UofG alumnus, Professor David W C MacMillan, has been awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize, along with Benjamin List, for their work on the development of asymmetric organocatalysis. 

Professor MacMillan graduated with a BSc in Chemistry from the University of Glasgow in 1989. Soon after graduating, he left the UK to begin his doctoral studies under the direction of Professor Larry Overman at the University of California, Irvine, and earned his PhD in 1996. He is currently Head of The MacMillan Group and the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Chemistry at Princeton University in New Jersey. 

Professor Justin Hargreaves, Head of School of Chemistry shared his best wishes, “Huge congratulations to Benjamin List and David MacMillan on receiving the 2021 Nobel prize in chemistry. We’re particularly thrilled for David, who undertook his undergraduate degree in chemistry at the University of Glasgow. This makes him the fifth Nobel Laureate in chemistry associated with UofG”. 

Previous UofG Chemistry Nobel Prize winners include Sir William Ramsay (1904, discovery of inert gasses) and Sir Alexander Todd (1957, nucleotides and co-enzymes). 

The University is always delighted to see our world-changing alumni recognised for their accomplishments and we congratulate Professor MacMillan on this outstanding achievement. 


First published: 6 October 2021