Elias J. Corey Award for Outstanding Original Contribution in Organic Synthesis by a Young Investigator: Robert R. Knowles Sponsor: Pfizer Endowment Fund Citation : For establishing proton-coupled electron transfer as a general approach to solve synthetic challenges in the areas of free radical chemistry, asymmetric catalysis, and organometallic chemistry Current position: Professor of chemistry, Princeton University Education: BS, chemistry, College of William and Mary; PhD, organic chemistry, California Institute of Technology Knowles on the most rewarding part of his job: “The process of taking an idea that begins as a drawing on a blackboard and developing it into something real that other people can actually use and build upon.” What Knowles’s colleagues say: “Rob has established an extraordinarily original and successful independent research program and set new directions in the field of reaction chemistry. He is a highly creative synthetic and mechanistic chemist, with a remarkably insightful and probing mind.”—Eric