Stephen L. Buchwald

Stephen L. Buchwald (born 1955) is an American chemist and the Camille Dreyfus Professor of Chemistry at MIT. He is known for his involvement in the development of the Buchwald-Hartwig amination and the discovery of the dialkylbiaryl phosphine ligand family for promoting this reaction and related transformations. He was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and as a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2000 and 2008, respectively.

Early life and education Stephen Buchwald was born in Bloomington, Indiana. He credits his "young and dynamic" high school chemistry teacher, William Lumbley, for infecting him with his enthusiasm.

In 1977 he received his Sc.B. from Brown University where he worked with Kathlyn A. Parker and David E. Cane as well as Gilbert Stork from Columbia University. In 1982 he received his Ph.D. from Harvard University working under Jeremy R. Knowles.

Career Buchwald was a postdoctoral fellow at Caltech with Robert H. Grubbs. In 1984, he joined MIT faculty as an assistant professor of chemistry. He was promoted to associate professor in 1989 and to Professor in 1993. He was named the Camille Dreyfus Professor in 1997. He has coauthored over 435 accepted academic publications and 47 accepted patents.

Notable awards Awards received by Buchwald include: 2014 – BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Basic Sciences 2015 – honorary doctorate, University of South Florida 2016 – William H. Nichols Medal 2019 – Wolf Prize in Chemistry 2019 – Roger Adams Award, American Chemical Society 2020 – Clarivate Citation Laureate