Dale L. Boger, PhD, the Richard and Alice Cramer Professor in Chemistry at Scripps Research, has been awarded the 2025 Chemical Pioneer Award by the American Institute of Chemists (AIC). Boger was recognized for his pivotal research in chemistry, specifically his “leadership in the total synthesis and exploration of the biological properties of natural products, and pioneering efforts that improve on their properties.”
First given in 1996, the AIC presents the Chemical Pioneer Award to individuals whose contributions have helped to advance the field of chemical science.
Boger’s lab has published more than 625 studies, trained more than 300 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, and has collaborated with academic and industry leaders across the globe. His group has completed the total syntheses of more than 100 complex natural products and delineated the target or molecular basis of their biological properties. His group has prepared thousands of redesigned natural products to improve on their biological properties, discovering and introducing new synthetic strategies and methodology to enable the studies.
Boger earned his doctorate in chemistry from Harvard University and joined Scripps Research’s faculty in 1991 as one of the founding members of the newly created Department of Chemistry. He served as the chairman of the department from 2012 to 2018, after appointments at the University of Kansas and Purdue University.
Among his many accolades, he is a recipient of the AACR Award in Chemistry, the NIH Merit Award and the Tetrahedron Prize. He is also an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Boger will present a lecture at the award ceremony on May 8, 2025, titled, “Maxamycins: Redesigned Vancomycins as Durable Antibiotics for Resistant Bacteria.”
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