Gilbert Stork (December 31, 1921 – October 21, 2017)^[2] was a Belgian-Americanorganic chemist. For a quarter of a century he was the Eugene Higgins Professor of ChemistryEmeritus atColumbia University.^[3] He is known for making significant contributions to thetotal synthesis ofnatural products, including a lifelong fascination with the synthesis ofquinine. In so doing he also made a number of contributions to mechanistic understanding of reactions, and performed pioneering work onenamine chemistry, leading to development of theStork enamine alkylation.^{[3]: 111 [4]}It is believed he was responsible for the first planned stereocontrolled synthesis as well as the first natural product to be synthesised with high stereoselectivity.^[5]

Stork was also an accomplished mentor of young chemists and many of his students have gone on to make significant contributions in their own right.

Gilbert Stork was born in theIxelles municipality ofBrussels, Belgium on December 31, 1921.^[6][7] The oldest of 3 children, his middle brother Michel died in infancy, but he remained close with his younger sister Monique his whole life. His family had Jewish origins, although Gilbert himself didn't recall them being religiously active.^[6] The family moved toNice when Gilbert was about 14 (circa. 1935) and remained there until 1939. During this period, Gilbert completed hislycée studies, distinguishing himself in French literature and writing. Characterizing himself during those years as "not terribly self-confident," and uncertain whether he could find employment in a profession he enjoyed, Gilbert considered applying for a colonial civil service job inFrench Indochina.^[5] However, the outbreak of World War II that year led the family to flee to New York, where his father's older brother, Sylvain, had already emigrated.

Gilbert studied for a Bachelor of Science at theUniversity of Florida, from 1940 to 1942. He then moved to theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison for this PhD, which he obtained in 1945 under the supervision ofSamuel M. McElvain.^[8] While at Wisconsin he metCarl Djerassi, with whom he would go on to form a lasting friendship.

• 1946Harvard University: Instructor; 1948 Assistant Professor
• 1953 Columbia University: Associate Professor; 1955 Professor; 1967–1993 Eugene Higgins Professor; *1993 Professor Emeritus^[9]

• U.S.National Academy of Sciences, 1961
• American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1962
• Foreign Member of theFrench Academy of Sciences, 1989
• American Philosophical Society, 1995^[10]
• TheRoyal Society, UK 1999

During his time at the University of Wisconsin, Stork kept a steak on his windowsill in the winter in order to keep it refrigerated. The steak began to degrade and to dispose of it Stork put it in a hot acid bath used to clean glassware which contained nitric and sulphuric acids. He was then concerned he would producenitroglycerine due to the glycerine in the steak and the presence of nitric and sulphuric acids. However, due to the high temperature of the bath, the oxidation of glycerol was much faster than the nitration of glycerin thus preventing the formation of explosives.^[5]

• Chemists' Club of New York, 1974^[11]
• Pharmaceutical Society of Japan, 1973^[11]
• Chemical Society of Japan, 2002^[11]
• Royal Society of Chemistry, UK, 1983^[12]
• Chairman Organic Division of the American Chemical Society, 1966–1967^[11]

Professor Stork received a number of awards and honors including the following:^[11]

Stork also heldhonorary doctorates fromLawrence University, theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison, theUniversity of Paris, theUniversity of Rochester, andColumbia University.^[14][15]

The inaugural Gilbert Stork Lecture was held in his honor in 2014 at his alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Madison.^[3][16] Gilbert Stork named lecture series are also held at other institutions, includingColumbia University^[17] and theUniversity of Pennsylvania, as a result of his endowments.^[18]

He was fêted for his sense of humor and colorful personality by historian of chemistryJeffrey I. Seeman who published a collection of "Storkisms".^[19]

• Finding aid to the Gilbert Stork papers at Columbia UniversityRare Book & Manuscript Library

• 1921 births
• 2017 deaths
• Belgian emigrants to the United States
• Belgian Jews
• American people of Belgian-Jewish descent
• American chemists
• Columbia University faculty
• Harvard University faculty
• Jewish American scientists
• Jewish chemists
• National Medal of Science laureates
• Foreign members of the Royal Society
• Belgian chemists
• University of Florida alumni
• University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni
• Wolf Prize in Chemistry laureates
• Members of the French Academy of Sciences
• Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
• Organic chemists
• 21st-century American Jews
• Members of the American Philosophical Society

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