John A. Gladysz, an organometallic chemist, is a Distinguished Professor and holds the Dow Chair in Chemical Invention at Texas A&M University. Professor Gladysz is a native of the Kalamazoo, Michigan area. He obtained his B.S. degree from the University of Michigan (1971) and his Ph.D. degree from Stanford University (1974). He subsequently held faculty positions at UCLA (1974-1982) and the University of Utah (1982-1998). He then accepted the Chair of Organic Chemistry at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany. In 2008, he returned to North America as a distinguished professor and holder of the Dow Chair in Chemical Invention at Texas A&M University.
Early life Gladysz was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on August 13, 1952, and grew up in the small community of Galesburg between Kalamazoo and Battle Creek.
Education Gladysz completed four semesters at Western Michigan University. He then transferred to the University of Michigan, where during his first semester, he took honors organic chemistry from Prof. Daniel Longone. During the next semester, he began a research project involving cyclophanes. He then enrolled in or audited graduate courses and seminars. He continued research with Prof. Longone for two months after graduating (BS Chem) in April 1971, and then headed west to Stanford University, where he immediately joined the research group of Prof. E. E. van Tamelen Prof. van Tamelen had a long-standing interest in nitrogen fixation, and Prof. Gladysz undertook two projects for his Ph.D. dissertation. One was directed at the mode of activation in nitrogenase, and entailed both molybdenum nitrogen complexes and iron/sulfur clusters; the other involved organic transformations mediated by titanium(II). These projects introduced him to working with air-sensitive compounds. He was also greatly influenced by a course on organometallic chemistry taught by James P. Collman. There was an extensive flow of expertise and ideas between the groups of Prof. Collman, Prof. Henry Taube, and Prof. Eugene van Tamelen at Stanford, and this stimulating atmosphere played a major role in the development of Prof. Gladysz's future research on the organic/inorganic interface.
Professional career When Gladysz began as an assistant professor at UCLA on July 1, 1974, he was, at least for the next six weeks, 21 years of age. This early start, coupled with the active program of seminar visitors at UCLA, allowed him to get to know many organic and inorganic chemists who began their careers shortly after the Second World War. Although he developed interests in metal atom chemistry and hydride reagents for organic synthesis, he made his early reputation in C1 chemistry – specifically the chemistry of metal formyl (-CHO), hydroxymethyl (-CH2OH), formaldehyde (H2C=O), and methylidene (=CH2) complexes, as well as related species that were rare at that time (and believed to be intermediates in catalytic CO/H2 chemistry). While at UCLA, Gladysz was named a fellow of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (1980) and a recipient of Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Grant (1980). In July 1982, he relocated to the University of Utah, where his research expanded to include organometallic stereochemistry and applications in enantioselective organic synthesis. While there, he received an Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award (1988), the University of Utah Distinguished Research Award (1992), and a Humboldt Foundation Research Award for Senior Scientists (1995-1996). In conjunction with the latter, he spent six months at the University of Marburg, and then a final month at the Technical University of Munich. In the course of the Humboldt sponsored sabbatical, Prof. Gladysz gave a seminar at the ETH Zurich. His hosts invited the seminar speaker scheduled for the next day, Prof. Janet Bluemel (Technical University of Munich), to the customary dinner (Nachsitzung). This introduction led to a variety of interactions during his subsequent stay in Munich. These in turn led to their marriage on December 28, 1997, in Salt Lake City. Prof. Gladysz subsequently assumed the Chair of Organic Chemistry at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, where he succeeded Paul von Rague Schleyer, on April 1, 1998; Prof. Bluemel assumed a professorship on the same day at the University of Heidelberg. During his period in Germany, Gladysz was able to greatly expand his programs dealing with molecular wires and fluorous chemistry begun at Utah. István T. Horváth, then working at ExxonMobil's Corporate Research Laboratories was a frequent collaborator on the latter project. Prof. Gladysz established a number of novel ring-closing metatheses in metal coordination spheres, the most interesting of which afforded a class of compounds that can be regarded as "molecular gyroscopes". Prof. Gladysz enjoyed all levels of the German and European scientific scenes and received the International Fluorous Technologies Award in 2007. However, he and Prof. Bluemel sought to optimize their personal and professional lives with appointments at the same University. This goal was realized during 2007-2008 when Bluemel and Gladysz relocated to Texas A&M University. Prof. Gladysz was appointed as the Dow Chair in Chemical Invention and Distinguished Professor of Chemistry. He was furthermore elected as a Fellow of the American Chemical Society in the inaugural year, 2009, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2013. Prof. Gladysz' research at Texas A&M has continued to prominently feature catalysis (phase transfer catalyst activation; Werner complexes as chiral hydrogen bond donor catalysts), and expanded into container molecules that "turn themselves inside out". He received the Texas A&M Distinguished Achievement Award in Research, and the Royal Society of Chemistry Award in Organometallic Chemistry, both in 2013. In 2017, Prof. Gladysz and Prof. Bluemel were jointly awarded the Texas A&M Foundation Partners in Philanthropy Faculty Award. They live on the Crow's Nest Ranch, which consists of 140 acres (60 hectares) 4 miles east of College Station.
Research interests Gladysz research centers around organometallic chemistry, and from this core branches into nanotechnology, stereochemistry, organic synthesis, enantioselective reactions, catalysis, mechanism, and materials chemistry. This work has been described in nearly 500 widely cited publications.
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