Blatt Chemistry Seminar Endowment
Type
Lecture FundYear Established
1985Purpose
To enlighten the public about various chemistry-related topics (GF000133)Description
The A.H. Blatt Seminar Endowment honors Dr. Blatt's contributions to chemistry and to Florida Tech and was funded by Organic Syntheses, Inc. and University Professor Gordon L. Nelson.
History
Professor A. Harold Blatt was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1926. After holding postdoctoral positions in France and the United States, he accepted a position as associate professor of chemistry at Howard University in 1932. In 1939 he became professor and department head in the chemistry department at Queen's College, City University of New York. He retired from Queen's College in 1971, and later moved to Melbourne, Florida in 1974. Blatt was instrumental in establishing the chemistry department at Florida Institute of Technology.
Blatt was an active research chemist, publishing nearly 50 articles, many on the chemistry of oximes. He edited Collective Volume 2 of Organic Syntheses and served on the board of directors of Organic Syntheses and on the editorial board of Organic Reactions. He also co-authored a widely used classic text: The Chemistry of Organic Compounds (with J.B. Conant).
In the midst of a busy, yet diverse career, Blatt interrupted his academic pursuits to serve as a science liaison officer with the US Forces in Europe. As an explosives expert, he often had to visit recently captured German explosives plants near the front lines in World War II. Blatt was awarded the Presidential Certificate of Merit in 1948 for his war-time service.
Below are the 16 A.H. Blatt Distinguished Lecture speakers from 1985-2016.
1985-1986 - Total Synthesis of Antitumor, Antibiotic, and Antifungal Agents by Prof. Steven D. Burke - University of South Carolina
1986-1987 - Some Excursions into Organic Sulfur Chemistry by Prof. Michael P. Cava - University of Alabama
1987-1988 - Recent Advances in Cycloaddition Chemistry by Prof. Albert Padwa - Emory University
1988-1989 - Enzyme Models and Mimics by Prof. Ronald Breslow - Columbia University
1989-1990 - Application of the Chemistry of Vicinal Tricarbonyl Compounds by Prof. Harry Wasserman - Yale University
1990-1991 - How to Win a Nobel Prize - A Personal Case History by Sir Derek H. Barton - Texas A&M University
1991-1992 - Cantor's Dilemma: A Fictional View of Ethics, Mentors, and Women in Science by Prof. Carl Djerassi - Stanford University
1992-1993 - Substituent Effects in Organic Chemistry by Prof. Kenneth B. Wiberg - Yale University
1993-1994 - Sequence Specific Recognition of Double Helical DNA and RNA by Prof. Peter B. Dervan - Cal Tech
1994-1995 - Concerted Organometallic Reactions by Prof. Charles P. Casey - University of Wisconsin
1996-1997 - Photochemistry Within Self-Assembled Monolayers: A New Method for Imaging by Prof. Marye Anne Fox - University of Texas
1997-1998 - Modern Catalytic Methods for Organic Synthesis with Diazo Compounds by Prof. Michael P. Doyle - University of Arizona
2002-2003 - Lessons from Nature by Prof. Koji Nakanishi - Columbia University
2007-2008 - Recent Work on the Synthesis of Peptides and Peptide Conj. by Prof. Alan R. Katritzky - University of Florida
2012-2013 - Design and Applications of Selective Catalysts for Olefin Metathesis by Prof. Robert H. Grubbs - Cal Tech
2015-2016 - Complex Natural Products as a Driving Force for Discovery in Organic Chemistry by Prof. Brian M. Stolz - Cal Tech