# Carolyn Bertozzi

_American chemist (born 1966)_

Canonical: https://diginpl.com/people/carolyn-bertozzi
Last updated: 2026-10-31

> Carolyn Ruth Bertozzi (born October 10, 1966) is an American chemist and Nobel laureate, known for her wide-ranging work spanning both chemistry and biology. She coined the term "bioorthogonal chemistry" for chemical reactions compatible with living systems, and is a major figure in the field of glycobiology, the study of structural carbohydrates or glycans. Her work focuses on developing tools of analytical chemistry to study glycans and their role in diseases such as cancer, inflammation, and viral infections like COVID-19. At Stanford University, she holds the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professorship in the School of Humanities and Sciences. Bertozzi is also an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and is the former director of the Molecular Foundry, a nanoscience research center at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Since 2024, she has served as a scientific advisory board member of Arc Institute.

## Quick facts

- **Born:** 10 October 1966 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7442#P569))
- **Place of birth:** Boston ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7442#P19))
- **Citizenship:** United States ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7442#P27))
- **Occupation:** chemist; biochemist; university teacher ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7442#P106))
- **Education:** Lexington High School; Harvard University; University of California, Berkeley ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7442#P69))
- **Official website:** profiles.stanford.edu/carolyn-bertozzi ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7442#P856))
- **Awards:** Willard Gibbs Award; Ernst Schering Prize; ACS Award in Pure Chemistry; MacArthur Fellows Program; Lemelson–MIT Prize; Arthur C. Cope Award; National Inventors Hall of Fame; Heinrich Wieland Prize; Agnes Fay Morgan Research Award; Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; Foreign Member of the Royal Society; Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award; F. A. Cotton Medal; Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers; Wolf Prize in Chemistry ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7442#P166))
- **X (Twitter):** CarolynBertozzi ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7442#P2002))
- **LinkedIn:** carolyn-bertozzi-874848183 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7442#P6634))

## About

She received the MacArthur "genius" award at age 33. In 2010, she was the first woman to receive the Lemelson–MIT Prize faculty award. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (2005), the Institute of Medicine (2011), and the National Academy of Inventors (2013). In 2014, it was announced that Bertozzi would lead ACS Central Science, the American Chemical Society's first peer-reviewed open access journal, which offers all content free to the public. Since 2021 she has been a member of the Accademia dei Lincei.

Bertozzi was awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, jointly with Morten P. Meldal and Karl Barry Sharpless, "for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry".

## Questions

**When was Carolyn Bertozzi born?**  
Carolyn Bertozzi was born on 10 October 1966 in Boston.

**Where did Carolyn Bertozzi study?**  
Carolyn Bertozzi was educated at Lexington High School, Harvard University, University of California, Berkeley.

## Related

- [Jan Koum](https://diginpl.com/people/jan-koum)
- [Joe Gebbia](https://diginpl.com/people/joe-gebbia)
- [Luke Nosek](https://diginpl.com/people/luke-nosek)
- [Miriam Adelson](https://diginpl.com/people/miriam-adelson)
- [Adam Riess](https://diginpl.com/people/adam-riess)
- [Alan J. Heeger](https://diginpl.com/people/alan-j-heeger)
- [Alfred G. Gilman](https://diginpl.com/people/alfred-g-gilman)
- [Alfred Hershey](https://diginpl.com/people/alfred-hershey)
- [Allan MacLeod Cormack](https://diginpl.com/people/allan-macleod-cormack)
- [Andrea M. Ghez](https://diginpl.com/people/andrea-m-ghez)
- [Andrew Fire](https://diginpl.com/people/andrew-fire)
- [Andrew Schally](https://diginpl.com/people/andrew-schally)

## Sources

- [Wikipedia (English): Carolyn Bertozzi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolyn_Bertozzi) — [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
- [Wikidata item Q7442](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7442) — [CC0 1.0](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- [Image: Carolyn Bertozzi IMG 9384.jpg by Kuebi = Armin Kübelbeck (CC BY-SA 3.0)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carolyn_Bertozzi_IMG_9384.jpg)

## Licence and attribution

Text from the Wikipedia article Carolyn Bertozzi, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: Carolyn Bertozzi IMG 9384.jpg — Kuebi = Armin Kübelbeck, CC BY-SA 3.0.

## Cite this page

"Carolyn Bertozzi". DigiNepal. Last updated 31 October 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/carolyn-bertozzi. Retrieved 6 November 2026.