MAY JOINT DE ACS/CHEMVETS LECTURE
" Building an Innovative Culture: Discovery of Modern Crop Protection Chemicals"
Dr. George Lahm
Date: May 15, 2018
Time: 5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Location: DuPont Country Club
Fee: None
Register by clicking here
ABSTRACT
The discovery, development and commercialization of modern crop protection
chemicals involves a complex matrix of study spanning diverse fields of science
and engineering. The industry is driven through innovation owing to a continuing
need to discover and develop new products that preferentially act through new
biochemical mechanisms. The standards are necessarily high to meet societal and
regulatory demands of efficacy and safety to people and the environment. This
requires an integrated process that begins with identification of molecular starting
points and proceeds through the optimization of all properties associated with
efficacy and safety. This presentation will describe this process and the associated
challenges required to successfully bring the product from idea conception through
to commercialization. Recent commercial successes including Rynaxypyr® and
Cyazypyr® will be used to demonstrate some of the problems encountered, lessons
learned, and solutions achieved.
BIOGRAPHY
George P. Lahm, FMC Distinguished Scientist, obtained his B.S. in chemistry from
the State University of New York, Oswego in 1976 and his Ph.D. in organic chemistry
from Indiana University under Professor Richard M.
Jacobson. In 1980, he joined DuPont as part of the
Crop Protection Discovery group and in 2017 he
moved to FMC Agrictural Solutions. His thirty-sevenyear
career has focused principally on the discovery
and development of new products for insect control.
Dr. Lahm’s research in new products for insect control
set the stage for the discovery of the novel sodium
channel blocker, indoxacarb, the new ryanodine
receptor activators chlorantranilprole and cyantraniliprole
and the new nematicide fluazaindolizine. These products
represent landmarks for the protection of food
crops, demonstrate outstanding field efficacy,
environmental compatibility, and low toxicity to
non-target organisms.
Dr. Lahm has a patent record of over 60 U.S. and internationally filed patents. He
was a recipient of the 2003 ACS Team Innovation Award for the discovery of
indoxacarb and the 2009 recipient of the ACS Spencer Award for outstanding
achievement in agricultural and food chemistry. He was a recipient of DuPont honors
including the 2004 Pedersen Medal for scientific achievement and three BoltonCarothers
corporate team awards. In 2010, he was awarded the Lavoisier medal,
DuPont’s highest technical award for lifetime contributions, and in the same year
he was appointed to DuPont’s highest technical level, DuPont Distinguished
Scientist. In 2011, he received the American Chemical Society’s International
Award for Research in Agrochemicals and
in 2018 he was the recipient of the ACS
Award for Industrial Chemistry.
George and his wife Louise have two children
and two grandchildren and reside in
Delaware.
