Party Watch
Chemistry pioneer honored for groundbreaking research at black-tie dinner
What: The Welch Foundation's Welch Award in Chemistry dinner.
Where: The Hilton Houston Post Oak.
The 411: One of the oldest and largest private funding sources for chemistry researchers in colleges and universities, the Welch Foundation presents, when warranted, two awards in chemistry each year. Monday night, Robert G. Bergman of the University of California received the Welch Award in Chemistry. According to dinner organizers, Bergman is a pioneer in organometallic chemistry having discovered how to break the carbon-hydrogen bond which led to advances in drug development and greener energy.
In remarks to the black-tie gathering of 350 scientists and academic and civic leaders, Welch Foundation chair Beth Robertson highlighted the more than $800 million the foundation has invested in basic chemical research in Texas in the 60 years since its creation.
Seriously upping the IQ quotient of the gathering were Nobel Laureates Ahmed Zewail, Robert Curl and Yuan Lee and National Medal of Science recipients Paul Chu and Peter Dervan.
Who: Dr. Robert Robbins (new Welch Foundation board member), Anne and Charles Duncan, Liz Ghrist, Janet and Ernie Cockrell, Katherine and Robert Hatcher, Richard Tapia, Bruce Alberts and Shirley and Jim Dannenbaum.