Robert Guy Griffin receives Distinguished Alumni Award from Washington University
Griffin was selected in recognition of his distinguished career and for exemplifying scientific excellence, leadership, and integrity.
Robert Guy Griffin, the Arthur Amos Noyes Professor of Chemistry, was recently honored with the Washington University in St. Louis’ Department of Chemistry’s inaugural Distinguished Alumni Award. Nominations for the award were submitted by members of the Washington University community and alumni, and after a meticulous selection process, it was determined that Griffin — who earned his PhD from Washington University in 1969 — would be one of three recipients of this illustrious honor.
Griffin’s research is devoted to the development of new magnetic resonance techniques for studying molecular structure and dynamics of amyloid and membrane proteins. He served as director of the Francis Bitter Magnet Laboratory at MIT. In 2024 Griffin received the Karl-Friedrich Bonhoeffer Lecture Award, the ISMAR (International Society of Magnetic Resonance) Prize in 2010, the Richard Ernst Prize in 2017, the Zavoisky Award in 2024, and the Günther Laukien Prize for NMR research in 2007. In 2021, he was elected a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.
Griffin was celebrated by the Washington University community for achieving distinction in his career and exemplifying scientific excellence, leadership, and integrity. At the ceremony, he was reunited with his former MIT Chemistry colleague Mark S. Wrighton, who served as head of the MIT Chemistry Department from 1987 to 1990, then as MIT provost from 1990 to 1995. Wrighton then went on to become the 14th Chancellor of Washington University, and served as President of The George Washington University from 2022 – 2023.
