Amos Smith Wins Award from American Chemical Society

Amos B. Smith III has received the 2014 Paul G. Gassman Distinguished Service Award, sponsored by the Division of Organic Chemistry of the American Chemical Society (ACS). The award was established in 1994 to recognize outstanding service to the organic chemistry community. 

Smith is the William Warren Rhodes–Robert J. Thompson Professor of Chemistry at Penn. His research focuses on three principal areas: development of innovative synthetic methods with wide application, demonstration of the utility of these synthetic tactics for the rapid construction of complex natural and unnatural products with significant bio-regulatory properties, and novel bio-organic/medicinal chemistry programs. In each area, he and his collaborators exploit the power of organic synthesis to improve human health.

To date, more than 90 architecturally complex natural products have been prepared in the Smith laboratory. Completed and ongoing collaborations have contributed to the development of small-molecule probes for neurodegenerative diseases, bioavailable HIV-1 protease inhibitors, and small molecule inhibitors of the HIV cell entry process.

Smith is the recipient of dozens of awards, most recently the William H. Nichols Medal by the New York Section of the ACS. To date, 16 recipients of the Nichols Medal have also received the Nobel Prize.  

He was founding editor-in-chief of Organic Letters and has been on the editorial boards of many other journals. To date Smith’s research has been reported in more than 500 peer-reviewed publications.

The world’s largest scientific society, ACS represents professionals at all degree levels and in all fields of chemistry and sciences that involve chemistry.