News Archive
Laura Ackerman chosen as finalist of the 2016 Reaxys PhD Prize
June 1, 2016
Congratulations to Laura Ackerman from the Weix group! She has been chosen as a finalist of the 2016 Reaxys PhD Prize. Since its launch in 2010, the Reaxys PhD Prize has aimed to recognize chemistry PhD students and recent graduates, fostering creativity in ground-breaking chemistry by identifying tomorrow’s chemistry leaders and empowering them to magnify the impact of their work.
Among nearly 450 applicants from around the globe, Laura was selected thanks to the remarkable originality, innovation, relevance and methodological rigor of her paper “Multimetallic Catalysed Cross-Coupling of Aryl Bromides with Aryl Triflates”. She is invited to present her work at the Reaxys Prize Symposium on September 22-23 in London, where the 3 Prize winners will be selected.”
Laura was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and grew up both in Berkeley, California and the island of Oahu. She received her BA from Claremont McKenna College in 2009, dual majoring in chemistry and religious studies, and studying abroad in Tokyo, Japan and Brighton, England. At Claremont she conducted research under the guidance of Professor Andrew W. Zanella and Professor Anna G. Wenzel, and later worked at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, learning from Professor David A. Vicic. In 2015 Laura obtained her PhD from the University of Rochester, studying multimetallic catalyzed cross coupling reactions with Professor Daniel J. Weix. She currently is Postdoctoral Fellow at Princeton University in the Doyle Research Group.
For more details on the Reaxys PhD Prize and the 45 finalists, you can visit: http://inspiringchemistry.reaxys.com/phdprize#finalists2016