Jan-E. Bӓckvall (Stockholm University) |
| 2016-17 | Dr. Bruce Ellsworth (Bristol-Myers Squibb) Prof. Stephen Buchwald (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) |
| 2015-16 | Dr. Adrian Ortiz (Bristol-Myers Squibb) Prof. Matthias Beller (Leibniz-Institute for Catalysis, Rostock) |
| 2014-15 | Dr. John Macor (Bristol-Myers Squibb) Prof. Dennis Hall (University of Alberta) |
| 2013-14 | Dr. Martin Eastgate (Bristol-Myers Squibb) Prof. David Spring (University of Cambridge) |
| 2012-13 (Spring) | Dr. Joel C. Barrish (Bristol-Myers Squibb) Prof. Ben Feringa (University of Groningen) |
| 2012-13 (Fall) | Dr. Rajendra Deshpande (Bristol-Myers Squibb) Prof. Benjamin Davis (University of Oxford) |
| 2010-11 | Dr. William R. Ewing (Bristol-Myers Squibb) Prof. Paul Knochel (Ludwig-Maximilians-University) |
| 2009-10 | Dr. David Kronenthal (Bristol-Myers Squibb) Prof. Andreas Pfaltz (University of Basel) |
| 2007-08 | Dr. Carl Decicco (Bristol-Myers Squibb) Prof. Dr. Peter Seeberger (ETH Zürich) |
| 2006-07 | Dr. Akin Davulcu (Bristol-Myers Squibb) Prof. Jonathan Ellman (University of California, Berkeley) |
| 2005-06 | Dr. Lawrence G. Hamann (Bristol-Myers Squibb) Prof. Amir H. Hoveyda (Boston College) |
| 2004-05 | Dr. Robert E. Waltermire (Bristol-Myers Squibb) Prof. Daniel Kahne (Harvard University) |
| 2003-04 | Dr. Lawrence B. Snyder (Bristol-Myers Squibb) Prof. André Charette (Université de Montréal) |
| 2002-03 | Dr. John W. Scott (Bristol-Myers Squibb) Prof. William R. Roush (University of Michigan) |
| 2001-02 | Dr. John J. Venit (Bristol-Myers Squibb) Prof. Mark Lautens (University of Toronto) |
Eli Lilly and Company Lectures in Organic Chemistry
Eli Lilly and Company has generously sponsored this annual lecture series since 2005. The lectureship provides funds to invite internationally recognized researchers in the field of organic chemistry.
| 2024-25 | Dr. Hannah Vonesh (Eli Lilly) Prof. Sofie Mousseaux (University of Toronto) |
| 2023-24 | Dr. Adriana Jemison (Eli Lilly) Prof. Hagen Bayley (University of Oxford) |
| 2022-23 | Dr. Alison Brewer (Eli Lilly) Prof. Yoshiaki Nakao (Kyoto University) |
| 2020-21 | Dr. Timothy D. White (Eli Lilly) |
| 2014-15 | Prof. James Morken (Boston College) |
| 2013-14 | Prof. Ilan Marek (Technion-Israel Institute of Technology) |
| 2012-13 | Prof. Gary Molander (University of Pennsylvania) |
| 2011-12 | Prof. Matthew S. Sigman (University of Utah) |
| 2009-10 | Prof. Herbert Waldmann (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology) |
| 2008-09 | Prof. Donald Hilvert (ETH Zürich) |
| 2007-08 | Prof. Scott J. Miller (Yale University) |
| 2005-06 | Dr. Louis Jungheim (Eli Lilly and Company) Prof. M. Reza Ghadiri (The Scripps Research Institute) |
Genentech Lectures in Organic Chemistry
| 2024 | Dr. Jack Terrett (Genentech) Bill Morandi (ETH Zurich) |
| 2022 | Dr. Jason Zbieg (Genentech) Prof. Eiji Yashima (Nagoya University) |
| 2019 | Dr. James Crawford (Genentech) Prof. Tomohisa Kuzuyama (University of Tokyo) |
| 2018 | Dr. Haiming Zhang (Genentech) Prof. Rubén Martín (Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia) |
J&J Innovative Medicine Lectures (formerly Janssen) in Organic Chemistry
| 2024 |
Dr. Riley Svec (J&J Innovative Medicine) |
| 2023 |
Dr. Iulia Strambeanu (Janssen) |
Merck Lectures in Organic Chemistry
| 2024 | Merck Rep TBD Franziska Schoenebeck (RWTH Aachen University) |
| 2023 | Dr. Manuel de Lera Ruiz (Merck) Prof. Masayuki Inoue (University of Tokyo) |
| 2022 | Dr. Dipannita Kalyani (Merck) Prof. Josep Cornella (Max Planck Institute) |
| 2021 | Dr. Greg Hughes (Merck) |
| 2018 | Dr. Doug Beshore (Merck) Prof. Seth Herzon (Yale University) |
| 2017 | Dr. John Limanto (Merck) Prof. Frank Glorius (University of Münster) |
Novartis Seminars in Organic Chemistry
Novartis has generously sponsored this annual lecture series since 2002. The lectureship provides funds to invite internationally recognized researchers for a one-day mini-symposium that includes a lecture from a Novartis scientist.
In 2003, the inaugural Novartis lecturer was Prof. Duilio Arigoni from the ETH Zürich.
| 2022-2023 | Dr. T. Brian Hurley (Novartis) Prof. Jason Chin (MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, University of Cambridge) |
| 2021-2022 | No Novartis representative Prof. Ruth Gschwind (University of Regensburg) |
| 2018-2019 | Dr. Duncan Shaw (Novartis) Prof. Janine Cossy (ESPCI ParisTech) |
| 2017-2018 | Dr. Nicola Smith (Novartis) Prof. Alois Fürstner (Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung) |
| 2015-16 | Dr. Christopher Brain (Novartis) Prof. Karl Gademann (University of Zürich) |
| 2014-15 | Dr. Stefan Peukert (Novartis) Prof. Helma Wennemers (ETH Zürich) |
| 2013-14 | Dr. Andrew Patterson (Novartis) Prof. Jeffrey Bode (ETH Zürich) |
| 2012-13 | Dr. Frédéric Zécri (Novartis) Prof. Guy Lloyd Jones (University of Bristol – United Kingdom) |
| 2011-12 | Dr. Bryan Yeung (Novartis) Prof. Motomu Kanai (University of Tokyo) |
| 2010-11 | Dr. Simon Bushell (Novartis) Prof. Takuzo Aida (University of Tokyo) |
| 2008-09 | Prof. Alanna Schepartz (Yale University) |
| 2004-05 | Prof. Hisashi Yamamoto (University of Chicago) |
| 2003-04 | Prof. Donna Blackmond (University of Hull) |
| 2002-03 | Prof. Duilio Arigoni (ETH Zürich) |
Sigma-Aldrich
| 2024 | Marisa Kozlowski, University of Pennsylvania |
| 2023 | Richmond Sarpong, University of California, Berkeley |
| 2022 | Tristan Lambert, Cornell University |
| 2020 | Todd Hyster, Princeton University |
| 2020 | Keary Engle, Scripps Research Institute |
| 2018 | Jeff Aube, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
| 2018 | Tom Rovis, Columbia University |
| 2016 | Mark Lauters, University of Toronto |
| 2015 | Timothy Jamison, Massachusetts Institute of Technology |