Pedler Award 2009 winner

Awarded for his design of multi-component processes and their application to the stereoselective synthesis of complex natural products.

Professor Evans delivered his lecture at the Catalysis in Synthesis Symposium at the University of Birmingham on 11 November 2009, at which he also received his medal and certificate.

About the winner

Professor P. Andrew Evans is the Heath Harrison Chair of Organic Chemistry at the University of Liverpool. He was born in Llangollen, Wales and gained a first class honours degree at Newcastle Polytechnic, before carrying out his PhD studies at University of Cambridge under the supervision of Professor Andrew Holmes on aza-Claisen rearrangements.

He did his postdoctoral studies at the University of Texas at Austin as a NATO Postdoctoral Fellow, working with Philip Magnus on some new aspects of silyl enol ether chemistry. In 1993, he joined the faculty at the University of Delaware as an Assistant Professor and rapidly promoted through the ranks to Professor of Chemistry in May 2000. He then moved to Indiana University in January 2001 prior to taking up his current position at Liverpool in July 2006.  

Professor Evans has published close to 100 articles in leading peer-reviewed international journals and recently completed work as the editor of a book, entitled Modern Rhodium-Catalysed Organic Reactions.

His accomplishments have been recognised with several awards and honours, including the Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award, the Pfizer Award for Creativity in Organic Chemistry, the Johnson and Johnson Focused Giving Award, the Novartis Pharmaceuticals Academic Achievement Award, the GlaxoWellcome Chemistry Scholar Award, the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, the Eli Lilly Grantee Award and the Zeneca Pharmaceuticals Excellence in Chemistry Award.

He has also delivered over 375 plenary or invited lectures at high profile national and international conferences, symposia, universities, research institutes and companies.