Biography

Professor Li Deng received his B.S. degree from Tsinghua University (1987), M.S. degree from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (1990), and Ph.D. degree from Harvard University (1995). He carried out his postdoctoral studies at Harvard with Professors George Whitesides and Gregory Verdine as an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow. He joined Brandeis University as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry in 1998. He was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2003, to Full Professor and was named the Orrie Friedman Distinguished Professor of Chemistry in 2005. He served as the Chair of the Chemistry Department at Brandies University from 2011 to 2014. He joined Westlake University in July of 2018, and is currently the Xu Yiming Endowed Chair Professor, the Chair of the Chemistry Department, the Executive Dean of School of Science and Chair of University Academic Committee.

Research

Professor Deng is widely recognized as a pioneer and leader in the field of organocatalysis. His research focuses on the invention and the development of new catalytic reactions of importance in synthetic organic chemistry. His studies have established new concepts and strategies for weak bonding organocatalysis that are utilized by laboratories around the world for the successful development of numerous new catalysts and reactions. A broad range of reactions invented in his own laboratories have been successfully applied in academic and industrial laboratories. Several of his catalysts have been licensed to pharmaceutical and chemical companies.

Professor Deng serves as consultants for pharmaceutical and chemical companies and as panel members for public and private funding agencies. He has been recognized by several honors and awards, including Research Innovation Award, Research Corporation, New Investigator Award from The Medical Foundation, the Sloan Research Fellowship, Japan Society for the Promotion of Sciences (JSPS) Fellowship, the Chan Memorial Award in Organic Chemistry, and the Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award from American Chemical Society.