The Department of Chemistry hosted the 50th Annual John Stauffer Distinguished Lecturer in the Sciences event of April 23, 2024. This year, the Distinguished Lecturer was Benjamin List. In 2021, Prof. List received the Nobel Prize for his research on asymmetric organocatalysis. He serves as Director at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung in Mülheim, Germany. He also heads a research group at Hokkaido University in Japan and is an honorary professor at the University of Cologne. His lecture was titled “The Universality of Acid Catalysis” and described how his lab created and continues to develop metal-free catalysts that leverage acid-base chemistry to perform a broad array of challenging chemical transformations. 
After the lecture, members of the scientific community at USC gathered at Town & Gown Ballroom to honor alumni, faculty, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, undergraduate students, and staff for their achievements throughout the year. Two alumni, Dr. Qingshan (Stephen) Zhou and Dr. Frederick Jerome, received the Distinguished Alumnus Award. After receiving his PhD from USC in 1989, Dr. Zhou eventually became Director of Research and Design at Pharmacia (now part of Johnson & Johnson), co-founded Medennium, Inc., and invented/co-invented twenty-eight patents for technology used in the ophthalmic industry. Dr. Jerome received his PhD from USC in 1971 and went on to work in the field of immunology. As described in his speech at the dinner event, he worked for Baxter Labs and Searle Pharmaceuticals before founding Monobind, Inc., a company that remains at the forefront of immunoassay technology.
Many student researchers proudly accepted awards for scholarly excellence, research contributions, and service towards USC’s scientific community. The Stauffer Lecture is a longstanding tradition at the university that not only gives scientists just beginning their academic and professional careers the opportunity to meet experts in a range of fields, but also recognizes them for their hard work thus far. A complete list of award recipients can be found on the Undergraduate, Graduate, and Research pages of the department’s website. The department encourages alumni and their families to participate in the event each year.