Eric Anslyn

Eric Anslyn is the Welch Regents Chair in Chemistry and a University Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin, positions he has held since 2014 and 2000, respectively. He joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor in 1989, was promoted to Associate Professor in 1995, and to full Professor in 1999. He previously held the Norman Hackerman Chair in Chemistry from 2002 to 2014. Anslyn received his B.S. in Chemistry from California State University, Northridge in 1982, his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology in 1987 under Robert H. Grubbs, where he conducted mechanistic and theoretical studies of olefin metathesis and ring-opening metathesis polymerizations, and completed an NSF postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University from 1987 to 1989 with Ronald Breslow, focusing on mechanistic studies of ribonuclease A mimics.

Anslyn's research specializes in physical organic and supramolecular chemistry, devising sensing systems using mechanistic insights and photophysics for applications including rapid screening of enantiomeric excess, diastereomeric excess, and reaction yields to facilitate asymmetric catalysis discovery; differential sensing arrays to classify kinase activity, screen inhibitors, and detect counterfeit beverages; reversible covalent bonding for orthogonal reactions in polymers, complex assemblies, and self-replicating oligomers; and sequence-defined biotic and abiotic polymers in collaboration with other groups. He co-authored the graduate textbook "Modern Physical Organic Chemistry" with Dennis A. Dougherty (2006). Key publications include "Recent advances in supramolecular analytical chemistry using optical sensing" (Chemical Reviews, 2015, with L. You and D. Zha), "Indicator–displacement assays" (Coordination Chemistry Reviews, 2006, with B.T. Nguyen), and "Artificial receptors for the recognition of phosphorylated molecules" (Chemical Reviews, 2011). His contributions have profoundly influenced molecular sensing and supramolecular materials. Major awards include the 2025 Chirality Medal (Italian Society of Chemistry), Centenary Prize (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2020), James Flack Norris Award in Physical Organic Chemistry (ACS, 2019), 1st Czarnik Award for Molecular Sensing (2016), Izatt-Christensen Award for Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry (2013), Edward Leete Award (2013), and Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award (2006), alongside numerous teaching honors such as the University of Texas System Regents Teaching Award (2010) and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professorship (2018-2023).