Past Robbins Lectures

YearSpeakerLecture
2024Joseph S. FranciscoScience in the Sky: The Impactful Chemical Processes Above Us
2023Melanie Sanford20 Years of Making Molecules at the University of Michigan
2020Geraldine RichmondThe Importance of Science in the Future of a Healthy Planet
2019Allison CampbellScience in Service to our Nation: Unlocking the Mystery of the Department of Energy National Laboratories
2018Paul ReiderChemistry in Service to Society: Making Drugs for People, Not Profits
2017JoAnne StubbeThe Secrets of Biological Catalysts Revealed with Chemical and Spectroscopic Methods
2016W.E. MoernerSingle Molecules as Nanoscale Probes of Our World
2015Jack SzostakThe Origins of Cellular Life
2014Robert LangerBiomaterials and How They Will Change Our Lives
2013Susan SolomonExploring Our Atmosphere's Climate and Chemistry
2011J. Andrew McCammonComputer-Aided Biophysics and Drug Discovery: From the Molecule to the Cell
2010Peter AgreLife on the River of Science
2009Jean-Marie LehnPerspectives in Chemistry: From Supramolecular Chemistry Towards Adaptive Chemistry
2009Jennifer DoudnaChemistry and the RNA World
2008Professor Sir Harold Kroto FRSScience and Scientific Philosophy in the 21st Century
2007Robert H. GrubbsNew Molecules, Materials, and Opportunities
2006George M. WhitesidesScience at the Interface!
2005Harry B. GrayThe Currents of Life: Electron Flow Through Biological Molecules
2004Kurt WuthrichNMR Eyes on the Molecules of Life
2003K. Barry SharplessFinding Something New and Useful
2002Ahmed H. ZewailSeeing Beyond Our Vision
2000Paul S. AndersonUnderstanding Drug Discovery
1999George A. OlahHydrocarbons and their Chemistry
1998Richard R. ErnstExploring Nature by NMR
1997Stuart L. SchreiberChemical Genetics
1996Sherwood RowlandThe Chemistry of Earth's Atmosphere
1995Richard N. ZareShedding Light on Chemistry
1994Thomas R. CechRNA Catalysis
1993Heinrich RohrerScience for our Future
1992Donald CramMolecular Recognition in Complexation
1991Gertrude ElionChemotherapy - The Search of Selectivity
1990Yuan LeeChemical Reaction Dynamics
1989Jeremy KnowlesEnzymes
1988Joseph Goldstein & Michael BrownRevelations from Biochemistry and Human Genetics
1987Herbert BrownBoron in Organic Synthesis
1986Roald HoffmanBridging Organic and Inorganic Chemistry
1985Gerald EdelmanSciences of Recognition
1984Gabor SomorjaiSurface Science of Catalysis
1983Paul BergEucaryotic Gene Expression
1982Sydney BrennerGenetics of the Nervous System
1981Christian AnfinsenStructure and Function of Proteins
1980Rosalyn YalowRadioimmunoassay
1979Max PerutzHemoglobin
1978William LipscombStructure and Mechanisms of Enzymes
1977David BaltimoreMolecular Genetics
1976George PorterRapid Kinetics
1975Julius AxelrodNeurotransmitters
1974Gerald EdelmanMolecular Immunology
1973Efraim RackerElectron Transport Coupled Phosphorylation
1972Arthur KornbergDVA and Membrane Biochemistry
1971George WaldVision
1970Manfred EigenDynamics of Biological Macromolecules
1969Jacques MonodMolecular Biology and the Kingdom of Ideas
1968John KendrewThe Structure of Proteins
1967Marshall NirenbergDeciphering the Genetic Code
1966Linus PaulingThe Structure of the Nucleus
1965Francis CrickThe Structure of DNA
1964David GreenMitochondrion and Membrane Systems
1963Peter DebyeThe Nature of Molecular Forces
1962Melvin CalvinPhotosynthesis