About Sir David W. C. MacMillan
Sir David W. C. MacMillan was born in Bellshill, Scotland, and received his undergraduate degree in chemistry at the University of Glasgow, where he worked with Ernie Colvin. In 1990 he began his doctoral studies under the direction of Larry Overman at the University of California, Irvine, before undertaking a postdoctoral position with Dave Evans at Harvard University in 1996. He began his independent career at the University of California, Berkeley, in July of 1998 before moving to Caltech in 2000 as the Earle C. Anthony Chair of Organic Chemistry. In 2006 MacMillan joined Princeton University as the A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Chemistry. He served as department chair from 2010 to 2015 and is currently the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Chemistry and a Ludwig Distinguished Scholar.
MacMillan shares the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Benjamin List “for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis.” He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in July 2022. His research interests encompass a wide range of organic chemistry, including the development of new areas in organocatalysis and photoredox catalysis.