| 1 | Name: | Dr. David A. Tirrell | |
| Institution: | California Institute of Technology | ||
| Year Elected: | 2019 | ||
| Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | ||
| Subdivision: | 103. Engineering | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Living | ||
| Birth Date: | 1953 | ||
David A. Tirrell is the Ross McCollum-William H. Corcoran Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Carl and Shirley Larson Provostial Chair, and Provost at the California Institute of Technology. Tirrell was educated at MIT and at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He joined the Department of Chemistry at Carnegie-Mellon University as an assistant professor in 1978, returned to Amherst in 1984, and served as Director of the Materials Research Laboratory at UMass before moving to Caltech in 1998. He served as chairman of the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from 1999 until 2009, and as Director of the Beckman Institute from 2011 until 2018. Tirrell’s research interests lie in macromolecular chemistry and in the use of non-canonical amino acids to engineer and probe protein behavior. His contributions to these fields have been recognized by his election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and to all three branches (Sciences, Engineering and Medicine) of the U.S. National Academies. | |||