Robert H. Grubbs received his Ph.D. from Columbia University for work with Ron Breslow. After a postdoctoral year with Jim Collman at Stanford University, he joined the faculty at Michigan State University. In 1978, he moved to the California Institute of Technology, where he is now the Victor and Elizabeth Atkins Professor of Chemistry. Among many other awards he received the Nobel Prize in 2005 for his research on the metathesis reaction. His research interests include polymer chemistry, organometallic catalysis, and development of new synthetic organic methodology.

Anna Wenzel received her PhD at Harvard University under the guidance of Prof. E. N. Jacobsen. From 2003 to 2006 she joined the group of Prof. R. H. Grubbs as NIH Postdoctoral Scholar. In 2006, she joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor at the W. M. Keck Science Department in Claremont, California. In 2012, she was promoted to Associate Professor. Her research topics are asymmetric catalysis, organometallic chemistry, and organic synthesis.