Sir J. Fraser Stoddart: Chemistry is About Art

Video: Nanotechnology Town Hall Meeting

World-renowned chemist Sir J. Fraser Stoddart, Board of Trustees Professor of Chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, gave a town hall discussion May 13 on the subject of nanotechnology.

Sir Fraser, a pioneer in the fields of nanoscience and organic chemistry, talked in plain English about mingling art with science. "Chemistry is really about art on the smallest of scales," he said. "This is a science that that takes on an artistic flavor."

He also explained his career and how he came to the field of science. By introducing an additional type of bond (the mechanical bond) into chemical synthesis, Stoddart became one of the few chemists to have opened up a new field of chemistry during the past 25 years.

A native of Edinburgh, Scotland, Stoddart was appointed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as a Knight Bachelor in her 2007 New Year's Honors List for his services to chemistry and molecular nanotechnology.

The series of town hall meetings are sponsored by the Northwestern Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center, the International Institute for Nanotechnology, the Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence and the Illinois Science Council.