Garg Lab

About Neil

 
 
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Neil K. Garg, Ph.D.

Distinguished Kenneth N. Trueblood Professor & Vice Chair
B.S., New York University (2000)
Ph.D., Caltech (2005)
NIH postdoctoral fellow, UC Irvine (2005–2007)

Curriculum Vitae

Watch Neil’s TEDx talk

Email: neilgarg@chem.ucla.edu
Office: (310) 825-1536
5505C Molecular Sciences Building

 

Neil is a Distinguished Professor and the inaugural holder of the Kenneth N. Trueblood Endowed Chair in Chemistry and Biochemistry. He has served as Vice Chair for the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (2012–2016 and 2023-present), as well as the Department Chair (2019–2023). He also served as Faculty-in-Residence in the UCLA undergraduate community for nine years. Neil is a co-founder of ElectraTect as well as a popular speaker and consultant for teaching, scientific, and legal matters.

Prior to joining the faculty at UCLA, Neil received a B.S. in Chemistry from New York University where he did undergraduate research with Professor Marc Walters. During his undergraduate years, he spent several months in Strasbourg, France while conducting research with Professor Mir Wais Hosseini at Université Louis Pasteur as a NSF REU Fellow. Neil obtained his Ph.D. in 2005 from the California Institute of Technology under the direction of Professor Brian Stoltz. He then joined Professor Larry Overman’s research laboratory at the University of California, Irvine as an NIH Postdoctoral Scholar.

Neil joined the faculty at UCLA in 2007. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2012, and then to Full Professor in 2013.  In 2020, he was promoted to the rank of Distinguished Professor.

 
 

Honors and Awards

  • UCLA Herbert Newby McCoy Award, 2023

  • AAAS Mani L. Bhaumik Award for Public Engagement with Science, 2023

  • UCLA Faculty Mentoring Honor Society, 2022

  • Fellow of the American Institute of Chemists, 2022

  • Mukaiyama Award, 2022

  • Royal Society of Chemistry’s Horizon Prize (Garg Molecular Educators Team), 2021

  • Royal Society of Chemistry’s Horizon Prize (Tang/Houk/Garg Team), 2021

  • Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists, Finalist, 2020

  • UCLA Athletics Uncommon Bruin Honoree, 2020

  • Edward Leete Award, 2019

  • James Flack Norris Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Teaching of Chemistry, 2019

  • US Defense Science Study Group (DSSG Class of 2022-2023), 2019

  • New York University’s Distinguished Alumnus Award, 2019

  • ASBMB Award for Exemplary Contributions to Education, 2019

  • Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2018

  • Fellow of the American Chemical Society, 2018

  • Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists, Finalist, 2018

  • Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching, 2018 (Watch Neil’s Public Lecture) (NY Times)

  • Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching, Finalist, 2017

  • Royal Society of Chemistry’s Higher Education Award, 2017

  • Elias J. Corey Award for Outstanding Original Contribution in Organic Synthesis, 2017

  • Mitsui Chemicals Catalysis Science Award of Encouragement, 2016

  • Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, 2016

  • Royal Society of Chemistry’s Merck Award, 2016

  • Guggenheim Fellowship, 2016

  • Thieme-IUPAC Prize, 2016

  • Tetrahedron Young Investigator Award, 2016

  • California’s US Professor of the Year, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 2015

  • UCLA Herbert Newby McCoy Award, 2015

  • Gold Shield Faculty Prize, 2015

  • Novartis Chemistry Lectureship, 2015–2016

  • Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, 2015

  • UCLA Distinguished Teaching Award & Eby Award for the Art of Teaching, 2014

  • Mortar Board National Honors Society, UCLA Honorary Faculty Member Award, 2014

  • Dr. Robert M. Stevenson Faculty-in-Residence Award, UCLA Office of Residential Life, 2014

  • Bristol-Myers Squibb Unrestricted Grant in Synthetic Organic Chemistry, 2013

  • UCLA Bruinwalk’s Professor of the Year, 2013

  • Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, 2013

  • S. T. Li Prize for Achievements in Science and Technology, 2012

  • ACS Green Chemistry Institute Pharmaceutical Roundtable Grantee Award, 2012

  • Glenn T. Seaborg Award, 2012

  • A. P. Sloan Research Fellowship, 2012

  • Roche Excellence in Chemistry Award, 2012

  • UCLA Hanson-Dow Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2011

  • UCLA Herbert Newby McCoy Award, 2011

  • AstraZeneca Excellence in Chemistry Award, 2011–2012

  • Amgen Young Investigator Award, 2011–2012

  • Eli Lilly Grantee Award, 2010–2012

  • DuPont Young Professor Award, 2010–2013

  • NSF CAREER Award, 2010–2015

  • Thieme Chemistry Journal Award, 2010

  • UCLA Faculty Research Grant, 2010

  • Boehringer Ingelheim New Investigator Award, 2009

  • UCLA Faculty Career Development Award, 2008

  • UCLA Faculty Research Grant, 2008

  • National Institutes of Health Pathway to Independence Award, 2006–2010

  • National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2005–2006

  • Herbert Newby McCoy Thesis Award at the California Institute of Technology, 2005

  • Dow Chemical Company Travel Fellowship, 2002

  • National Defense Science & Engineering Graduate Fellowship, 2001–2004

  • Phi Beta Kappa, 2000

  • George Granger Brown Scholarship Award in Chemistry, 2000

  • American Institute of Chemists Prize, 2000

  • New York University Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, 1999

  • National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Fellowship, 1999

 
 

 

Lectureships

  • Dreyfus Lectures Trinity University, San Antonio, TX, 2024.

  • Overman Lecture University of California, Irvine, CA, 2024.

  • SinoCompound Lecture The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, 2024.

  • Herschbach Lectures Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 2022.

  • Mukaiyama Award Lecture 38th Seminar on Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Kitakyushu, Japan, 2022.

  • Keynote Lecture Merck Global Chemistry Summit, Skytop, PA, 2022.

  • Keynote Lecture UCLA Chancellor’s Society, Lake Arrowhead, CA, 2022.

  • Goldstein Distinguished Lecture Cal Poly Pomona, Pomona, CA, 2021.

  • UCLA Arts 10 Questions UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, 2020.

  • 1960’s Scholars Lecture Williams College, Williamstown, MA, 2020.

  • Skeptical Chymists Lecture Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA, 2020.

  • Organic Syntheses Lecture – Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 2020.

  • Keynote Lecture – Caltech Project for Effective Teaching, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 2019.

  • Keynote Lecture – Amgen Young Investigator Award Symposium, Amgen, Thousand Oaks, CA, 2019.

  • Reilly Lectures – University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, 2019.

  • Plenary Lecture – EFMC International Symposium on Advances in Synthetic and Medicinal Chemistry, Athens, Greece, 2019.

  • Keynote Lecture – Robert Foster Cherry Educational Summit, Baylor University, Waco, TX, 2019.

  • Honors College Distinguished Lecture – University of Mary Hardin–Baylor, Belton, TX, 2019.

  • L. Carroll King Memorial Lectures – Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 2018.

  • Burkett Lectures – DePauw University, Greencastle, IN, 2018.

  • R.C. Fuson Lectures – University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, 2018.

  • RSC Higher Education Award Lecture – Sir Derek Barton Centenary Symposium, Imperial College, London, UK, 2018.

  • Keynote Lecture – Organic Reactions Catalysis Society Conference, San Diego, CA, 2018.

  • Distinguished Lecture – Modern Chemistry Series, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, 2018.

  • Emerson Lectures – Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 2018. 

  • Dow Foundation Distinguished Lectures – University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 2017.        

  • Tomlinson Teaching Lectures – McGill University, Montreal, Canada, 2017.

  • Katritzky Lecture – University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 2017.

  • RSC Merck Award Lecture – 23rd Lakeland Symposium on Heterocyclic Chemistry, Grasmere, Ambleside, UK, 2017.

  • Aldrich Lecture – University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, 2017.

  • Genentech Lecture – University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada, 2016.

  • Michael Geis Distinguished Lecture – Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA, 2016.

  • Organic Syntheses Lecture – Wayne State University, Ann Arbor, MI, 2016.

  • Keynote Lectures – UC Symposium for the Chemical Sciences, Lake Arrowhead, CA, 2016.

  • Paul Dowd Lectures – University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 2016.

  • Caltech Project for Effective Teaching Lecture, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 2015.

  • Keynote Lecture – Tetrahedron Symposium Asia Edition, Shanghai, China, 2015.

  • Novartis Chemistry Lecture – Novartis, Basel, Switzerland, 2015.

  • Keynote Lecture – Agrochemicals: Innovations in Discovery and Process Chemistry SymposiumACS National Meeting, Boston, MA, 2015.

  • Novartis Chemistry Lecture – Novartis GNF, San Diego, CA, 2015.

  • Novartis Chemistry Lecture – Novartis, Emeryville, CA, 2015.

  • Keynote Lecture – Tetrahedron Symposium, Berlin, Germany, 2015.

  • TEDXUCLA, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 2015.

  • Plenary Lecture – Meeting of the Organic Chemistry Division of the French Chemical Society, Paris, France, 2015.

  • Fagnou Lecture – University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada, 2015.

  • Novartis Chemistry Lecture – Novartis, Cambridge, MA, 2015.

  • Aldrich Lecture – The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 2014.

  • Padwa Lecture – Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 2014.

  • Aldrich Lecture – University of Texas, Austin, TX, 2014.