Takahiko Akiyama

Takahiko Akiyama was born in 1958 in Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan, and received his BSc in chemistry from the University of Tokyo in 1980. He obtained his PhD from the University of Tokyo in 1985 under the guidance of Prof. Teruaki Mukaiyama. He joined Shionogi Research Laboratories, Shionogi & Co. Ltd. as a research chemist. He became an assistant professor at Ehime University in 1988. He stayed one year from 1992 to 1993 at Stanford University as a visiting scholar with Professor Barry M. Trost. He joined Gakushuin University as an associate professor in 1994, and promoted to full professor in 1997.

He is a recipient of SSOCJ (The Society of Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Japan) Daiichi-Sankyo Award for Medicinal Organic Chemistry (2009), The Chemical Society of Japan Award for Creative Work (2009), Nagoya Silver Metal (2012), American Chemical Society, Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award (2016), Humboldt Research Award (2016), and Synthetic Organic Chemistry Award, Japan (2017).

His research program is focusing on the development of asymmetric reactions, in particular, using chiral phosphoric acid, developed by his group.