Summary: The average person has about 5 grams of iron in them (enough for a good sized nail). Most of this iron is used for oxygen uptake but many essential metabolic processes also rely on iron. This talk will begin with a general discussion of iron metabolism in humans and some diseases that result from disruption of iron transport. Professor Raymond’s research interests range from biochemistry and metals in medicine to physical inorganic chemistry. The underlying theme of the research projects is the question of metal-ligand specificity of interaction in coordination and bioinorganic chemistry. Dr. Raymond received an appointment to the faculty in the Department of Chemistry at The University of California, Berkeley in 1967 as an assistant professor. He became an associate professor in 1974 and a full professor of chemistry in 1978. Research from the Raymond group has covered a wide range of topics in inorganic chemistry, including actinide and lanthanide chemistry, microbial iron transport and metal-based supramolecular assemblies. At the heart of his research is a basic interest in metal- ligand specificity as understood through crystallography and solution thermodynamics. Dr. Raymond is a UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Professor and the Director of the Glenn T. Seaborg Center at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the President and Chairman of Lumipore. He continues to make strides in fundamental research in the fields of metals in biology and physical inorganic chemistry. He has been honored with many awards and distinguished honors in the US and abroad and has authored more than 500 scientific papers. Dr. Raymond is also named on 18 patents. Dr. Raymond attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon where he majored in Chemistry and earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1964. Raymond then attended Northwestern University where he studied coordination chemistry and crystallography under Fred Basolo, and also worked closely with James A. Ibers, earning his Ph.D. degree in 1968.
