Paul Helquist

Paul Helquist is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Notre Dame, where he has been a faculty member since 1984. His research is centered on synthetic organic chemistry and the development of biologically active natural products with therapeutic potential. He is affiliated with the College of Science and maintains an active laboratory focused on method development and total synthesis.

His educational background includes a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Cornell University (1972) and a B.A. in Chemistry from the University of Minnesota, Duluth (1969). Prior to joining Notre Dame, he served on the faculty at the State University of New York at Stony Brook from 1974 to 1986, rising from Assistant to full Professor.

Helquist's research spans two primary domains: (1) the invention of new synthetic methods using transition metal catalysts for asymmetric synthesis, and (2) the total synthesis and pharmaceutical development of natural products with antibiotic and antitumor properties. His group integrates computational modeling with experimental chemistry to design chiral catalysts and determine complex molecular structures. This interdisciplinary approach enables the synthesis of novel antibiotics effective against resistant bacterial strains.

His recent publications reflect a strong trend toward integrating computational and experimental techniques in organic synthesis, with applications in enzymology and drug discovery. Themes include caged substrates for probing metabolic pathways, retrosynthetic planning using AI-inspired algorithms, and time-resolved structural studies of enzyme mechanisms.

• Joyce Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2020, 2009)
• Tage Erlander Guest Professor, Swedish National Research Council (2011–2012)
• Faculty Award, University of Notre Dame (2010)
• Kaneb Teaching Award (2005, 2002)

Professor Helquist has been actively involved in mentoring graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, though specific names are not listed in the provided text. His work has been supported by various research grants, particularly those enabling interdisciplinary collaborations in medicinal chemistry and structural biology. He frequently collaborates with computational chemists and structural biologists, including Oliver Wiest and Craig Stauffacher.

His laboratory functions as an interdisciplinary team combining synthetic organic chemistry, computational modeling, and biochemical analysis to advance pharmaceutical discovery and fundamental understanding of reaction mechanisms.