Mark Lautens, O.C., is a Canadian organic chemist and is a University Professor at the University of Toronto. Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Lautens received a Bachelor of Science degree with distinction from the University of Guelph in 1981 where he worked with Professor Gord Lange. He then moved to the University of Wisconsin–Madison for his Ph.D. working with Professor Barry M. Trost with an NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship. Following graduation, he was an NSERC PDF at Harvard University in the laboratories of Professor David A. Evans. In 1987 he was appointed as an NSERC URF assistant professor at the University of Toronto and was promoted to professor in 1995. Since 2012, he has held the rank of University Professor, awarded to up to 2% of the faculty at the University of Toronto. He is known for his involvement in the developments of asymmetric ring-opening chemistry, synthetic utility and scope of the Catellani Reaction including the use of ligands to facilitate the reaction, carbohalogenation, multi-component multi-catalyst reactions, and domino catalysis. He has supervised over 50 doctoral students and has published over 400 peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals.
Science advocacy
Lautens has also made an effort to improve government support for funding science in Canada, and for young researchers in particular, by contributing op-ed pieces to The Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail and The Hill Times. He has also described his personal experiences while presiding at citizenship ceremonies and has questioned why there aren't more scientists running for office. During the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, Lautens published an piece in The Toronto Star describing how research funding to science and medicine are crucial for a fast response. He further described in The Globe and Mail how the current situation is shedding light on the "messy and sometimes infuriating process of scientific discovery".
Honours and awards
Lautens was made a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2001. He is currently the AstraZeneca Professor of Organic Chemistry and was an NSERC/Merck Frosst Industrial Research Chair. In 2009, he was an Alexander von Humboldt awardee. In 2013, he was awarded the Chemical Institute of Canada's CIC Medal. In 2014, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada "for his contributions at the forefront of organic chemistry, which have led to the creation of new medicinal compounds with fewer side effects". He was awarded an honorary degree, Doctor of Science, honoris causa, from the University of Guelph in 2016. In 2017, he was awarded the Henry Marshall Tory Medal from the Royal Society of Canada. In addition to his awards for his research, he received the J.J. Berry Smith Doctoral Supervision Award in 2017, which recognizes outstanding performance in the multiple roles associated with doctoral supervision. In 2020, he won the E.W.R. Steacie Award for making a distinguished contribution to chemistry while working in Canada, being the second chemistry professor at the University of Toronto to do so.
