| Graduate
Program - Fellowships & Grants
- B. R. Baker Award (updated
08/11/04) |
 Professor B.R.
Baker was a Professor of Chemistry at UCSB from 1966 until his death
in 1971. Baker's graduate work on the structural elucidation and synthesis
of Cannabis constituents marked the beginning of a prolific
career in the chemistry of natural products. He undertook many diverse
projects of medicinal interest including the synthesis of antihemorrhagic
vitamin K analogues, biotin derivatives, compounds with hormone activity,
sulfones with activity against tuberculosis, and alkaloids. He published
two books and more than 370 papers that included a series of papers
on the structure and synthesis of the antimalarial alkaloid from Hydrangea
that filled an entire issue of the Journal of Organic Chemistry
in 1952. He determined the structure of the first known nucleoside
antibiotic, puromycin, and synthesized it in 1955. This achievement
came long before the discovery of the structure of transfer ribonucleic
acid (tRNA). Puromycin was later shown to mimic the structure of tRNA
and became and an important tool of research in molecular biology.
Puromycin was too toxic for cancer chemotherapy, but it aroused Bill's
interest in this field. Few of the myriad of compounds that he had
so meticulously synthesized showed any antitumor activity in vivo,
so he sought a more rational approach to cancer chemotherapy.
Perhaps his greatest contribution to medicinal chemistry was the concept
of active-site-directed irreversible enzyme inhibition of substrate-identical
enzymes. A monograph summarizing this approach to drug design promptly
became on of the classic works in the field.
Past lecturers:
| Year |
Presenter |
Institution |
|
Year |
Presenter |
Institution |
| 2004 |
Thomas
C. Bruice |
UCSB |
|
1989 |
E.J.
Corey |
Harvard |
| 2003 |
Jack
Dixon |
UCSD |
|
1988 |
Richard
Lerner |
Scripps
Found. |
| 2002 |
Gregory
Petsko |
Brandeis
Univ. |
|
1987 |
Harry
B. Gray |
Cal
Tech |
| 2001 |
Steven
Benner |
Florida
Univ. |
|
1986 |
Alan
R. Fersht |
Imperial
College |
| 2000 |
Joanne
Stubbe |
MIT |
|
1985 |
Stephen
Benkovic |
Penn
State |
| 1999 |
Richard
E. Dickerson |
UCLA |
|
1984 |
Christopher
Walsh |
Harvard
Med. |
| 1998 |
Harold
A. Sheraga |
Cornell
Univ. |
|
1982 |
Daniel
Santi |
UC
San Francisco |
| 1997 |
Daniel
E. Koshland |
Berkeley |
|
1981 |
Carl
Djerassi |
Stanford
Univ. |
| 1996 |
David
S. Sigman |
UCLA |
|
1980 |
Linus
Pauling |
|
| 1995 |
Chi-Huey
Wong |
Scripps
Inst. |
|
1979 |
Bruce
N. Ames |
Berkeley |
| 1994 |
Richard
Holm |
Harvard
Univ. |
|
1978 |
Jeremy
Knowles |
Harvard
Univ. |
| 1993 |
Olke
C. Uhlenbeck |
Colorado
Univ. |
|
1976 |
Nelson
Leonard |
Illinois
Univ. |
| 1992 |
Peter
B. Dervan |
CAL
Tech |
|
1975 |
Joseph
Bertino |
Yale
Univ. |
| 1991 |
Peter
G. Schultz |
Berkeley |
|
1975 |
Paul
Berg |
Stanford
Univ. |
Faculty should
click here to nominate a Ph. D. student.
Past graduate
students receiving the distinguished Baker award. Students receive
$500.
| Year |
Awardee |
Group |
|
Year |
Awardee |
Group |
| 2004 |
Dawn
Therese Bravo
Devleena Mazumder
|
Parsons
Bruice
|
|
1999 |
Georgia Carroll
Amy
Martin
Paul
Mollard |
Little
Perona
Lipshutz |
| 2003 |
Jamie
Carter Franklin
Sun Hur
Derek Magdziak |
Butler
T.C. Bruice
Pettus |
|
1998 |
Amy
Allan
Helgi Adalsteinsson
John Keith |
Little
Bruice
Lipshutz |
| 2002 |
Luke
Sherlin
Ryan Van de Water |
Perona
Pettus |
|
1997 |
Angela Belcher
Cheryl
Bellavia
Felice
Lightstone |
Stucky
Wudl
Bruice |
| 2001 |
Patrick Papa
Alexander
Satz |
Lipshutz
Bruice |
|
1996 |
Tim
Gross
Gretchen Meister
|
Lipshutz
Butler |
| 2000 |
Jennifer
Martinez
Joe Sclafani
|
Butler
Lipshutz
|
|
1995 |
Joseph
Leonetti |
Little |
| |
|
|
|
1994 |
Ken
Browne
Kirk Stevens
|
Parsons
Lipshutz |
* resulted in publication(s) acknowledging the Baker Graduate
Award |
|