Robert E. Ireland

Robert E. Ireland (1929 – February 4, 2012) was an American chemist and the Thomas Jefferson Chair Professor of chemistry at the University of Virginia. He is best known for his textbook Organic Synthesis and his contributions to the Ireland–Claisen rearrangement chemical reaction.

Robert E. Ireland
Born	1912 Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Died	February 4, 2012 Sarasota, Florida, U.S.
Alma mater	Amherst College (BA) University of Wisconsin (PhD)
Scientific career
Fields	Organic chemistry
Institutions	University of Michigan, California Institute of Technology, University of Virginia
Doctoral advisor	William Summer Johnson
Other academic advisors	William Gould Young
Doctoral students	David A. Evans
Other notable students	Peter Wipf

Academic career

Ireland earned his A.B. in chemistry in 1951 at Amherst College and earned his Ph.D. in chemistry in 1954 from the University of Wisconsin with William Summer Johnson, and did his postdoctoral work at UCLA with William Gould Young. In 1956, he joined the chemistry department of University of Michigan. In 1965, he became a professor of organic chemistry at the California Institute of Technology. In 1985 he became the director of the Merrell Dow Research Institute in Strasbourg, France. A year later, he became the chair of the chemistry department of University of Virginia.

Awards and honors

• Ernest Guenther Award, 1977

Personal life

Ireland was married to wife Margaret and has two sons, Mark and Robert.