Jeanna Duerscherl | The Roanoke Times
Robert Grubbs, recipient of the 2005 Nobel Prize for chemistry, talks with visitors at the Science Museum of Western Virginia. Grubbs was in Southwest Virginia for the World Polymer Congress at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.
As a "green" chemist, Robert Grubbs works to counter the image of scientific endeavors as spreading pollution and risk.
The California scientist said during a visit to Roanoke he's finding ways to turn plant products into fuel and insect pheromones into pesticide replacements.
If Grubbs says that's possible, it probably is. He was awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize for chemistry, an honor given for his work in catalysts.
"Once you've got a catalyst, you can do all kinds of interesting stuff," Grubbs told an audience of 25 Tuesday at the Science Museum of Western Virginia. He was in Southwest Virginia for the World Polymer Congress at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.
Grubbs, 70, a professor at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., ran through a series of scientific slides and personal photos during an informal, hour-long talk brought about by the science museum's partnership with Tech. There is a shot of him receiving the Nobel Prize from the king of Sweden. There is a shot of his sons, one a chemist and one a doctor, and his daughter, a psychologist for military veterans.
The psychic wounds of war, he said, are "worse than you think."
Grubbs is a native of Kentucky who holds bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Florida and a doctorate in chemistry from Columbia University. He taught at Michigan State University from 1969 to 1978, when he joined Caltech.
Among a career with many highlights, he split $1.2 million with two others when named a Nobel Prize winner, he said. Asked before his talk about the impact on his life, he quoted his wife: "We dance more and we drink better wine."
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Nobel Prize winner discusses 'green' chemistry at the Science Museum of Western Virginia - http://www.roanoke.com
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