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| Richard A. Friesner | |
|---|---|
| Name | Richard A. Friesner |
| Birth date | 1950s |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Theoretical chemistry, computational chemistry, chemical physics |
| Workplaces | Columbia University, Schrödinger, Inc., New York University |
| Alma mater | Princeton University, Yale University |
| Doctoral advisor | William H. Miller |
| Known for | Quantum chemistry methods, Jaguar, Glide |
Richard A. Friesner is an American theoretical chemist and computational scientist known for foundational contributions to quantum chemistry, molecular modeling, and drug discovery software. He has held academic appointments at Columbia University and New York University and co‑founded a leading computational chemistry company that produced widely used tools in pharmaceutical research. His work bridges academic theory and industrial applications, influencing computational methods used at institutions such as Pfizer, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, and Merck & Co..
Friesner was raised in the United States and pursued undergraduate studies at Yale University before undertaking graduate work at Princeton University under the supervision of William H. Miller. His doctoral research was conducted in the context of theoretical studies that intersected the intellectual traditions of Linus Pauling, John Pople, and Martin Karplus. During his formative training he interacted with researchers at institutions including Bell Labs, Argonne National Laboratory, and the Institute for Advanced Study, situating him within networks that connected to figures such as Kurt Wüthrich and Walter Kohn.
Friesner served on the faculty of Columbia University in the Department of Chemistry and later joined New York University where he held professorial roles in departments that intersected with research groups linked to Stanford University and Harvard University. He has been an active participant in meetings organized by societies such as the American Chemical Society and the American Physical Society, and he collaborated with national centers including the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. In parallel with his academic appointments he co‑founded Schrödinger, Inc., building bridges between university laboratories and industrial research at companies like Bayer and Roche.
Friesner is noted for advancing quantum chemistry methods for electronic structure and for developing practical algorithms for molecular docking and scoring used in structure‑based drug design. His methodological contributions connect to foundational theories by Erwin Schrödinger, Paul Dirac, and Walter Kohn and to computational frameworks developed by John Pople and Martin Karplus. He led the development of the Jaguar ab initio package and the Glide docking program, tools that have been applied in projects at organizations such as AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly and Company, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Friesner’s work integrates techniques from density functional theory, perturbation theory associated with Møller–Plesset perturbation theory, and continuum solvation models related to the Poisson–Boltzmann equation, while leveraging high‑performance computing resources similar to those at Argonne National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. His methodology emphasizes rigorous benchmarking against experimental data from collaborations with laboratories such as those at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology, and Scripps Research.
Friesner has received recognition from professional organizations allied with computational chemistry and physical chemistry, including honors from the American Chemical Society and awards that place him among peers like Roald Hoffmann and K. Barry Sharpless. He has been invited to deliver named lectures at venues such as Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and at symposia hosted by the Royal Society of Chemistry and has held visiting appointments connected to programs at Cambridge University and ETH Zurich.
Friesner’s publications include influential articles in journals such as the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Journal of Chemical Physics. He is an author on seminal papers describing algorithms for quantum chemistry, solvation models, and docking scoring functions that have been cited by groups at Imperial College London, Max Planck Society, and University of California, Berkeley. Friesner is also listed as an inventor on patents assigned to Schrödinger, Inc. and has patented methods for molecular docking and virtual screening used in collaborations with firms like Johnson & Johnson and Amgen.
Friesner’s career spans academia and industry, and his mentorship has shaped scientists who went on to positions at institutions including Princeton University, Yale University, University of Cambridge, and Columbia University. His legacy is reflected in widespread adoption of computational platforms in pharmaceutical and chemical research at organizations such as Genentech, Gilead Sciences, and Biogen and in the continuing development of electronic structure theory influenced by contemporaries like Frank Neese and Graham R. Hutchison.
Category:American chemists Category:Theoretical chemists Category:Computational chemists