Archive
Past Seminar Speakers & Awards
P.O.C.C. has a rich tradition of inviting industrial and academic chemists at all levels of their careers to give seminars to the chemical community here in Philadelphia. Below is a searchable list of every speaker on record back to 1993, with flyers linked for most talks back to 1998. Contact the webmaster for records dating all the way back to the first years of POCC in the 1940s and abstract requests.
We have several named lectureship series including:
- P.O.C.C. Industrial Award Lectureship: Given in recognition of an industrial scientist who has had tremendous impact on human health or agroscience as well as their service to the chemical community. Past awardees have included L-C Campeau, Martin Eastgate, and Thomas Stevenson. Conferred when an industrial chemist is chair (alternating years).
- The Women in Chemistry Lectureship: Given in recognition of a high-performing female scientist (industrial or academic) whose science has been transformative and who has championed the advancement of women in the sciences. Past lecturers have included Danica Rankic, Donna Huryn, and Cheryl Hayward.
- The Allan Day Award Lectureship: Our most prestigious award. See the Allan R. Day Award page for more details.
- The Student Choice Lectureship: Chosen by student members of the executive board in discussion with their peers — a student-driven "people's choice" lectureship. Past lecturers have included Corinna Schindler, Timothy Newhouse, and Dirk Trauner.
New to the 2024–2025 season: The Early Career Investigator Lecture, recognizing an academic or industrial scientist who is a rising star in organic synthesis.
| Year | Name | Institution | Named Lecture? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Eric Jacobsen | Harvard University | POCC 80th Anniversary Lecture/Academic Keynote |
| 2026 | Eric Voight | AbbVie | POCC 80th Anniversary Lecture/Industrial Keynote |
| 2026 | Chi Ting | Brandeis University | POCC 80th Anniversary Lecture/Early Career Award Lecture |
| 2026 | Catherine Mudd | University of Delaware | POCC 80th Anniversary Lecture/POCC Travel Award Lecture |
| 2026 | Jonathan Reeves | Boehringer Ingelheim | POCC Industrial Award Lecture |
| 2026 | Sharon Neufeldt | Montana State University | |
| 2026 | Susan Zultanski | Merck | |
| 2026 | Marian "Callie" Bryan | Johnson and Johnson | Women in Chemistry Lecture |
| 2025 | Scott Miller | Yale | Allan Day Award Lecture |
| 2025 | Andrew DeAngelis | FMC | |
| 2025 | Courtney Roberts | University of Minnesota | Student Choice Lecture |
| 2025 | Patrick Fier | Merck & Co. | |
| 2025 | Richmond Sarpong | UC Berkeley | Student Choice Lecture |
| 2025 | David MacMillan | Princeton University | Allan Day Award Lecture |
| 2025 | Daniel Kim | Temple University | Early Career Award Lecture |
| 2025 | Emma Parmee | Johnson and Johnson | Women in Chemistry Lecture |
| 2024 | Beth Knapp-Reed | GSK | |
| 2024 | Rebecca Green | BMS | |
| 2024 | Scott Snyder | University of Chicago | |
| 2024 | Danica Rankic | Pfizer | Women In Chemistry Lecture |
| 2024 | Corinna Schindler | University of Michigan | Student Choice Lecture |
| 2024 | Alexander Grenning | University of Minnesota | |
| 2024 | L-C Campeau | Merck & Co. | POCC Industry Award Lecture |
| 2024 | John Wood | Baylor University | Allan Day Award Lecture |
| 2023 | Sophie Rousseaux | University of Toronto | |
| 2023 | Alison Levens | FMC | |
| 2023 | Dan Paone | GSK | |
| 2023 | John Curto | Pfizer | |
| 2023 | Robert Knowles | Princeton University | |
| 2023 | Timothy Newhouse | Yale University | Student Choice Lecture |
| 2023 | Kristi Leonard | Janssen R&D | |
| 2023 | Mark Levin | University of Chicago | |
| 2023 | Jon Ellman | Yale University | Allan Day Award Lecture |
| 2022 | Steven Wisniewski | BMS | |
| 2022 | Donna Huryn | University of Pittsburgh | Women in Chemistry Lecture |
| 2022 | Nicole Goodwin | GSK | |
| 2022 | Emma McInturff | Pfizer | |
| 2022 | Alison Narayan | University of Michigan | |
| 2022 | Dani Schultz | Merck | |
| 2022 | Jeff Sperry | Vertex Pharmaceuticals | |
| 2022 | Song Lin | Cornell | |
| 2022 | Melanie Sanford | University of Michigan | Allan Day Award Lecture |
| 2021 | Martin Eastgate | BMS | POCC Industrial Award Lecture |
| 2021 | Dirk Trauner | NYU | Student Choice Lecture |
| 2021 | Jaume Balsells | Janssen R & D | |
| 2021 | Andrew McNally | Colorado State University | |
| 2021 | Erin O'Brien | Biogen | |
| 2021 | Seth Herzon | Yale | |
| 2021 | Erika Milczek | Curie Co. | Women in Chemistry Lecture |
| 2021 | Tejas Shah | Corteva | |
| 2021 | David Nagib | The Ohio State University | POCC Student Choice Lecturer |
| 2020 | Osvaldo Gutierrez | University of Maryland, College Park | |
| 2020 | Matt Bio | Snapdragon Chemistry | |
| 2020 | Todd Hyster | Princeton University | |
| 2020 | Jessica Hoover | West Virginia University | |
| 2020 | Niki Patel | Merck & Co. | |
| 2020 | Cheryl Hayward | Pfizer | Women in Chemistry Lecture |
| 2019 | Matthew S. Sigman | University of Utah | POCC Student Choice Lecturer |
| 2019 | Nick Carruthers | Janssen Research & Development | |
| 2019 | Sarah Wengryniuk | Temple University | |
| 2019 | Tomislav Rovis | Columbia University | The POCC Student’s Choice Lecture |
| 2019 | Dustin J. Mergott | Eli Lilly and Company | |
| 2019 | Gregory R. Ott | Teva Pharmaceuticals | POCC Industrial Award Lecture |
| 2019 | Alison J. Frontier | University of Rochester | |
| 2019 | Tianning Diao | New York University | Women in Chemistry Lecture |
| 2018 | Pamela A. Haile | GlaxoSmithKline | |
| 2018 | Jamie McCabe Dunn | Merck Process Research and Development | |
| 2018 | Brian M. Stoltz | California Institute of Technology | |
| 2018 | Dean G. Brown | AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals | |
| 2018 | F. Dean Toste | University of California, Berkeley | The Student Choice Lecture |
| 2018 | Tehshik Yoon | University of Wisconsin–Madison | |
| 2018 | Mary P. Watson | University of Delaware | |
| 2018 | Ruth R Wexler | Bristol-Myers Squibb | Women in Chemistry Lecture |
| 2017 | Stephen L. Buchwald | MIT | Allan R. Day Lecture |
| 2017 | Kay Brummond | University of Pittsburgh | |
| 2017 | Philip A. Harris | GlaxoSmithKline | |
| 2017 | Sean P. Brown | Amgen | |
| 2017 | David A. Nicewicz | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Sigma-Aldrich Student Choice Lecture |
| 2017 | Spencer D. Dreher | Merck & Co. | POCC Industrial Award |
| 2017 | Krista B. Goodman | GlaxoSmithKline | Women in Chemistry Lecture |
| 2017 | Karl A. Scheidt | Northwestern University | GSK Lecture |
| 2016 | Timothy M. Swager | MIT | Fox Chase Chemical Diversity Center Lecture |
| 2016 | Fraser F. Fleming | Drexel University | BMS lecture |
| 2016 | Michael S. VanNieuwenhze | Indiana University Bloomington | |
| 2016 | Regan J. Thomson | Northwestern University | |
| 2016 | Abigail G. Doyle | Sigma-Aldrich Student Choice Lecture | |
| 2016 | Rodney L. Parsons | Bristol-Myers Squibb | |
| 2016 | Michael J. Sofia | Arbutus Biopharma, Inc. | |
| 2016 | Rodrigo B. Andrade | Temple University | |
| 2015 | L.-C. Campeau | Merck & Co. | |
| 2015 | Amos B. Smith, III Symposium | Various | |
| 2015 | Paul G. Williard | Brown University | |
| 2015 | Thomas M. Stevenson | DuPont Crop Protection | POCC Industrial Award |
| 2015 | Sergey A. Kozmin | University of Chicago | |
| 2015 | Ryan A. Shenvi | The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla | |
| 2015 | Neil K. Garg | UCLA | |
| 2015 | Donald A. Watson | University of Delaware | |
| 2014 | Gong Chen | Pennsylvania State University | |
| 2014 | Tobias Ritter | Harvard University | POCC Student Choice Lecture |
| 2014 | Nicola L. B. Pohl | Indiana University | |
| 2014 | Tristan H. Lambert | Columbia University | POCC Student Choice Lecture |
| 2014 | Lawrence T. Scott | Boston College | |
| 2014 | Jian Jin | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | |
| 2014 | Amos B. Smith III | University of Pennsylvania | |
| 2014 | Ralph A. Rivero | GlaxoSmithKline | |
| 2013 | James L. Leighton | Columbia University | |
| 2013 | Stuart L. Schreiber | Harvard University | Allan R. Day Lecture |
| 2013 | Daniel L. Comins | North Carolina State University | |
| 2013 | Uttam K. Tambar | UT Southwestern Medical Center | POCC Student Choice Lecture |
| 2013 | Bruce D. Dorsey | Cephalon/Teva | POCC Industrial Award |
| 2013 | Robert A. Flowers, II | Lehigh University | |
| 2013 | Paul Helquist | University of Notre Dame | |
| 2013 | Kelly M.Aubart | GlaxoSmithKline | |
| 2012 | Corey Stephenson | Boston University | |
| 2012 | Franklin A. Davis | Temple University | |
| 2012 | Akin Davulcu | Bristol-Myers Squibb | |
| 2012 | Sarah E. Reisman | California Institute of Technology | POCC Student Choice Lecture |
| 2012 | Karl A. Scheidt | Northwestern University | |
| 2012 | Brian M. Stoltz | California Institute of Technology | |
| 2012 | Daniel Paone | Merck & Co. | |
| 2012 | Jake M. Janey | Bristol-Myers Squibb | |
| 2011 | Gregory Ott | Cephalon | |
| 2011 | Douglass F. Taber | University of Delaware | Allan R. Day Lecture |
| 2011 | Gary A. Molander | University of Pennsylvania | |
| 2011 | Jennifer A. Love | University of British Columbia | Student Choice Lecture |
| 2011 | Ann E. Weber | Merck & Co. | POCC Industrial Award |
| 2011 | Joel M. Hawkins | Pfizer | |
| 2011 | Jon C. Antilla | University of South Florida | |
| 2011 | Grace S. Vanier | CEM Corporation | |
| 2010 | Christopher Welch | Merck & Co. | |
| 2010 | POCC Award Symposium | Various | |
| 2010 | John F. Hartwig | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | |
| 2010 | Robert Kester | Roche | |
| 2010 | Richmond Sarpong | University of California, Berkeley | |
| 2010 | Peter Bernstein | AstraZeneca | |
| 2010 | David Gin | Memorial Sloan-Kettering | |
| 2010 | Gregory C. Fu | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | |
| 2009 | Karen Lackey | GlaxoSmithKline | |
| 2009 | Dale Boger | Scripps Research Institute | Allan R. Day Lecture |
| 2009 | Janis Louie | University of Utah | |
| 2009 | Christopher J. Dinsmore | Merck & Co. | POCC Industrial award |
| 2009 | Paige Mahaney | Wyeth | |
| 2009 | M. Christina White | Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | |
| 2009 | Patrick Walsh | University of Pennsylvania | |
| 2009 | Sarah O’Connor | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | |
| 2008 | Peter Wipf | University of Pittsburgh | |
| 2008 | POCC Award Symposium | Various | |
| 2008 | Ann Weber | Merck & Co. | |
| 2008 | Jeffrey Bode | University of Pennsylvania | |
| 2008 | Duane Burnett | Schering-Plough | |
| 2008 | David W. C. MacMillan | Princeton University | |
| 2008 | Juan Luengo | GlaxoSmithKline | |
| 2008 | Chris Schafmeister | Temple University | |
| 2007 | Phil Baran | Scripps Research Institute | |
| 2007 | Eric Jacobsen | Harvard University | Allan R. Day Lecture |
| 2007 | Ahmed Abdel-Magid | Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development | POCC Industrial award |
| 2007 | Timothy MacDonald | University of Virginia | |
| 2007 | Alison Frontier | University of Rochester | |
| 2007 | Michael Kress | Cephalon | |
| 2006 | Jaquelyn Gervay-Hague | University of California, Davis | |
| 2006 | POCC Award Symposium | Various | |
| 2006 | Spencer Knapp | Rutgers University | |
| 2006 | Kay Brummond | University of Pittsburgh | |
| 2006 | Raymond Funk | Penn State University | |
| 2006 | Chulbom Lee | Princeton University | |
| 2006 | Ronald Magolda | Wyeth | |
| 2005 | Anna Mapp | University of Michigan | |
| 2005 | Todd D. Nelson | Merck & Co. | |
| 2005 | James Empfield | AstraZeneca | |
| 2005 | Scott McN. Sieburth | Temple University | |
| 2005 | Pat N. Confalone | E.I. du Pont de Nemours | |
| 2005 | Michael P. Doyle | University of Maryland | |
| 2005 | James R. Empfield | AstraZeneca | |
| 2005 | Joseph Fox | University of Delaware | |
| 2004 | Robert Hudkins | Cephalon, Inc. | |
| 2004 | Prof. Amos B. Smith III 60th Birthday Symposium | Various | |
| 2004 | Eric Sorensen | Princeton University | |
| 2004 | Patrick Y. Lam | BMS | |
| 2004 | Kathlyn A. Parker | SUNY Stony Brook | |
| 2004 | Eric Meggers | University of Pennsylvania | |
| 2004 | John Koh | University of Delaware | |
| 2003 | Christopher Burns | ViroPharma, Inc. | |
| 2003 | Thomas Lectka | Johns Hopkins University | |
| 2003 | Steven D. Young | Merck Research Laboratories | |
| 2003 | Allen B. Reitz | Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development | |
| 2003 | Douglass F. Taber | University of Delaware | |
| 2003 | Jean-Charles Quirion | Laboratoire d'Heterochimie Organique, IRCOF-INSA Rouen, France | |
| 2003 | Marissa Kozlowski | University of Pennsylvania | |
| 2003 | John L. Wood | Yale University | |
| 2002 | Matthew Shair | Harvard University | |
| 2002 | Virgil Percec | University of Pennsylvania | |
| 2002 | Justin Dubois | Stanford University | |
| 2002 | Bruce Maryanoff | RW Johnson PRI | |
| 2002 | Carl P. Decicco | BMS | |
| 2002 | Franklin A. Davis | University of Chicago | POCC Award, 27th Biennial POCC Award Symposium |
| 2002 | Viresh Rawal | University of Chicago | 27th Biennial POCC Award Symposium |
| 2002 | Steven Weinreb | Pennsylvania State Univeristy | 27th Biennial POCC Award Symposium |
| 2002 | David W. C. MacMillan | CalTech | 27th Biennial POCC Award Symposium |
| 2001 | Nicole S. Sampson | SUNY Stony Brook | |
| 2001 | Jeffery Winkler | University of Pennsylvania | |
| 2001 | Theresa M. Williams | Merck & Co. | |
| 1999 | Barry Snider | Brandeis University | |
| 1999 | Cynthia A. Maryanoff | R.W. Johnson Pharmaceutical Research Institute | |
| 1999 | Viresh Rawal | University of Chicago | |
| 1999 | Daniel Kahne | Princeton University | |
| 1999 | David Austin | Yale University | |
| 1998 | Fred West | University of Utah | |
| 1998 | Gilbert Stork | Columbia University | POCC Award, The 25th Biennial POCC Symposium |
| 1998 | Greg Fu | MIT | The 25th Biennial POCC Symposium |
| 1998 | Scott Rychnovsky | University of California, Irvine | The 25th Biennial POCC Symposium |
| 1998 | Paul Bartlett | University of California, Berkeley | The 25th Biennial POCC Symposium |
| 1998 | Jehn-Marie Lehn | Collège de France | Allan R. Day Lecture |
| 1998 | Mukund Sibi | North Dakota State University | |
| 1998 | Jeffery Schwartz | Princeton University | |
| 1998 | Franklin Davis | Temple University | |
| 1998 | Robert Grubbs | CalTech | |
| 1997 | Samuel J. Danishefsky | Columbia University | |
| 1997 | Paul Grieco | Indiana University | |
| 1997 | Anthony Pearson | Case Western Reserve University | |
| 1997 | William Nugent | The Du Pont Company | |
| 1997 | Robert Boeckman | University of Rochester | |
| 1997 | Samir Zard | CNRS Ecole Polytechnique | |
| 1997 | Donald Tomalia | Michigan Molecular Institute | |
| 1997 | Léon Ghosez | Université catholique de Louvain | |
| 1996 | Andre´ B. Charette | UniVersite´de Montreal | |
| 1996 | Ralph F. Hirschmann | University of Pennsylvania | POCC Award, The 24th Biennial POCC Symposium |
| 1996 | Dale Boger | The Scripps Research Institute | The 24th Biennial POCC Symposium |
| 1996 | Gary Sulikowski | Texas A&M University | The 24th Biennial POCC Symposium |
| 1996 | Fraser Stoddart | University of Birmingham | The 24th Biennial POCC Symposium |
| 1996 | Ei-ichi Negishi | Purdue University | Allan R. Day Lecture |
| 1996 | Kenneth Feldman | Pennsylvania State University | |
| 1996 | Samuel Gellman | UniVersity of Wisconsin Madison | |
| 1996 | Daniel Kahne | Princeton University | |
| 1996 | Erick Carreira | CalTech | |
| 1995 | Derek H. R. Barton | Texas A&M University | POCC 50th Anniversary Lecture |
| 1995 | Dieter Seebach | ETH Zurich | Allan R. Day Lecture |
| 1995 | Viresh Rawal | The Ohio State University | |
| 1995 | Bruce Maryanoff | R. W. Johnson Pharmaceutical Research Institute | POCC Day Award Lecture |
| 1995 | Steven Burke | University of Wisconsin-Madison | |
| 1995 | Anthony Czarnik | Parke-Davis | |
| 1995 | Amir Hoveyda | Boston College | |
| 1995 | Jeff Kelly | Texas A&M University | |
| 1994 | Michael Pirrung | Duke University | |
| 1994 | Samuel J. Danishefsky | Columbia University | The 23th Biennial POCC Symposium |
| 1994 | Ralph Hirschmann | University of Pennsylvania | The 23th Biennial POCC Symposium |
| 1994 | Ken Houk | UCLA | The 23th Biennial POCC Symposium |
| 1994 | Philip Magnus | UT Austin | The 23th Biennial POCC Symposium |
| 1994 | Gilbert Stork | Columbia University | Allan R. Day Lecture |
| 1994 | Madeleine Joullié | University of Pennsylvania | POCC Award |
| 1994 | David Lynn | University of Chicago | |
| 1994 | Philip DeShong | University of Maryland | |
| 1994 | Philip Parson | University of Reading | |
| 1993 | Lanny Liebeskind | Emory University | |
| 1993 | K. C. Nicolaou | The Scripps Research Institute | Allan R. Day Lecture |
| 1993 | Conrad Kowalski | SmithKline Beecham | POCC Award |
| 1993 | James Rigby | Wayne State University | |
| 1993 | Paul Grieco | Indiana University | |
| 1993 | Harry Wasserman | Yale University | |
| 1993 | James A. Marshall | University of South Carolina |
On alternate (even) years, an all-day symposium is organized in the fall consisting of four seminars given by invited speakers and a dinner. The final speaker of the evening receives that year's Philadelphia Organic Chemists' Club Award, given to a member of the academic community for outstanding contributions to organic chemistry and service to the scientific community.
The Allan R. Day Award is given once a year in recognition of outstanding contributions to organic chemistry; the awardee presents a seminar on one of the POCC lecture nights.
| Year | Award | Name | Institution |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | POCC 80th Anniversary | Eric Jacobsen | Harvard University |
| 2026 | POCC 80th Anniversary | Eric Voight | AbbVie |
| 2026 | POCC 80th Anniversary | Chi Ting | Brandeis University |
| 2026 | POCC Travel Award | Catherine Mudd | University of Delaware |
| 2026 | POCC Industrial Award | Jonathan Reeves | Boehringer Ingelheim |
| 2025 | Allan R. Day Award | Scott Miller | Yale |
| 2025 | Allan R. Day Award | David MacMillan | Princeton University |
| 2024 | Allan R. Day Award | John Wood | Baylor University |
| 2023 | Allan R. Day Award | Jon Ellman | Yale |
| 2022 | Allan R. Day Award | Melanie Sanford | University of Michigan |
| 2017 | POCC Award | Gregory R. Ott | Teva Pharmaceuticals |
| 2016 | POCC Award | Spencer Dreher | Merck & Co. |
| 2015 | POCC Award | Thomas M. Stevenson | DuPont Crop Protection |
| 2015 | Allan R. Day Award | Amos B. Smith III | University of Pennsylvania |
| 2013 | POCC Award | Bruce D. Dorsey | Cephalon/Teva |
| 2011 | Allan R. Day Award | Douglass F. Taber | University of Delaware |
| 2010 | POCC Award | Marisa C. Kozlowski | University of Pennsylvania |
| 2009 | POCC Award | Christopher Dinsmore | Merck Research Laboratories |
| 2009 | Allan R. Day Award | Dale L. Boger | Scripps Research Institute |
| 2008 | POCC Award | Scott McN. Sieburth | Temple University |
| 2007 | POCC Award | Ahmed Abdel-Magid | Johnson & Johnson PRD |
| 2007 | Allan R. Day Award | Eric N. Jacobsen | Harvard University |
| 2006 | POCC Award | Jeffery Winkler | University of Pennsylvania |
| 2005 | POCC Award | Pat N. Confalone | E.I. du Pont de Nemours |
| 2003 | POCC Award | Allen B. Reitz | Johnson & Johnson PRD |
| 2002 | POCC Award | Franklin A. Davis | Temple University |
| 2000 | POCC Award | Frank Mallory | Bryn Mawr College |
| 1999 | POCC Award | Cynthia Maryanoff | Johnson & Johnson |
| 1998 | POCC Award | Gilbert Stork | Columbia University |
| 1998 | Allan R. Day Award | Jean-Marie Lehn | Université Louis Pasteur de Strasbourg |
| 1997 | Allan R. Day Award | Samuel J. Danishefsky | Columbia University |
| 1996 | POCC Award | William Nugent | DuPont |
| 1996 | POCC Award | Ralph F. Hirschmann | University of Pennsylvania |
| 1996 | Allan R. Day Award | Ei-Ichi Negishi | Purdue University |
| 1995 | POCC Award | Bruce Maryanoff | RW Johnson Pharmaceuticals |
| 1995 | Allan R. Day Award | Dieter D. Seebach | ETH-Zentrum |
| 1994 | POCC Award | Madeleine M. Joullié | University of Pennsylvania |
| 1994 | Allan R. Day Award | Gilbert Stork | Columbia University |
| 1993 | Allan R. Day Award | K. C. Nicolaou | Scripps Research Institute |
| 1993 | POCC Award | Conrad Kowalski | SmithKline Beecham |
| 1992 | Allan R. Day Award | William R. Roush | Indiana University |
| 1991 | Allan R. Day Award | Yoshito Kishi | Harvard University |
| 1990 | POCC Award | Amos B. Smith, III | University of Pennsylvania |
| 1990 | Allan R. Day Award | Ronald C. D. Breslow | Columbia University |
| 1989 | Allan R. Day Award | Clayton H. Heathcock | University of California, Berkeley |
| 1988 | Allan R. Day Award | Carl R. Johnson | Wayne State University |
| 1987 | Allan R. Day Award | Albert I. Meyers | Colorado State University |
| 1986 | Allan R. Day Award | Edward M. Arnett | Duke University |
| 1985 | Allan R. Day Award | Barry Sharpless | Scripps Research Institute |
| 1984 | Allan R. Day Award | David A. Evans | Harvard University |
| 1983 | Allan R. Day Award | Barry M. Trost | Stanford University |