Chemistry World Profiles Professor Carolyn Bertozzi

Cells, sugars and synthesis

By: Sarah Houlton

One-time heavy rocker Carolyn Bertozzi has made a name for herself with hit papers and sound science. Sarah Houlton charts her path to success

US chemist Carolyn Bertozzi reckons her path into science was almost subconscious. Her dad was a physics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology but when she started at nearby Harvard University she was tempted to major in music. ‘That was unpopular with my parents – a cousin had pursued a career in music and ended up working in a bank to pay the rent,’ she says. ‘I was a little timid about defying them.’ Instead, she chose the pre-med track that included classes in maths and the sciences, and declared herself a biology major at the end of her first year at college. ‘I didn’t really enjoy the general chemistry class in my freshman year,’ she claims. ‘It was just a box I had to check.’

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