Fisk University professor Dr. Lawrence Pratt recently presented a series of lectures on organometallic chemistry at Osaka University in Osaka, Japan.
“Organometallic chemistry is a field of growing importance and is used largely in the synthesis of plastics as well as pharmaceuticals,” Dr. Pratt said. “The goal of these lectures was to create new knowledge that will provide students with essential background material for further study.”
Earlier in 2009, Dr. Pratt along with Osaka University Professor of Chemistry Nobuaki Kambe and Osaka University Professor of Dentistry Professor Shin-ichi Fujiwara, published research on organometallic chemistry in Tetrahedron, a leading journal in the field of organic chemistry.
Dr. Pratt’s lectures in Osaka University were presented in cooperation with the Global Center of Excellence. Established by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, the Global Center of Excellence program was founded to enhance the competitiveness of higher education students at Japanese universities. The center’s mission is to enhance the education and research opportunities of graduate students in an effort to promote excellence and leadership in the natural sciences.
Since 2000, Dr. Pratt has published more than 35 journal articles in publications such as the Journal of Organic Chemistry and the International Journal of Quantum Chemistry. In 2007 and 2008, Dr. Pratt presented research in Vietnam at the Vietnamese-American Joint Symposium on Green Chemistry and the Joint Symposium of Computational Chemistry. He additionally presented research at the Asian Chemical Congress in Malaysia.
Fisk University, founded in 1866, is Nashville’s first university. Fisk currently produces more African-American students who go on to earn doctoral degrees in the natural sciences than any other institution in the nation.
