KSU is Backbone of Education Kingdom-wide: Nobel Laureate
King Saud University (KSU) is the backbone of university education process in Saudi Arabia, says Richard Schrock, who won Nobel Prize in 2005 in chemistry.
Describing KSU, he says it is a big, huge university, yet, he can not judge precisely the efficiency of the university since he has little background about education in Saudi Arabia.
Talking about his academic background, Schrock said he had gone to Mission Bay High School in San Diego, California. He held a B.A. in 1967 from the University of California, Riverside and a Ph.D. in 1971 from Harvard University. At Harvard, he studied under J. A. Osborn. In 1971-72, he carried out postdoctoral studies at the University of Cambridge with Lord Jack Lewis.
Asked about the effect of the academic research on the community in general, Schrock said, "It makes us be honest, objective, and give credit to those who deserve. Yet, sometimes mistakes are done."
On the relationship between creativity and science, he says,”There is no contradiction between science and creativity; they are collateral.”
Offering a piece of advice to the Saudi young, Schrock said they should learn hard; learn as far as they can; set up goals; and achieve aspirations.
Pinning hope on visiting Saudi Arabia again, Schrock said "I hope to come again to this beautiful country."
Richard’s statements came after giving a lecture organized by KSU in tandem with the Saudi chemical Society, which presented Schrock the medal of Geber for his distinctive efforts.
Profile
Born on January 4, 1945, in Berne, Indiana; the USA, Schrock belonged to a Swiss family proud of its heritage. Richard married Nancy Carlson in 1971 and has two children, Andrew and Eric. Nancy Schrock is the Thomas F. Peterson, Jr. Conservator of Special Collections for the MIT Libraries. The family lives in Winchester; Massachusetts.
In 1972, he was hired by E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, where he worked at the Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware in the group of George Parshall. He joined the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1975 and became full professor in 1980.
He has held his current post, the Frederick G. Keyes Professor of Chemistry, at MIT since 1989. Schrock is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academy of Sciences and was elected to the Board of Overseers of Harvard University in 2007.
In 2005, Schrock received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, along with Robert H. Grubbs and Yves Chauvin, for his work in the area of olefin metathesis, an organic synthesis technique. Schrock was the first to elucidate the structure and mechanism of so called 'black box' olefin metathesis catalysts.