Professor Sophie Rousseaux is the recipient of the 2023 CIC Keith Fagnou Award. This award is presented to a scientist residing in Canada who has made a distinguished contribution to organic chemistry while working in Canada. Eligible candidates must have received their Ph.D. no more than 12 years prior at the time of initial nomination.
Rousseaux says “I’m thrilled to be the recipient of the 2023 CSC Keith Fagnou Award! As a former student of Keith’s, this award is particularly meaningful. I look forward to highlighting my group members’ contributions to our research program at the 2023 CSC meeting in Vancouver.”
Sophie Rousseaux obtained a B.Sc. in Biopharmaceutical Sciences, Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Ottawa in 2007. She remained at the University of Ottawa for her PhD, working with Prof. Keith Fagnou on Pd-catalyzed aliphatic C–H bond functionalization reactions. In 2010, she moved to MIT to complete her graduate research with Prof. Stephen L. Buchwald, working on Pd-catalyzed dearomatization reactions. From 2012–2015, she worked with Prof. Harry L. Anderson, University of Oxford, on the self-assembly of porphyrin nanorings as an NSERC postdoctoral fellow and Glasstone Research Fellow. During her time at Oxford, Sophie also held a Junior Research Fellow at St John’s College (2012–2015) and was a Stipendiary Lecturer in Organic Chemistry at Jesus College (2014).
In July 2015, Sophie joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Toronto as an Assistant Professor, where she also holds a Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Organic Chemistry since 2016. She was promoted to Associate Professor in July 2022. Her group’s research interests include organic synthesis, catalysis, and organometallic chemistry, with a particular focus on the synthesis of small rings and nitrile-containing molecules.