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William Setzer, Ph.D

Senior Research Scientist

Will Setzer was born in Los Angeles, California. He received the B.S. degree in Chemistry from Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, California, in 1973, and the Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Arizona, Tucson, in 1981 under the direction of Professor Richard S. Glass. He was a Postdoctoral Associate in the laboratory of Wesley G. Bentrude at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, and an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, with Prof. Dr. Paul von Ragué Schleyer. Will started his academic career at the University of Alabama in Huntsville as Assistant Professor of Organic Chemistry in 1985. He rose through the ranks to Professor and Chair of the Chemistry Department, and he is currently Professor Emeritus. Although he has always had a casual interest in plants, ethnobotany, and herbal medicines, Will’s research in natural products started in 1990 after a trip to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve in Costa Rica. In addition to Costa Rica, Will’s bioprospecting trips have taken him and his students to north Queensland, Australia, and the Bahamas, and he has formed several fruitful collaborations with groups in Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Cuba, Brazil, the Middle East, Central Asia, and South Africa. His research interests are in natural products drug discovery, essential oils, chemical ecology, and molecular modeling.

William Setzer Senior Research Scientist at APRC
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