David A. Tirrell

David A. Tirrell serves as Provost and holds the Ross McCollum-William H. Corcoran Professorship in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology. He earned his B.S. (1974) from MIT, M.S. (1976) and Ph.D. (1978) from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and received an honorary doctorate (D.h.c.) from Eindhoven Technical University.

• Chair, Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (1999-2009)
• Director, Beckman Institute (2012-2018)
• Provost (2017-present)

His research focuses on macromolecular chemistry and genetic code reengineering to incorporate non-canonical amino acids into proteins. This work enables novel approaches to biomaterials design, proteomic analysis, and protein evolution with applications in tissue regeneration and molecular imaging. Recent publications highlight 3D-printable cellular composites, engineered bacterial films, and non-canonical amino acid applications in medical contexts.

Scientific recognitions include election to:

• American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• American Philosophical Society
• All three branches of U.S. National Academies (Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine)

As principal investigator of the Tirrell Lab, he has mentored numerous students and researchers like Sophie Miller, Hanwei Liu, and Grace Wang, whose work spans synthetic biology, genetic code modification, and advanced proteomic techniques.