May 12–14, 2011
Lawrence, KS
University of Kansas, Pharmacy Building and Oread Hotel
Celebrating Professor Mitscher’s 80th birthday and his contributions to the field of medicinal chemistry and to the University of Kansas
Lester A. Mitscher
It’s hard to overstate the personal and scientific impact that Les Mitscher has had on medicinal chemistry and his students and postdocs during his nearly 45 years in academia. Affectionately dubbed “LesFest”, the Mitscher Symposium brought together former colleagues and group members from throughout Les’ long career to celebrate his 80th birthday and appointment as Emeritus Professor at the University of Kansas. The main events over the three-day program were a welcoming reception, a day-long symposium, and a banquet dinner.
The Organizing Committee for the event consisted of Dan Flynn (Ph.D. 1981, President and CEO, Deciphera Pharmaceuticals), Barbara Timmerman (Kansas), Brian Blagg (Kansas), and me (Ph.D. 1999, Minnesota), although Dan and his assistant, Anjanette Wilheim, did most of the work. Many others assisted with the planning, and everyone’s help is gratefully acknowledged. An amazing cast of plenary speakers spoke at the symposium: Stevan Djuric (Abbott Laboratories), Dale Boger (The Scripps Research Institute), Dan Flynn, George Ellestad (Columbia University), Ashok Bhatia (Abbott Laboratories), Gunda Georg (University of Minnesota), and me.
In Part 1 of my LesFest review, I’ll first summarize the impressive career and accomplishments of Les, then provide my thoughts about the welcoming reception on Thursday evening. In Part 2, I will review the oral presentations and banquet.
Les was one of Carl Djerassi’s first graduate students at Wayne State University, where he received his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1958 for his work on the structure of coffee oil diterpenes and optical rotatory dispersion methods. From 1958–1967 Les worked at Lederle Laboratories as a natural product chemist, and rose to Group Leader of Antibiotic Discovery. He left Lederle for an appointment as Associate Professor of Natural Products Chemistry at The Ohio State University, where he was quickly promoted to Professor. In 1975, Les was recruited to Kansas as a University Distinguished Professor and Chair of Medicinal Chemistry. He remained Chair until 1992. Professor Mitscher has also held joint appointments at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the Victorian College of Pharmacy (Melbourne, Australia). Over 50 students and postdocs were trained in the Mitscher lab, and Les has authored more than 280 research publications and 20 patents. He also authored or co-authored seven book on drug discovery, including several volumtes of the outstanding Organic Chemistry of Drug Synthesis series with Dan Lednicer. Les is the longest-serving consultant at Abbott Laboratories, and he consults extensively with several pharmaceutical companies and research organizations. He serves on the editorial board of numerous journals, and is a past Editor-in-Chief of Medicinal Research Reviews.
Always at the leading edge of drug discovery, the scope of Les’ work includes the discovery of clinically used antibiotics, key findings on the chemistry and mechanism of action of antibiotics and chemotherapeutic agents, herbal medicines, and the development of combinatorial chemistry methods. He is perhaps most well-known for his pioneering work on tetracyclines, quinolones, and erythromycin antibiotics.
As you might imagine, Les has been recognized with numerous honors and awards through his illustrious career, including: Smissman Award in Medicinal Chemistry (American Chemical Society), Volweiler Award (American Association for Pharmaceutical Education), Medicinal Chemistry Division Hall of Fame (American Chemical Society), Research Achievement Award in Natural Products Chemistry (American Pharmaceutical Association), Award in Medicinal Chemistry (American Chemical Society), Norman Farnsworth Research Achievement Award (American Society for Pharmacognosy), Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Emeritus Fellow of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.
This summary of Les’ accomplishments and impact on medicinal chemistry is not complete, and cannot do full justice to describing the lasting impact he has had. His current and former colleagues and group members can tell you many stories that provide insight as to what a wonderful, kind human being Les is.
You can probably gather the excitement I was feeling as my current graduate students (Mike Peterson, Will Fiers, and Yang Li) and I embarked on the seven-hour drive from Minneapolis to Lawrence. We had to wait for Will and Yang to finish their last final exam on Thursday morning, so we didn’t arrive to the Welcome Mixer at the Oread Hotel until about 8:00 pm after checking into our hotel and a quick change of clothes.
George Ellestad, Les Mitscher, and Dale Boger at the Welcome Mixer
Click on the picture to see more photos from the Mitscher Symposium.
The Oread is a beautiful, massive hotel located at the edge of the main campus, and the facilities there were top-notch. We ran into my dear friend Brian Blagg as we entered the lobby, and he helped point us to the back room where the reception was located. The room was filled with a celebratory air, and I quickly found Les and his lovely wife Betty to offer my congratulations. I was immediately struck by the outpouring of support for Les, as the room was filled with Kansas colleagues, symposium speakers, former group members, and KU alumni from other research groups. It was also great to catch up with alumni from my time at Kansas (1994–1999) such as Burchelle Blackman, Tim Caldwell, Suzanne Buck, and Jennifer Golden. Due to our late arrival, however, the reception ended too soon despite extending for nearly an extra hour. Since we didn’t have a chance to get dinner, my group and I left to catch at bite at Free State Brewery before calling it a night.
Les Mitscher and Dan Flynn at the Welcome Mixer
Click on the picture to see more photos from the Mitscher Symposium.
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