M. G. Finn (born October 23, 1958) is an American chemist and professor at the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

Early life and education

Finn was born in

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.

, on October 23, 1958. He studied chemistry at California Institute of Technology while receiving a

Eastman Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...

scholarship and performing undergraduate research under the direction of electrochemist Fred C. Anson. After receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in June 1980, Finn spent the summer performing research at

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

before joining the group of future

Nobel prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

winner,

Barry Sharpless Karl Barry Sharpless (born April 28, 1941) is an American chemist and a two-time Nobel laureate in Chemistry known for his work on stereoselective reactions and click chemistry. Sharpless was awarded half of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "f ...

, that fall at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

, where he gained his PhD in 1986 with his thesis "On the mechanism of titanium-tartrate catalyzed asymmetric epoxidation".

Career

After receiving his doctorate, Finn carried out postdoctoral research for two years with

James P. Collman James P. Collman (born 1932) is an American chemist who is the George A. and Hilda M. Daubert Professor of Chemistry, emeritus at Stanford University. Collman's research focused on organometallic bioinorganic chemistry. Collman is a member of t ...

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, before joining the faculty of

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

in 1988. He moved to the

Scripps Research Institute Scripps Research, previously known as The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), is a nonprofit American medical research facility that focuses on research and education in the biomedical sciences. Headquartered in San Diego, California, the institu ...

in 1998 (where his former PhD supervisor Barry Sharpless had previously moved to in 1990) and later to Georgia Tech in 2013, where he currently holds the James A. Carlos Family Chair for Pediatric Technology, and is chief scientific officer of the Children's healthcare of Atlanta Pediatric Technology Center. Finn's research concentrates on the development of methods for the synthesis of biologically-important molecules, such as functional virus-like particles. He coined the term

Click chemistry In chemical synthesis, click chemistry is a class of biocompatible small molecule reactions commonly used in bioconjugation, allowing the joining of substrates of choice with specific biomolecules. Click chemistry is not a single specific reaction ...

with Barry Sharpless and

Hartmuth C. Kolb Hartmuth Christian Kolb (born August 10, 1964) is a German chemist. He is considered one of the founders of click chemistry. Early life and career After graduating from high school in Marsberg in 1983, Kolb studied at the University of Hanover. ...

. He also works on the mechanism and optimisation of copper-catalysed azide-alkyl cycloaddition; on targeted synthesis of enzyme inhibitors and antivirals; on bio-conjugation and chemical materials science; on the immunology of carbohydrates; and with new methods of enzyme development. His laboratory works with viruses as building-blocks for targeted development of biologically active molecules. Finn became the Editor-in-Chief of ACS Combinatorial Science in 2010. In 2013,

Thomson Reuters Thomson Reuters Corporation ( ) is a Canadian multinational media conglomerate. The company was founded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where it is headquartered at the Bay Adelaide Centre. Thomson Reuters was created by the Thomson Corpora ...

suggested that Finn could potentially win a Nobel prize for his ground-breaking work on

click chemistry In chemical synthesis, click chemistry is a class of biocompatible small molecule reactions commonly used in bioconjugation, allowing the joining of substrates of choice with specific biomolecules. Click chemistry is not a single specific reaction ...

Awards

* 2011 Scripps Research Institute Outstanding Mentor Award * 2012

Humboldt Research Award The Humboldt Prize, the Humboldt-Forschungspreis in German, also known as the Humboldt Research Award, is an award given by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany to internationally renowned scientists and scholars who work outside of G ...

* 2017

Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award The List of American Chemical Society national awards attempts to include national awards, medals and prized offered by the American Chemical Society (ACS). The ACS national awards program began in 1922 with the establishment of the Priestley Med ...

Personal life

Finn's full first name is M.G. He and his wife, Beth, have two children, Allison and Marc.

References

External links

Finn-lab website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finn, M.G. 1958 births Living people American chemists Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni California Institute of Technology alumni People from Atlantic City, New Jersey Humboldt Research Award recipients Georgia Tech faculty Scripps Research faculty University of Virginia faculty