Pioneers in Chemistry: Keynote Speakers at ACS Spring 2025

Mar 12, 2025
3 min read

Learn more about the ACS Spring 2025 keynote speakers and browse some of their noteworthy research published in ACS journals.

A crowd of attendees at ACS Fall 2024 listening to a keynote lecture

ACS Spring 2025, which will take place March 23-27 in San Diego, California and online, is bringing together some of the brightest minds in chemistry from around the world. The upcoming meeting will feature three keynote speakers, each of whom has made groundbreaking contributions within their respective fields. Below, we provide an overview of each speaker, including a selection of research highlights published in ACS Publications journals.

We hope to see you this year at ACS Spring 2025, either in person or online! Visit this post for more information about how to connect with ACS Publications throughout the meeting.

Professor Frances H. Arnold

Priestley Medalist Award Address and Open Board Session: “A Random (Mostly) Uphill Walk”
Sunday, March 23 | 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM PT | San Diego Convention Center Room 6A/B

Prof. Arnold is the recipient of the 2018 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry. She is currently the Linus Pauling Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering, and Biochemistry and the President’s Council of Advisors on Science & Technology, Executive Office of the President at Caltech. Prof. Arnold will be recognized for contributions to the development of directed evolution as a method for chemical and biological design. She will be officially honored as the 2025 Priestley Medalist on Tuesday, March 25 during the ACS National Awards Banquet and Ceremony at the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego. Learn More.

Selected Research Highlights

LevSeq: Rapid Generation of Sequence-Function Data for Directed Evolution and Machine Learning
ACS Synth. Biol. 2025, 14, 1, 230–238
DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.4c00625

Opportunities and Challenges for Machine Learning-Assisted Enzyme Engineering
ACS Cent. Sci. 2024, 10, 2, 226–241
DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.3c01275

Navigating the Unnatural Reaction Space: Directed Evolution of Heme Proteins for Selective Carbene and Nitrene Transfer
Acc. Chem. Res. 2021, 54, 5, 1209–1225
DOI: 10.1021/acs.accounts.0c00591

Browse More Articles by Prof. Arnold in ACS Journals

Professor Nicholas E. Jackson

Credit: University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

The Kavli Foundation Emerging Leader in Chemistry Lecture: “A Quantum Mechanical Frontier for Polymer Science”
Monday, March 24 | 5:00 - 6:00 PM PT | San Diego Convention Center Room 6A/B

Prof. Jackson is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry and leader of the Beckman Institute's AI for Materials Group at UIUC. His research group works on problems at the interface of soft materials, quantum mechanics, and machine learning, with specific interests in the development of coarse-grained electronic structure methods, conjugated materials theory, and sustainable polymer design. Prof. Jackson previously served on the 2023 Early Career Board for the Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation. Learn more.

Selected Research Highlights

Ten Problems in Polymer Reactivity Prediction
Macromolecules 2025, 58, 4, 1737–1754
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.4c02582

Exploring Thermoset Fracture with a Quantum Chemically Accurate Model of Bond Scission
Macromolecules 2024, 57, 4, 1414–1425
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c02549

Bringing Quantum Mechanics to Coarse-Grained Soft Materials Modeling
Chem. Mater. 2023, 35, 4, 1470–1486
DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.2c03712

Browse More Articles by Prof. Jackson in ACS Journals

Professor Krzysztof Matyjaszewski

Credit: Carnegie Mellon University

The Fred Kavli Innovations in Chemistry Lecture: “Macromolecular Engineering by Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization”
Tuesday, March 25 | 5:00 - 6:00 PM PT | San Diego Convention Center Room 6A/B

Prof. Matyjaszewski is J.C. Warner University Professor of Natural Sciences and director of the Center for Macromolecular Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. In 1994 he discovered Cu-mediated atom transfer radical polymerization, commercialized in 2004 in US, Japan and Europe. He has co-authored >1,300 publications and 72 US patents. Prof. Matyjaszewski has published extensively in ACS journals and books, and he has received five major awards from the American Chemical Society. Learn more.