Appointments

Boeckman Named First Gates Chair

Robert Boeckman Jr., professor of chemistry and chair of the department, has been named the University’s first Marshall D. Gates Jr. Professor of Chemistry.

The new chair is named in honor of the pioneering chemist who first discovered how to synthesize morphine in a laboratory. Gates, who was the C. F. Houghton Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, died October 1.Boeckman has devoted his research career to developing new tools that pharmaceutical companies can use in the discovery and development of new drugs.

Boeckman came to the University in 1980 from Wayne State University, where he was a chemistry professor. He has coauthored more than 120 research papers and book chapters, principally in the area of synthetic organic chemistry.