The Dr. Paul Janssen Prize was particularly memorable because it specifically recognized my
indole alkaloid synthesizes that was a new strategy for these venerable natural products. It was a great honour to be recognized by the award.
Philip Douglas Magnus was born in London, England in 1943. After completing his secondary education in 1962, he was awarded an Open Entrance Exhibition at Imperial College of science and Technology London, and a State Scholarship to read chemistry. In 1965 he completed his degree with First Class Honours, B.Sc., A.R.C.S. in Chemistry, and the Edmund White Prize for Organic Chemistry. He continued his studies at Imperial, and in 1968 was awarded the Ph.D., D.I.C., degrees for "Studies Related to the Total Synthesis of Tetracycline", under the supervision of Professor D.H.R. Barton F.R.S. During this period he was appointed (1965-1966) Research Assistant to Professor D.H.R. Barton. Assistant Lecturer (1966-1969), and Lecturer (1969-1975) at Imperial College (Tenured in 1972). In 1975 he was appointed an Associate Professor Chemistry at The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A, and in 1981 moved to Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, as full Professor of Chemistry. In 1987 he was awarded the title of Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, Indiana University, Bloomington. Indiana, U.S.A. In 1989 he moved to The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, and was appointed to the R.P. Doherty, Jr.-Welch Regents Chair in Chemistry.
Honors include:- Corday-Morgan Medal and Prize (1978). Distinguished Research Award (Ohio State University, 1980). Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (1982). Fellow of The Royal Society of London. (1985). Award for Synthetic Organic Chemistry from The Royal Society of Chemistry (1985). Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award. American Chemical Society (1992). Dr. Paul Janssen Prize for Creativity in Organic Synthesis (1992). Award for Natural Products Chemistry from the Royal Society of Chemistry (1992). Robert Robinson Lecture and Medal from The Royal Society of Chemistry (1996). Novartis Outstanding Research Award (1998).
Main research areas include organo silicon chemistry, organo cobalt chemistry, synthesis of
natural products, most notably alkaloids and terpenoids.