Larry Overman obtained a B.A. degree from Earlham College in 1965 and completed his doctoral dissertation in 1969 with Professor Howard W. Whitlock, Jr. at the University of Wisconsin. After a NIH postdoctoral fellowship with Professor Ronald Breslow at Columbia University, he joined the faculty at UCI in 1971 where he is now Distinguished Professor of Chemistry. Professor Overman was Chair of the UC Irvine Department of Chemistry from 1990–1993. Professor Overman's research interests center on the invention of new transformations and strategies in organic synthesis and the total synthesis of natural products and their congeners. Professor Overman pioneered in the use of intramolecular insertion reactions of organopalladium intermediates for assembling complex polycyclic molecules, particularly those containing congested quaternary carbon centers. Using synthesis strategies developed largely in his laboratory, Professor Overman's group has completed total syntheses of more than 100 structurally complex natural products. Professor Overman is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, where he has served as Chair of the Chemistry Section, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His scientific awards include the Roger Adams Award in Organic Chemistry of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the ACS Arthur C. Cope Award, and the Tetrahedron Prize for Creativity in Organic Chemistry.