Steven Zimmerman
Encyclopedia
Professor Steven C. Zimmerman is an organic chemist on the faculty of the Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
. He attended public schools in Madison, Wisconsin where he received a B.S. degree in 1979 working for Hans J. Reich. In 1983 he received a Ph.D. at Columbia University in New York City where he worked with Ronald Breslow
on pyridoxamine
enzyme analogs.
, he joined the faculty at the University of Illinois (1985).
He was appointed the Roger Adams Professor of Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
in 2004, having previously held a William H. and Janet G. Lycan Professorship.
As Department Head he manages an academic staff of 115 full time equivalents (FTE) with a State budget of $8.4 M and total expenditures of $26.7M, including federal research grants and contracts.
He oversees a $60M fundraising campaign and secured the three largest individual gifts (>$15M total) at the University of Illinois in academic year 2007. He has negotiated and overseen a cooperative agreement to port the University of Illinois Department of Chemistry undergraduate curriculum to the Hanoi University of Science in Vietnam, increased standards for graduate enrollment, and increased the diversity of the faculty, staff, and student body.
He and his coworkers pioneered the development of a new class of nonmacrocyclic molecular hosts called molecular tweezers, also called more recently, molecular clips.
His current work focuses on dendrimers, including their supramolecular chemistry
and the supramolecular chemistry of other polymers (supramolecular polymer chemistry).
Early life and education
He was born in Chicago in 1957, the second son of the organic chemist Howard ZimmermanHoward Zimmerman
Howard E. Zimmerman is a professor of chemistry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1980 and the recipient of the 1985 American Institute of Chemists Pioneering Award....
. He attended public schools in Madison, Wisconsin where he received a B.S. degree in 1979 working for Hans J. Reich. In 1983 he received a Ph.D. at Columbia University in New York City where he worked with Ronald Breslow
Ronald Breslow
Ronald C. D. Breslow is an American chemist from Rahway, New Jersey. He is currently University Professor at Columbia University, where he is based in the Department of Chemistry and affiliated with the Departments of Biological Sciences and Pharmacology; he has also been on the faculty of its...
on pyridoxamine
Pyridoxamine
Pyridoxamine is a vitamer in the vitamin B6 family, which includes pyridoxal and pyridoxine. Pyridoxamine is converted to the biologically active form of vitamin B6, pyridoxal 5-phosphate, via the vitamin B6 salvage pathway. Vitamin B6 acts as an enzyme cofactor in a variety of metabolic processes...
enzyme analogs.
Career
After an NSF-NATO Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Cambridge with Sir Alan R. BattersbyAlan R. Battersby
Sir Alan Rushton Battersby FRS Sir Alan Rushton Battersby FRS Sir Alan Rushton Battersby FRS ((born 4 March 1925) is a British organic chemist known for his work on the genetic blueprint, structure, and synthetic pathway of Cyanocobalamin. This came in collaboration with a partner and also in...
, he joined the faculty at the University of Illinois (1985).
He was appointed the Roger Adams Professor of Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
in 2004, having previously held a William H. and Janet G. Lycan Professorship.
Administrator
Zimmerman has served as the Head of the University of Illinois Department of Chemistry from 1999 to 2000 and since 2005.As Department Head he manages an academic staff of 115 full time equivalents (FTE) with a State budget of $8.4 M and total expenditures of $26.7M, including federal research grants and contracts.
He oversees a $60M fundraising campaign and secured the three largest individual gifts (>$15M total) at the University of Illinois in academic year 2007. He has negotiated and overseen a cooperative agreement to port the University of Illinois Department of Chemistry undergraduate curriculum to the Hanoi University of Science in Vietnam, increased standards for graduate enrollment, and increased the diversity of the faculty, staff, and student body.
Research
His early research was focused on molecular recognition, models of serine proteases, and topologically novel DNA intercalators.He and his coworkers pioneered the development of a new class of nonmacrocyclic molecular hosts called molecular tweezers, also called more recently, molecular clips.
His current work focuses on dendrimers, including their supramolecular chemistry
Supramolecular chemistry
Supramolecular chemistry refers to the area of chemistry beyond the molecules and focuses on the chemical systems made up of a discrete number of assembled molecular subunits or components...
and the supramolecular chemistry of other polymers (supramolecular polymer chemistry).
Awards and achievements
- Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
- Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, American Chemical Society
- Buck-Whitney Award, Eastern New York Section of American Chemical Society
- Presidential Young Investigator AwardPresidential Young Investigator AwardThe Presidential Young Investigator Award was awarded by the National Science Foundation. The program operated from 1984 to 1991, and was replaced by the NSF Young Investigator Awards and Presidential Faculty Fellows Program...
, National Science Foundation - Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship
- Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award
- Cyanamid Academic Award
- Eli Lilly Grantee
- American Cancer Society Junior Faculty Award