 |
André M. Beauchemin, Professor and Vice-Provost, Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
|
André Beauchemin was born in Quebec city on August 6, 1974. He obtained his BSc chemistry from the Université Laval, graduating in 1996 (working with Prof. J. Boukouvalas). He then studied at the Université de Montréal under the guidance of Prof. André B. Charette, obtaining his Ph. D. in 2001. His graduate efforts culminated in a thesis for which he was awarded the Governor General’s GoldMedal in 2002. He also co-authored a comprehensive book chapter on the Simmons-Smith reaction in Organic Reactions. His post-doctoral appointment was at Harvard University, under the guidance of Prof. David A. Evans, working toward the total synthesis of the marine natural product azaspiracid 1. Throughout his studies, André has been supported by NSERC, from summer internships at Merck Frosst to a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University.
In August 2004, André started as an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa and was promoted to associate professor in 2010 and full professor in 2015. From August to December 2013, André was a visiting professor at ETH Zürich. Over the years André received a CSC Enantioselective Synthetic Research Program Grant (2005), an University of Ottawa Excellence in Education Award (2008), a Early Researcher Award (Ontario, 2009), a New Directions Grant from the Petroleum Research Fund of the American Chemical Society (2010), an AstraZeneca Award in Chemistry (2011), a Discovery Accelerator Supplement by NSERC (2011), a University of Ottawa Research Chair (2012-2016) and the Boehringer Ingelheim Research Excellence award (2015). Generous financial support and stimulating academic and industrial collaborations have helped the group develop various novel approaches to bioactive nitrogen-containing molecules using inexpensive reagents and catalysts.
Over the years, André served on occasions at the Departmental, Faculty, University, Provincial and National levels. This includes serving on adjudicating committees for OGS, FRQNT, NSERC scholarships, for awards, and for NSERC Discovery Grants. From 2017 to 2019, he served as director of the chemistry graduate program, and from 2019 to 2022 as Vice-Dean responsible for graduate studies and entrepreneurship in the Faculty of Science. After a short sabbatical, since October 2022 he is interim Vice-Provost, Graduate and Postdoctoral studies for the University of Ottawa.
Outside the lab, André enjoys good food, wine, Scotch, outdoor activities including runs on the side of the Ottawa river, and spending time with his family and friends. André is married to Karine, and they have two boys full of energy (Charles and Nicolas) who can’t wait for the next group barbecue!
The Beauchemin Lab 