# Karl Barry Sharpless

_American chemist and Nobel Laureate (born 1941)_

Canonical: https://diginpl.com/people/karl-barry-sharpless
Last updated: 2026-10-31

> Karl Barry Sharpless (born April 28, 1941) is an American stereochemist. He is a two-time Nobel laureate in chemistry, known for his work on stereoselective reactions and click chemistry.

## Quick facts

- **Born:** 28 April 1941 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110925#P569))
- **Place of birth:** Philadelphia ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110925#P19))
- **Citizenship:** United States ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110925#P27))
- **Occupation:** chemist; university teacher ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110925#P106))
- **Education:** Harvard University; Friends' Central School; Dartmouth College; Stanford University; Dartmouth College ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110925#P69))
- **Official website:** scripps.edu/chem/sharpless/cv.html ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110925#P856))
- **Awards:** ACS Award for Creative Work in Synthetic Organic Chemistry,; Guggenheim Fellowship; Prelog Medal and Lecture; Scheele Award; Arthur C. Cope Award; Centenary Prize; King Faisal Prize in Science; Harvey Prize; NAS Award in Chemical Sciences; Chirality Medal; Benjamin Franklin Medal; Wolf Prize in Chemistry; Nobel Prize in Chemistry; F. A. Cotton Medal; Priestley Medal ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110925#P166))

## About

Sharpless was awarded half of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his work on chirally catalysed oxidation reactions", and one third of the 2022 prize, jointly with Carolyn R. Bertozzi and Morten P. Meldal, "for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry". Sharpless is the fifth person (in addition to two organizations) to have twice been awarded a Nobel prize, along with Marie Curie, John Bardeen, Linus Pauling and Frederick Sanger, and the third to have been awarded two prizes in the same discipline (after Bardeen and Sanger).

## Questions

**When was Karl Barry Sharpless born?**  
Karl Barry Sharpless was born on 28 April 1941 in Philadelphia.

**Where did Karl Barry Sharpless study?**  
Karl Barry Sharpless was educated at Harvard University, Friends' Central School, Dartmouth College, Stanford University.

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## Sources

- [Wikipedia (English): Karl Barry Sharpless](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Barry_Sharpless) — [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
- [Wikidata item Q110925](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110925) — [CC0 1.0](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- [Image: Barry Sharpless 02.jpg by Bengt Oberger (CC BY-SA 4.0)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barry_Sharpless_02.jpg)

## Licence and attribution

Text from the Wikipedia article Karl Barry Sharpless, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: Barry Sharpless 02.jpg — Bengt Oberger, CC BY-SA 4.0.

## Cite this page

"Karl Barry Sharpless". DigiNepal. Last updated 31 October 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/karl-barry-sharpless. Retrieved 5 November 2026.