Published by the MIT News Office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.

Williamson Appointed to Pfizer-Laubach Chair

IN CHEMISTRY
Williamson Appointed
To Pfizer-Laubach Chair

Assistant Professor James R. Williamson of the Department of Chemistry, 
who joined the faculty in 1990, has been appointed the Pfizer-Laubach 
Career Development Professor. 

Pfizer Inc established the chair in 1987. In February of this year the 
chair was renamed the Pfizer Inc-Gerald D. Laubach Career Development 
Chair by Pfizer as a tribute to Dr. LaubachÕs 40-year career with the 
company. Dr. Laubach, who received his doctorate in organic chemistry 
from MIT in 1950, the year he joined Pfizer, retired February 1.

The appointment was announced by Provost Mark S. Wrighton.

Professor Williamson holds the BS in chemistry (1981) from Mount Union 
College, Alliance, Ohio, and the PhD in organic chemistry (1988) from 
Stanford University. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of 
Colorado for two years before joining MIT.

His research is focused on the structure of large biological molecules. 
He makes extensive use of high-field nuclear magnetic resonance devices 
in his work.

His honors include the Postdoctoral Fellowship awarded by the Jane 
Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research, 1989-90, and the 
Searle Scholar Award, 1991.