Professor Gray gave a lecture on Bioinorganic Solar Chemistry to an audience of more than 110 faculty, staff and students, on Thursday, November 29, 2007. The presentation was part of the Department of Chemistry’s Richard A. Walton Lectures in Inorganic Chemistry and the College of Science’s Centennial Distinguished Lecture Series.

Gray’s lecture was on how the sun’s energy can be harnessed to split water and produce fuel. Gray and his group have devised rhenium modified copper proteins to separate electrons and holes for photochemical hydrogen production from water. Event host, Professor Mahdi Abu-Omar, commented, “Incidentally our own Dick Walton has made seminal contributions in rhenium chemistry. In addition to the important lessons in basic research, Gray’s lecture was very entertaining! He kept the audience at the edge of their seat.”

Professor Gray is the Arnold O. Beckman Professor of Chemistry and the founding director of the Beckman Institute at CalTech.