John L. Wood

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The 2002 Arthur Fry Lecture Series will feature Professor John L. Wood of Yale University, who will offer a seminar titled "Bridged Polycyclic Natural Products--Inspirational Targets for Synthesis" on Monday, November 11 at 3:30 p.m. in CHEM 113.

In his research, Wood focuses on designing innovative solutions to problems in natural product synthesis. In choosing targets for synthesis, Wood mimics biological processes in an attempt to create molecules for biomedical use or for use as building blocks to create new materials.

Wood has received numerous awards, including the NSF CAREER Award, the Eli Lilly Young Faculty Award, a Glaxo-Wellcome Chemistry Scholar Award, a Bristol-Myers Squibb Research Award, the Zeneca Excellence in Chemistry Award, a Merck Faculty Award, and The Kitasato Institute’s Microbial Chemistry Medal.

After receiving an undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado, Wood earned his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. In 1991, he joined Harvard University as an American Cancer Society postdoctoral fellow and continued studying natural products synthesis in the laboratories of Stuart Schreiber. Wood joined the faculty at Yale University in 1993 as assistant professor and was promoted to full professor in 1998.

Arthur Fry

The Arthur Fry Lecture Series is made possible by a generous donation from UA alumni Dr. Ves and Holly Childs to honor University Professor Emeritus Art Fry’s accomplishments in research, teaching, and mentoring, as well as his many years of unselfish devotion to the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

After Fry received a bachelor’s degree from Montana State University, he worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory for two years following his service in the Navy during World War II. Fry received his doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley, working with Nobel Laureate Melvin Calvin.

In 1951, Fry joined the Chemistry Department and played a major role in establishing the department’s doctoral program that same year. He continued to provide leadership to the department for 40 years, serving two terms as department chair from 1956 to 1957 and from 1964 to 1967. In 1984, Fry became one of the first University Professors at the U of A. After retiring in 1991, he has continued to be active in department affairs. He was awarded the American Chemical Society Southwest Region Chemist Award in 1985.

His pioneering research earned him worldwide recognition as the "father of heavy atom isotope effects in elucidating the mechanisms of organic reactions."

An Arkansas native, Ves Childs obtained an undergraduate degree from Southern Arkansas University and a doctorate degree in Chemistry from the University of Arkansas in 1962.

Holly Childs holds undergraduate degrees in mathematics and chemistry from the University of Arkansas and a graduate degree in Chemical Engineering from Tulsa University. The Childs, who recently retired from research positions at the 3M Corporation, were honored as distinguished alumni of Fulbright College in 1999-2000.