| 1 | Name: | Dr. Ronald Breslow | |
| Institution: | Columbia University | ||
| Year Elected: | 1980 | ||
| Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | ||
| Subdivision: | 102. Chemistry and Chemical Biochemistry | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Deceased | ||
| Birth Date: | 1931 | ||
| Death Date: | October 25, 2017 | ||
Ronald Breslow was born in Rahway, New Jersey in 1931. He received his undergraduate and graduate training at Harvard University, where he did his Ph.D. research with Professor R.B. Woodward. He then spent a year in Cambridge, England as a postdoctoral fellow with Lord Todd and came to Columbia University in 1956 as instructor in chemistry. He was the Samuel Latham Mitchill Professor of Chemistry at Columbia, one of twelve University Professors, and a former Chairman of the Department. Professor Breslow's research interests can be described generally as involving the design and synthesis of new molecules with interesting properties, and the study of these properties. Examples include the cyclopropenyl cation, the simplest aromatic system and the first aromatic compound prepared with other than six electrons in a ring. His work establishing the phenomenon of anti-aromaticity has involved the synthesis of novel molecules, as well as their study. Even in work on purely mechanistic questions, such as his discovery of the chemical mechanism used by thiamine (vitamin B-1) in biochemical reactions, the synthesis and study of novel molecules played an important role. Although he continued his interest in unusual conjugated systems, his major emphasis in later years was on the synthesis and study of molecules that imitate enzymatic reactions. This work has included the development of remote functionalization reactions and the development of artificial enzymes. He developed a new group of cytodifferentiating agents with potential use in cancer chemotherapy. He is the author of over 400 publications. Professor Breslow was a member of the National Academy of Sciences (Chairman of the Chemistry Division 1974-77), the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the European Academy of Science. He was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1980. He was on the editorial board of a number of scientific journals, and had held over 150 named and visiting professorships. His major scientific awards include the American Chemical Society Award in Pure Chemistry (1966), the Baekeland Medal (1969), the Harrison Howe Award (1974), the Remsen Prize (1977), the Richards Medal (1984), the Allan Day Award (1990) and the U.S. National Medal of Science (1991). He won the Welch Award in Chemistry in 2003 and the Willard Gibbs Award in 2004 and also received the Mark Van Doren Medal of Columbia University and the Columbia University Great Teacher Award. Dr. Breslow added the 2010 Perkin Medal and the 2014 American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal to his long list of awards. Ronald Breslow died October 25, 2017, at the age of 86. | |||