Gilbert Stork Papers, 1942-2011

Gilbert Stork was born in Belgium in 1921. His received his primary and secondary education in France, before moving to the United States and attending the University of Florida in Gainesville, where he earned his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. He went on to do his graduate work in organic chemistry at the University of Wisconsin, where he earned his PhD in 1945.

Stork worked for a year in the pharmaceutical industry before taking a position in the Chemistry Department at Harvard. Stork remained at Harvard until 1952 when he accepted a position in the Chemistry Department at Columbia University, where he would remain for the balance of his career. He became a full professor in 1955, was named the Eugene Higgins Professor of Chemistry in 1967, and attained the status of Professor Emeritus in 1993.

Professor Stork's work on organic chemistry focused on synthesis, including, notably, his achievement of the total synthesis of quinine. He invented a reagent to solve a specific problem in total synthesis, is known for including stereospecificity in synthetic designs. The Stork enamine synthesis is named in his honor.

Stork's many awards and honors include the American Chemical Society's Award in Pure Chemistry (1957), the American Chemical Society's Award for Creative Work in Synthetic Organic Chemistry (1967), the Arthur C. Cope Award (1980), the National Academy of Sciences Award in Chemical Sciences (1982), the National Medal of Science (1982), the Tetrahedron Prize (1985), the Roger Adams Award (1991), the Wolf Prize (1996), and the D.H. Barton Medal, Royal Society of Chemistry (2002).