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Support the Gary E. Keck Endowed Graduate Fellowship

gary keck with his former students at the Cope Awards luncheon in San Francisco August 11, 2014
Distinguished Professor Gary Keck with some of his former students at the Cope Scholar luncheon in San Francisco August 11, 2014

In 2014, our friend and colleague Gary Keck was deservedly recognized as a Distinguished Professor. Gary also received the 2014 Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, presented by the ACS Division of Organic Chemistry.

To recognize Gary’s impact on all of us and the broader world of chemistry, we are launching an initiative to establish the Gary E. Keck Endowed Graduate Fellowship. The Keck Fellowship will support one graduate student pursuing a Ph.D. in Chemistry each year. As an endowment, your support of this fellowship will not only be a great endorsement of Gary, but will continue to benefit generations of future students. This is a fitting tribute for Gary, an excellent mentor to so many outstanding chemists over his 37 years at the University of Utah.

give now buttonPlease celebrate Gary’s career and accomplishments with us by giving to the Keck Fellowship. Gifts and pledges can be made online or by contacting advancement@chem.utah.edu . Pledges of $2,500 or more can be extended over a three-year period. Additionally, corporate matching programs are a potential way to double the impact of your gift.

Join me in the creation of this endowment, honoring Gary and supporting opportunities for deserving students.

Praise for Distinguished Professor Gary Keck

“There are many of us in the academy and pharmaceutical industry today who learned how to do science from Gary and rely on his teachings to this day. I speak for all of us when I say that we are proud to have been part of that group and continue to carry on the standard of excellence Gary set as a bar. Gary deserves to be recognized for his mentorship, direction, and guidance.”

Jerry Murry, Ph.D. ‘94
Vice President of Small Molecule Process and Product Development, Amgen

“I will always be grateful to Gary for the support and encouragement he has given me, for teaching me the value of discipline, rigor and taking responsibility for your work, and for showing me the importance of aiming high in life.”

Michael Wiley, Ph.D. ‘88
Research Fellow, Eli Lilly and Company

“Gary takes great care in selecting research projects which address relevant health problems and also provide his students – which he commonly refers to and treats as his co-workers – with a stimulating challenge to get involved in the delicate art and science of organic total synthesis.”

Lars Heumann, Ph.D. ‘07
Research Scientist, Gilead Sciences

“His work, centered on synthetic methodology development and its applications to the total synthesis of complex natural products, is legendary. The “Keck allylation,” Keck asymmetrical allylation,” and Keck macro-lactonization” are beautiful contributions to organic synthesis that rightly bear his name because of his deep scholarship behind their development… Few in the field have had such an impact, essentially no one in the field has three reactions named after them.”

Dale L. Boger, Ph.D.
Chairman, Department of Chemistry
The Scripps Research Institute

“His work has greatly extended our ability to form carbon-to-carbon bonds with control of both position and three dimensional orientation – the most challenging aspect of synthesis. The logical beauty and significance of his papers are stunning.”

EJ Corey, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Nobel Laureate (Chemistry 1990)
Harvard University

“His early work on free radical allylation reactions was a landmark contribution that helped to move free radical reactions into a place of acceptability in organic chemistry… Keck showed that these could be highly useful reaction that could be applied in a broad range of situations with excellent results.”

Ei-ichi Negishi, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor of Chemistry
Nobel Laureate (Chemistry 2010)
Purdue University

“In the area of total synthesis, Gary is highly respected for the elegance and efficiency of his strategies through which he often demonstrates his synthetic methods… Many envy his accomplishments, but few can match them in terms of creativity, innovation, impact, and promise for future applications in his and other laboratories.”

K.C. Nicolaou, Ph.D.
Harry and Olga Wiess Professor of Chemistry
Rice University

“His work is cleverly conceived, rigorously explored by experiment, and the results obtained are invariably highly impressive. Particularly noteworthy is Prof. Keck’s development of new methods and strategies for application to the elegant solution of challenging problems in target-oriented synthesis. His total synthesis achievements are highly impressive and have gained him widespread international recognition.”

Ian Paterson FRS FRSE
Professor of Organic Chemistry
University of Cambridge

The required minimum amount to establish an endowed fellowship at the University of Utah is $300,000. In the event that the $300,000 needed to establish the endowment has not been raised by December 31, 2016, the funds raised will be used to support graduate fellowships in Gary’s name until exhausted.

More photos from the Arthur C. Cope Scholar luncheon on August 11, 2014.

Last Updated: 8/1/22