Biography
E.J. Corey was born to Christian Lebanese immigrants in Methuen, Massachusetts, 50 km (31 mi) north of Boston. His mother changed his name to "Elias" to honor his father who died eighteen months after the birth of his son. His widowed mother, brother, two sisters and an aunt and uncle all lived together in a spacious house—struggling through the depression. He attended Catholic elementary school and Lawrence Public High School.
He entered MIT in 1945. At MIT, he earned both a bachelor's degree in 1948 and a Ph.D. at age 22 in 1951. Both degrees were in chemistry. Immediately thereafter, he joined the faculty of University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign where he became a Full Professor of Chemistry in 1956 at the age of 27. In 1959, he moved to Harvard University, where he is currently an emeritus professor of organic chemistry with an active Corey Group research program. He focuses on organic chemistry because of "its intrinsic beauty and its great relevance to human health". He has been an advisor to Pfizer for more than 50 years.
He and his wife, Claire, were married in 1961. They have three children, David, John, and Susan and two granddaughters, Sara and Kate Corey. Currently, he and his wife, Claire, live in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In 1988, he was awarded the National Medal of Science. He was awarded the American Chemical Society's greatest honor, the Priestley Medal, in 2004.
Read more about this topic: Elias James Corey
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