13 Facts About Koji Nakanishi

Koji Nakanishi was a Japanese chemist who studied bioorganic chemistry and natural products.

Koji Nakanishi served as Centennial Professor of Chemistry and chair of the Chemistry Department at Columbia University.

Koji Nakanishi first attended the British Boys' School in Alexandria, Egypt.

Koji Nakanishi first applied to Tokyo University only to be rejected, after which he applied and was accepted to Nagoya University.

Koji Nakanishi received his bachelor's degree in chemistry from Nagoya University in 1947 from Prof.

Koji Nakanishi was chairman of the Chemistry Department from 1987 to 1990.

Koji Nakanishi was a founding member and one of the six directors of research at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology in Kenya, the first director of the nonprofit Suntory Institute for Bioorganic Research, Osaka, and he assisted the Brazilian government to set up a center of excellence in the Amazons, the Institute of Medicinal and Ecological Chemistry with its headquarters in Sao Paulo.

Koji Nakanishi's research encompassed isolation, structural and bioorganic studies of bioactive compounds, retinal proteins, interaction between ligands and neuroreceptors, development of various spectroscopic methods, especially circular dichroic spectroscopy.

Koji Nakanishi has published around 750 papers, and authored, co-authored, or edited nine books on spectroscopy and natural products.

Koji Nakanishi received awards from the US, Japan, Bulgaria, China, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the UK.

Koji Nakanishi was awarded the 'Pure Chemistry' award, given to notable chemists under the age of 35, by the American Chemical Society, in 1956 when he was 31.

When Koji Nakanishi appeared at a reception where he was scheduled to receive an award or to present a scientific paper, the audience could most generally expect an added spectacular surprise treat, as he was an accomplished, amateur magician.

Koji Nakanishi was the doctoral advisor of Chinese billionaire, WuXi AppTec founder Ge Li at Columbia University.