Friends’ Central Alum K. Barry Sharpless ’59 wins second Nobel Prize

Only five scientists in history have won a Nobel prize twice, and among those five is K. Barry Sharpless, a Friends’ Central School alum from the Class of 1959. This incredible honor puts Sharpless in the company of Marie Curie.

On Wednesday, October 5, the 2022 Nobel prize in chemistry was awarded to K. Barry Sharpless, Carolyn Bertozzi, at Stanford University, and Morten Meldal, at the University of Copenhagen. The three scientists were recognized for devising a method to “click” molecules together that has been described as working like “molecular Lego.”

A longtime faculty member at Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, Sharpless himself coined the term “click chemistry” to “describe reactions that are fast, high-yielding, and clean, meaning that they do not produce a lot of unwanted side-products,” explained Dr. Phillip Broadwith, in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s magazine Chemistry World. “One of the first ‘click reactions,’ the copper catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition, was discovered independently by Sharpless and Meldal and had sprouted its own branch of synthetic chemistry,” he added. Catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition is now a widely used method to make drugs and map DNA. In a Guardian article, Prof Olof Ramström, a member of the Nobel chemistry committee, described the award as “a fantastic prize for a fantastic discovery.”

“They have been working on methods to try to connect molecules, to connect building blocks so they click together very simply and straightforwardly, in essentially the same way as you build Lego,” he said. “You can have the Lego pieces and you can click them together and build very advanced houses, or tools, or vehicles, even spaceships. It’s the same with this chemistry, although at the very, very, molecular level.”

K. Barry Sharpless won his first Nobel prize in chemistry in 2001 for his work on catalyzed oxidation reactions, another type of chemical reaction used to produce drugs.

Sharpless’s father, a birthright Quaker, sent him to Friends’ Central School in seventh grade. A shy student who was passionate about his work, Sharpless was known to make up excuses for social occasions in order to spend time in the lab. It was clear from his yearbook quote – where he is described as a “science whiz” – that his passion for science began early. However, science was not his only interest. He was also enthusiastic about learning German while at Friends’ Central. Through classes with Ruth Fiesel, Sharpless quickly developed a proficiency that was enhanced by his contact with the exchange students from the Hans Hubert Gymnasium in Gräefelfing near Munich.

“The Sharpless family hosted German exchange student Hubert Hitziger,” shared fellow Friends’ Central alum Dave Branning ’59. “That year, Friends’ Central started a small German Language class where Barry continued his ability to understand and speak German, a big help in his field of study. The Sharpless family helped Hubert learn how to get to the Vesper Boat Club via bike, and Hubert rowed daily and became the Philadelphia Schoolboy Singles Rowing Champion that year.” Barry formed lasting friendships with exchange students Hubert Hitziger and Peter Dietrich.
In his junior year at Friends’ Central, Sharpless grew 12 inches and was recruited for the football team when the coach spotted him beating some of the top players in arm wrestling.

In an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, Tim Patterson ’59, who played on the undefeated football team along with Sharpless, described him as, “just a regular guy. He didn’t push anything in front of you saying he was brighter than the rest of us.”

Another passion for Sharpless in his school days was fishing. He spent the summers exploring the banks of the Manasquan River, later learning to sail with his uncle and catching fish. He contemplated marine biology before deciding on chemistry as his career focus.

After graduating from Friends’ Central in 1959, Sharpless attended Dartmouth College as an undergraduate and went on to receive a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Stanford University. He has taught at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, and, in 1990, he joined the faculty of Scripps Research Institute, where he is the W.M. Keck Professor of Chemistry.

Along with two Nobel prizes, Sharpless has been widely recognized for his scientific achievements over many decades, being elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1985 and receiving, among myriad accolades, the King Faisal International Prize for Science and the 2019 Priestley Medal, the American Chemical Society’s highest honor.

Friends’ Central recognized K. Barry Sharpless as their 1998 Distinguished Alumnus for his pioneering work in science.

“When the Class of 1959 had their 50th Reunion in 2009,” said Dave Branning, “Barry and his wife both came. He had already won his first Nobel award in 2001. His wife said to me at our Reunion Sunday brunch, ‘If Barry lives long enough, he will win another Nobel Award.’ I never forgot that comment and she was absolutely right.”