Striving towards Excellence

-Karthik Gurumurthy

RIP, Gary Posner, a widely known chemist and member of the JHU  faculty for 47 years. He was 74. I was fortunate to know him during the time at Hopkins. His research focused on agents with anticancer properties, Vitamin D analogs for treating psoriasis, and antimalarial peroxides. He is perhaps best known for his pioneering research in organocopper chemistry, including his involvement in the development of the Corey-House-Posner-Whitesides reaction. He was the recipient of numerous awards and honors during his career, including being named Chemist of the Year in Maryland in 1987 by the American Chemical Society, the Brown University Award for Excellence in Vitamin D Research in 2004, the American Chemical Society Cope Senior Scholar Award in 2004, and the Novartis Chemistry Lectureship in 2005.