Robert Burns Woodward Biography, Age, Weight, Height, Friend, Like, Affairs, Favourite, Birthdate & Other

Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1965) Willard Gibbs Award (1967) Copley Medal (1978)

Robert Burns Woodward was a Nobel Prize winning American chemist known for his work on complex natural products. Brought up singlehandedly by his widowed mother, he studied extensively at home right from his childhood. His habit of extracurricular study almost made him lose his berth at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Ultimately, he earned both his bachelor and PhD degree from MIT in just four years.

His first work, synthesis of quinotoxine, was completed when he was just twenty-seven years old. Later, he worked mostly on determination of structure and synthesizing of different natural products. Until his death, he had around two hundred publications to his name, which encompassed the structural determination of complex natural products, syntheses of medicinal compounds, and his theories that linked quantum mechanics and organic chemistry.

One unique point of his strategy was that he maintained a close relation with industry, who often financed his projects. His achievements in the academic field were no less outstanding. He received 26 awards and 45 honorary degrees from established institutions. He also trained around 200 doctoral and postdoctoral students.