Robert Grubbs, Caltech Professor, Nobel Prize Winner, Dies at 79

PASADENA, CA —Caltech announced on Sunday the death of Robert Grubbs, a professor of chemistry at the school and the co-winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Grubbs was 79.

The school did not list a cause of death, but said a full obituary would follow at a later date.

Grubbs earned the 2005 Nobel Prize for the development of the metathesis method of organic synthesis. This enabled the creation of specialized plastics or more effective drugs for the treatment of disease.

According to the school, the metathesis process has led to the development of industrial and pharmaceutical methods that create fewer waste products, making them more efficient and environmentally friendly.

"Bob was an inspiration to Caltech colleagues and to scientists around the world, for his human qualities as much as for his pathbreaking contributions to research and society," said Caltech president Thomas Rosenbaum. "We will keenly miss his wisdom and vision."

Grubbs' subsequent work also focused on the development of powerful new "green" chemical catalysts, the school said. This included the discovery of an efficient method for producing a group of silicon-containing organic compounds without relying on expensive precious metal catalysts, which he and other colleagues did in 2015.

"Bob was as widely loved as he was admired," said David Tirrell, Caltech provost and a professor of chemistry and chemical engineering. "He trained an extraordinary group of younger scientists who have shaped chemistry worldwide, and he maintained a deep interest in their personal lives and professional successes."

Dennis Dougherty, a Caltech chemistry professor and chair of the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (CCE), called Grubbs a remarkable scientist, husband, father, grandfather, friend and colleague.

"Bob's passing creates a huge hold in the CCE Division, Caltech and, indeed, the entire world of science," Dougherty said.

Among other honors, Grubbs was the recipient of the Benjamin Franklin Medal from the Franklin Institute (2000), the Arthur C. Cope Award from the American Chemical Society (2002) and the American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal (2010), according to Caltech.

Grubbs was born near Paducah, Kentucky and received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in chemistry from the University of Florida, and a PhD in chemistry from Columbia University.

Caltech said Grubbs came to the school as a professor of chemistry in 1978, and he became the Victor and Elizabeth Atkins Professor of Chemistry in 1990.