The D. John Faulkner Award is available to active members of the ASP who are within five years of their first independent appointment, to support their attendance at the ASP Annual Meeting. Born in Bournemouth, England, John received his BSc in Organic Chemistry with first class honors (1962) and his PhD in Organic Chemistry (1965) from Imperial College, London under the guidance of Sir Derek Barton. John held postdoctoral fellowships with Professor R. B. Woodward at Harvard University and Professor William S. Johnson at Stanford University. At the age of 26, John was appointed as an Assistant Professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, where he remained on the faculty until his untimely death in 2002.
John was a pioneer in marine natural product chemistry and played a central role in developing the field of marine chemical ecology. He and his students discovered more than 300 novel compounds, many with complicated and unprecedented structures. John was a keen collaborator: these cooperative efforts resulted in significant findings about the role of natural products in basic cellular processes. John is perhaps best known for his 18 reviews of the marine natural product literature that are indispensable references for organic chemistry.
The American Society of Pharmacognosy honored John’s lifetime contributions to the study of natural products with the ASP Research Achievement Award in 2003. In tribute to John’s dedication as a mentor, the D. John Faulkner Award has been established to provide opportunity for a young investigator to attend an annual ASP meeting. Meryl Faulkner, John’s widow, initiated endowment of this award with the funds received from John’s ASP Research Achievement Award that she accepted on his behalf.
The award consists of an engraved plaque and $1000 to assist the recipient to travel to an ASP annual meeting and present the results of her/his research. Applicants for the Travel Grant for Active Members who meet the selection criteria will automatically be considered for this award and need not submit a separate application but should include the initial date of their appointment in their letter. All awards are contingent on the acceptance of the paper for presentation by the Scientific Program Committee. Application for this award may be made by submission of a short (2-3 pages) synopsis of the work to be presented, curriculum vitae, and a letter of justification for the request. The deadline for submission is February 15. Applications should be submitted via email to the Chair of the ASP Awards and Funds Committee (afc@pharmacognosy.us).
Travel awards are granted to the applicant and may not be transferred to another listed in the abstract.