

Neil K. Garg, Ph.D.
Professor and Kenneth N. Trueblood Chair
B.S., New York University (2000)
Ph.D., Caltech (2005)
NIH postdoctoral fellow, UC Irvine (2005–2007)
Email: neilgarg@chem.ucla.edu
Office: (310) 825-1536
5505C Molecular Sciences Building
Professor Garg received a B.S. in Chemistry from New York University where he did undergraduate research with Professor Marc Walters. During his undergraduate years, he spent several months in Strasbourg, France while conducting research with Professor Mir Wais Hosseini at Université Louis Pasteur as an NSF REU Fellow. Garg obtained his Ph.D. in 2005 from the California Institute of Technology under the direction of Professor Brian Stoltz. He then joined Professor Larry Overman’s research laboratory at the University of California, Irvine as an NIH Postdoctoral Scholar. Garg joined the faculty at UCLA in 2007. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2012, and then to Full Professor in 2013. He has served as Vice Chair for the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (2012-2016) and currently serves as Faculty-in-Residence in the UCLA undergraduate community. In 2018, Garg was appointed as the inaugural holder of the Kenneth N. Trueblood Endowed Chair in Chemistry and Biochemistry.
Honors and Awards
Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2018
Fellow of the American Chemical Society, 2018
Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists, Finalist, 2018
Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching, 2018 (Watch Neil’s Public Lecture) (NY Times)
Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching, Finalist, 2017
Elias J. Corey Award for Outstanding Original Contribution in Organic Synthesis, 2017
Mitsui Chemicals Catalysis Science Award of Encouragement, 2016
Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, 2016
Royal Society of Chemistry’s Merck Award, 2016
Thieme-IUPAC Prize, 2016
Tetrahedron Young Investigator Award, 2016
California’s US Professor of the Year, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 2015
UCLA Herbert Newby McCoy Award, 2015
Novartis Chemistry Lectureship, 2015–2016
Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, 2015
UCLA Distinguished Teaching Award & Eby Award for the Art of Teaching, 2014
Mortar Board National Honors Society, UCLA Honorary Faculty Member Award, 2014
Dr. Robert M. Stevenson Faculty-in-Residence Award, UCLA Office of Residential Life, 2014
Bristol-Myers Squibb Unrestricted Grant in Synthetic Organic Chemistry, 2013
UCLA Bruinwalk’s Professor of the Year, 2013
Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, 2013
S. T. Li Prize for Achievements in Science and Technology, 2012
ACS Green Chemistry Institute Pharmaceutical Roundtable Grantee Award, 2012
Glenn T. Seaborg Award, 2012
A. P. Sloan Research Fellowship, 2012
Roche Excellence in Chemistry Award, 2012
UCLA Hanson-Dow Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2011
UCLA Herbert Newby McCoy Award, 2011
AstraZeneca Excellence in Chemistry Award, 2011–2012
Amgen Young Investigator Award, 2011–2012
Eli Lilly Grantee Award, 2010–2012
DuPont Young Professor Award, 2010–2013
NSF CAREER Award, 2010–2015
Thieme Chemistry Journal Award, 2010
UCLA Faculty Research Grant, 2010
Boehringer Ingelheim New Investigator Award, 2009
UCLA Faculty Career Development Award, 2008
UCLA Faculty Research Grant, 2008
National Institutes of Health Pathway to Independence Award, 2006–2010
National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2005–2006
Herbert Newby McCoy Thesis Award at the California Institute of Technology, 2005
Dow Chemical Company Travel Fellowship, 2002
National Defense Science & Engineering Graduate Fellowship, 2001–2004
Phi Beta Kappa, 2000
George Granger Brown Scholarship Award in Chemistry, 2000
American Institute of Chemists Prize, 2000
New York University Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, 1999
National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Fellowship, 1999