A UCLA chemistry professor was selected as the first person to hold UCLA’s Kenneth N. Trueblood Endowed Chair in Chemistry and Biochemistry.
Neil Garg was selected to hold the chair Friday, according to the chemistry department’s website.
Established in 2017, the chair was funded by a gift from Kenneth and Jeanie Trueblood’s estate. The dean of the division of physical sciences and the department of chemistry and biochemistry provided matching funds to create the chair.
Garg joined the UCLA faculty in 2007 and was appointed as the vice chair for education in 2012. His research focuses on developing methods for synthesizing organic molecules.
Aside from his teaching and research, Garg has helped develop various educational tools to help students learn chemistry.
He created an app in December called “Backside Attack” that teaches standard concepts in organic chemistry through gameplay. He also wrote and self-published a coloring book called “The Organic Coloring Book” in May to inspire children to develop an interest in organic chemistry. In July, Garg helped a team of undergraduate students develop an online tool, QR Chem, that allows students to visualize 3D chemistry molecules by scanning a QR code that links to a 3D image of the molecule.
Kenneth Trueblood was a chemistry instructor at UCLA from 1949 to 1989, when he retired as professor emeritus. Trueblood died in 1998.