Dr. David MacMillan is a world-renowned chemist and the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Chemistry at Princeton University. Born in Bellshill, Scotland in 1968, he received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from the University of Glasgow before pursuing doctoral studies at the University of California, Irvine under Professor Larry Overman. Following postdoctoral work with Professor Dave Evans at Harvard University, he established his independent research career at the University of California, Berkeley in 1998, subsequently moving to Caltech in 2000 as the Earle C. Anthony Chair of Organic Chemistry, and then to Princeton University in 2006, where he served as Department Chair from 2010 to 2015 and founded the Princeton Catalysis Initiative in 2017.
Dr. MacMillan shares the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Benjamin List for the groundbreaking development of asymmetric organocatalysis, which fundamentally transformed chemical synthesis by demonstrating that small organic molecules can effectively catalyze stereoselective reactions. His pioneering work overturned the century-old assumption that catalysts generally fall into only two categories—metals and enzymes—introducing iminium ion catalysts and developing the SOMO and photoredox organocatalysis concepts that expanded synthetic chemistry's toolkit. This innovative approach has revolutionized pharmaceutical manufacturing processes, making industrial chemistry both more versatile and environmentally sustainable while enabling the precise construction of complex molecules. His research has directly led to the design of over fifty new chemical reaction processes with wide applications across drug discovery and materials science.
Beyond his research achievements, Dr. MacMillan has significantly shaped the field through his service as Editor-in-Chief of the journal Chemical Science and his dedication to advancing scientific understanding through collaborative initiatives. He has generously dedicated his Nobel Prize share to establish the May and Billy MacMillan Foundation, honoring his parents while supporting future scientific endeavors. Recently joining the Ludwig Cancer Research Princeton Branch as a distinguished scholar in June 2025, he is applying his expertise in photo-proximity labeling to unravel the complexities of tumor metabolic microenvironments, potentially opening new avenues for understanding cancer metastasis and developing novel therapeutic approaches. His continued leadership in both academic chemistry and translational research positions him at the forefront of addressing some of the most pressing challenges in modern chemical science.
