Meet Caltech's 2018 Nobel Laureate

All members of the Caltech community are invited to join in celebrating Caltech's 2018 Nobel laureate: Frances Arnold, the Linus Pauling Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering and Biochemistry. Arnold, who is also the director of the Donna and Benjamin M. Rosen Bioengineering Center, was awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the "directed evolution of enzymes."

Directed evolution, pioneered by Arnold in the early 1990s, is a bioengineering method for creating new and better enzymes in the laboratory using the principles of evolution. Today, the method is used in hundreds of laboratories and companies that make everything from laundry detergents to biofuels to medicines. Enzymes created with the technique have replaced toxic chemicals in many industrial processes.

Arnold shares the prize with two other scientists who were also recognized for harnessing the power of evolution in their fields.

Attendees will have an opportunity to meet Arnold and learn about the work in her lab while mingling with other community members along the Olive Walk. The event will include a short program at 10:15 a.m. with remarks from campus leaders, as well as a selection of sweet and savory snacks at food stations along the Walk.