On December 14，2016, at the happy time of the 15th anniversary of PKUSZ, for the invitation of professor Wu Yun-Dong (the dean of PKUSZ), professor K. C. Nicolaou from the Rice University, visted our school and brought us a wonderful talk, with the title “Total Synthesis of Natural and Designed Molecules of Biological and Medical Importance”. This “Nanyan Lecture” attracted more than 200 guests.
The lecture was host by professor Yang Zhen, the dean of SCBB. At the beginning, Professor Dai Wei-Ming gave a very kind introduction of K. C. Nicolaou. He spoke highly of the contribution of professor Nicolaou in organic chemistry and the education. After that, professor Nicolaou began his report. He firstly pointed out the importance of the total synthesis of natural product in the drug discovery. Furthermore, he illustrated this by the work of the total syntheses of the several superstar molecules (such as Calicheamicin γ1，CJ-16、264，Uncialamycin， CP-molecules、Taxol、Brevetoxin B ) in his group recently. In the discussion session, professor Nicolaou answered the questions put forwarded by the teachers and students.
Because this year is the 70 year-old of professor Nicolaou, as one of his students, the professor Dai Wei-Ming represented all the Chinese members of “KCN School” to give the celebration report “Learning from the Great Master and Soaring High into the Future of Chemical Synthesis” as the birthday gift for professor Nicolaou. In his report, he told an interesting story about the time when he studied in Nicolaou’s group.
At last, professor Yang Zhen summarized the lecture. He said that we all should learnt from professor K. C. Nicolaou. Moreover, he promised that our school will have more brilliant future.（Written by Wei Chen, Photoed by Peipei Li）
Introduction of Professor K. C. Nicolaou
K.C. Nicolaou was born on July 5, 1946, in Cyprus where he grew up and went to school until the age of 18. In 1964, he went to England where he spent two years learning English and preparing to enter the University. He studied chemistry at the University of London. (B.Sc., 1969, Bedford College; Ph.D. 1972, University College, with Professors F. Sondheimer and P.J. Garratt) In 1972, he moved to the United States and, after postdoctoral appointments at Columbia University (1972-1973, Professor T.J. Katz) and Harvard University (1973-1976, Professor E.J. Corey), he joined the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania where he rose through the ranks to become the Rhodes-Thompson Professor of Chemistry. In 1989, he accepted joint appointments at the University of California, San Diego, where he was Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, and The Scripps Research Institute where he was the Darlene Shiley Professor of Chemistry, and Chairman of the Department of Chemistry. In 1996, he was appointed Aline W. and L.S. Skaggs Professor of Chemical Biology in The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, The Scripps Research Institute. In May 2013, Dr. Nicolaou joined Rice University as the Harry C. and Olga K. Wiess Professor of Chemistry in the BioScience Research Collaborative. He serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of numerous scientific journals and is an advisor to several biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. K.C. Nicolaou's research interests include the chemistry, biology, and medicine of natural and designed molecules. The group's research activities are centered around the total synthesis of architecturally novel and biologically important natural products which serve as opportunities for discovery and invention of novel synthetic strategies, methods, and enabling technologies for biology and medicine. He is the author or co-author of more than 760 publications, 73 patents and 5 books.
