Stanford chemist Carolyn Bertozzi was awakened at 1:43 a.m. this morning by a phone call from Sweden delivering the news that she was a co-recipient, along with Morten Meldal and Barry Sharpless, of this year’s Nobel Prize in chemistry. Bertozzi was recognized for founding the field of bioorthogonal chemistry, a set of chemical reactions that allow researchers to study molecules and their interactions in living things without interfering with natural biological processes. Bertozzi is already considering ways to make the most of her new status as Nobel laureate. “I’m the same person I was at 1 a.m., but I’m realizing that my voice now has a platform, and I’m thinking about how to use that.”
Carolyn Bertozzi poses for a 4 a.m. portrait during a non-stop wave of interviews with international media. Bertozzi is the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences and a professor of chemistry, with courtesy appointments in Chemical & Systems Biology and Radiology. Image credit: Andrew Brodhead“Every time you have an unexpected outcome of an experiment, it’s an opportunity to revise your thinking and to acknowledge that maybe you don’t understand the system as well as you thought. This is your chance to learn something new. And when you think of it from that standpoint, there really are no failures.” Image credit: Andrew BrodheadThe first person Carolyn Bertozzi called was her father, William Bertozzi, a retired physics professor from MIT. “He’s 91 and, of course, he was just overjoyed,” said Bertozzi. “And then he called my sisters for me, and we’ve been texting. One of my sisters and my dad watched it [the award announcement] live.” Image credit: Andrew BrodheadDuring a Zoom interview, Carolyn Bertozzi gesticulates how she attached fluorescent tags to sugar molecules to see where sugars exist inside live cells. Image credit: Andrew BrodheadFueled by ginger ale and cashews, Carolyn Bertozzi conducted several hours of interviews before the sun rose, this one with the BBC. Image credit: Andrew BrodheadCarolyn Bertozzi reflects on her pioneering career during an interview with the Associated Press. Image credit: Andrew BrodheadCarolyn Bertozzi conducts a Zoom interview with Reuters. In the background, a Christmas tree she keeps up all year round. Image credit: Andrew BrodheadCarolyn Bertozzi spent most of the pre-dawn hours surrounded by reporters and photographers. Image credit: Andrew BrodheadCarolyn Bertozzi is the eighth woman to win the Nobel Prize in chemistry. “I understand the gravity of being a woman, and now a Nobel laureate, in the sciences. There aren’t that many of us yet, although that’s certainly trending in the right direction.” Image credit: Andrew Brodhead“I’m the same person I was at 1 a.m., but I’m realizing that my voice now has a platform. I think to the extent that a younger scientist or an early career scientist can look at my path and at this moment and draw some inspiration from it, I would feel deep gratitude that I had the opportunity to impact somebody that way. That’s an opportunity that I will cherish.” Image credit: Andrew Brodhead“I answered the phone and it was the chair of the Nobel Prize Committee calling to share the good news,” Bertozzi said of her early morning phone call. “And just my heart went into my throat and I don’t think I heard what he said, you know, for much of the call. It was just a stunning, shocking moment of excitement and exhilaration.” Image credit: Andrew BrodheadRounding out a day of interviews, Carolyn Bertozzi films with University Communications’ visual media team. Image credit: Andrew Brodhead
