Lee Cronin

Lee Cronin, born in the UK, developed a fascination with science and technology early on, starting with his first computer and chemistry set at age 8. He studied at the University of York, completing a degree and PhD in Chemistry, followed by postdocs in Edinburgh and Germany. He then lectured at the Universities of Birmingham and Glasgow, where he became the Regius Professor of Chemistry in 2013 at age 39. 

Leading one of the largest multidisciplinary chemistry research teams, he has raised over $35M in grants and has current funding of $15M. Cronin has delivered over 300 international talks, authored over 350 peer-reviewed papers, and published in top journals like Nature, Science, and PNAS. His team's research focuses on creating artificial life, finding alien life, digitizing chemistry, encoding information into chemicals, and building chemical computers.