Andre Charette's Biography

Andre Charette, Professor, Universite De Montreal

Born in 1961 in Montréal, André B. Charette received his B.Sc. in 1983 from the Université de Montréal. He then moved south of the border to the University of Rochester to continue his graduate studies. Under the supervision of Robert K. Boeckman Jr., he completed the total synthesis of the ionophore calcimycin, which earned him the degrees of M.Sc. (1985) and Ph.D. (1987). Following an NSERC postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University with D. A. Evans, he began his academic career at the Université Laval (Quebec City) in 1989. In 1992, he joined the Université de Montréal, where he has been promoted to the rank of Full Professor since 1998. With a record of close to 200 publications and numerous invited lectures throughout the world, Prof. Charette has achieved worldwide recognition in his field. His research lies primarily in the development of new methods for the stereoselective synthesis of organic compounds and natural products. He has devised conceptually novel approaches to catalyst and reaction design with important applications in the synthesis of chiral cyclopropanes, amines and heterocyclic derivatives. Among his recent honors are the CSC Alfred Bader Award (2009), the Prix Marie Victorin of the Government of Quebec (2008) and an ACS Arthur C. Cope Award (2007). His scientific and leadership abilities have been rewarded by the establishment of two chairs: the NSERC/Merck Frosst/Boehringer Ingelheim Industrial Chair in Stereoselective Drug Synthesis (2000-2010) and the Canada Research Chair in Stereoselective Synthesis of Bioactive Molecules (2005-).