Remembering Robert Grubbs, Co-Founder of Applaud Medical
We are deeply sad to announce the passing of one of Applaud Medical’s Founders, Dr. Robert Grubbs. Dr. Grubbs was a prominent chemist who helped identify a “green chemistry” breakthrough for manufacturing of compounds that are used to make everything from plastics to pharmaceuticals with less hazardous waste. Dr. Grubbs won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2005 along with Richard R. Schrock of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yves Chauvin of the French Petroleum Institute. The three chemists shared the award equally for their work developing olefin metathesis, a key reaction for redistributing carbon-carbon bonds by breaking and then remaking carbon-carbon double bonds. This work paved the way for metathesis to become a cornerstone of chemical manufacturing. The catalysts they developed, which are named for them, are in wide use today in making chemicals for a variety of manufacturing processes.
Dr. Grubbs earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees at the University of Florida, then his Ph.D. from Columbia University. He spent a year at Stanford University as a NIH fellow before joining the faculty of Michigan State University in 1968. A decade later, he was hired by Caltech, where he became the Victor and Elizabeth Atkins Professor of Chemistry in 1990. Over his career, Grubbs advised and mentored more than 100 doctoral candidates and almost 200 postdoctoral associates while also co-founding several companies, Including Applaud Medical. Besides the Nobel Prize, Dr. Grubbs was the recipient of the Benjamin Franklin Medal from the Franklin Institute, the Arthur C. Cope Award from the American Chemical Society and the Gold Medal from the American Institute of Chemists. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels. He received honorary degrees from, among others, the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Crete in Greece, the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom, and Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen University in Germany. He authored more than 400 papers and held 80 patents.
Applaud Medical recognizes Dr. Grubb’s legacy and will forever be grateful for his efforts as a co-founder of the company.
