Nobel Laureate Scientist. Kurt Alder, an organic chemist, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1950. He shared his award with Dr. Otto Diels. He received seven nominations for the Nobel candidacy with four being from Bror Holmberg. According to the Nobel Prize Committee, the two men received the award "for their discovery and development of the diene synthesis." In 1928 while still a student, he, and Diels discovered a reaction, in which one dien was changed into a ring-shaped molecule with six carbon atoms. This discovery became very important for industrial use, especially in making rubber and later pharmaceuticals. This is considered the Diels-Alder Reaction. The two men published a paper on their scientific find, "Syntheses of the Hydroaromatic Series." Born in Prussia, his birthplace became part of Poland after World War I, and for political reasons his parents fled to Berlin, Germany at that point. His family lived in an industrial community. He studied Chemistry at the University of Berlin, moving on to the University of Kiel, where he obtained his Ph.D. in 1926 under Dr. Otto Diels. He taught at Kiel until 1936, when he joined I.G. Farben in Leverkusen. While at Kiel, he applied his fundamental research to the development of plastics and helped create the synthetic rubber "Buna". In 1940, he was appointed Professor of Chemistry and named the Director of the Institute of Chemistry at the University of Cologne, a position which was held until his death, even though he was offered transfers to other German universities. He authored over 150 scientific papers. He became a member of the Bavarian Academy of the Sciences in 1955, and received a number of honorary degrees from German universities. A lunar crater on the far side of the moon was named Alder in his honor, as well as the insecticide Aldrin. An auditorium in the main chemistry building at the University of Cologne also bears his name.