chemistry

M. G. Finn

M. G. Finn is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand M. G. Finn rather than just read about it. In short: M.G. Finn (born October 23, 1958) is an American chemist and a Regents' professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Key takeaways

M. G. Finn belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect M. G. Finn to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of M. G. Finn from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

M.G. Finn (born October 23, 1958) is an American chemist and a Regents' professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Early life and education Finn was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on October 23, 1958. He studied chemistry at California Institute of Technology while receiving a Eastman Kodak scholarship and performing undergraduate research under the direction of electrochemist Fred C. Anson. After receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in June 1980, Finn spent the summer performing research at Eastman Kodak in Rochester, New York before joining the group of future Nobel prize winner, Barry Sharpless, that fall at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he gained his PhD in 1986 with his thesis "On the mechanism of titanium-tartrate catalyzed asymmetric epoxidation".

Career

After receiving his doctorate, Finn carried out postdoctoral research for two years with James P. Collman at Stanford University, before joining the faculty of University of Virginia in 1988. He moved to the Scripps Research Institute in 1998 (where his former PhD supervisor Barry Sharpless had previously moved to in 1990) and later to Georgia Tech in 2013, where he currently holds the James A. Carlos Family Chair for Pediatric Technology, and is chief scientific officer of the Children's healthcare of Atlanta Pediatric Technology Center. Finn's research concentrates on the development of methods for the synthesis of biologically-important molecules, such as functional virus-like particles. He coined the term Click chemistry with Barry Sharpless and Hartmuth C. Kolb. He also works on the mechanism and optimisation of copper-catalysed azide-alkyl cycloaddition; on targeted synthesis of enzyme inhibitors and antivirals; on bio-conjugation and chemical materials science; on the immunology of carbohydrates; and with new methods of enzyme development. His laboratory works with viruses as building-blocks for targeted development of biologically active molecules. Finn became the Editor-in-Chief of ACS Combinatorial Science in 2010. Finn served as chair of the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry from 2013 until 2024. In 2025, Finn was appointed Regents' Professor in the College of Sciences. In 2013, Thomson Reuters suggested that Finn could potentially win a Nobel prize for his ground-breaking work on click chemistry.

Awards 2011 Scripps Research Institute Outstanding Mentor Award 2012 Humboldt Research Award 2017 Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award

Personal life Finn's full first name is M.G. He and his wife, Beth, have two children, Allison and Marc.

Selected publications Kolb, Hartmuth C.; Finn, M.G.; Sharpless, K. Barry (2001). "Click Chemistry: Diverse Chemical Function from a Few Good Reactions". Angewandte Chemie. 40 (11): 2004–2021. doi:10.1002/1521-3773(20010601)40:11<2004::AID-ANIE2004>3.0.CO;2-5.

References

External links Finn-lab website M.G. Finn faculty page @ Georgia Tech

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with M. G. Finn

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what M. G. Finn claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to M. G. Finn before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about M. G. Finn ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of M. G. Finn

In research: M. G. Finn appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses M. G. Finn in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: M. G. Finn is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1958 births, American chemists, California Institute of Technology alumni, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for M. G. Finn outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study M. G. Finn in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what M. G. Finn means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain M. G. Finn out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is M. G. Finn in simple terms?

M.G. Finn (born October 23, 1958) is an American chemist and a Regents' professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Why does M. G. Finn matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study M. G. Finn?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on M. G. Finn.