In May and June this year, symposia in Shenzhen, China, and Vancouver, Canada, honored Ken Houk, the UCLA Saul Winstein Research Professor in Organic Chemistry. The 2nd International Symposium on Organic Reaction Mechanisms, in Honor of Kendall N. Houk, was held May 15-16, 2018, at Peking University Graduate School in Shenzhen to honor Houk’s 75th birthday this year. Distinguished speakers, including Yi Tang from UCLA, and many former Houk group members, featured at this event.

1. Symposium Chair, PKU-Shenzhen Chancellor Yundong Yu (UCLA, 1986-1991), introduces the symposium.

2. The attendees at the Shenzhen Symposium.

The Reaction Mechanisms Conference held its 37th meeting and celebrated its 52nd year in Vancouver, BC, Canada, on June 10-13, 2018. The meeting honored Ken Houk for his contributions to the field of mechanistic organic chemistry. Current and past Houk group members spoke and attended, along with an international group of speakers and attendees.

3. Former Houk UCLA group members participated in the Vancouver RMC. Left to right: Dean Tantillo (UC Davis), Paul Cheong (Oregon State), Jeehiun Lee (Rutgers), Jason Fell (UCLA), Ken Houk, Peng Liu (Pittsburgh), Seonah Kim (NREL), Buck Taylor (Portland), Xiaofei Dong (UCLA), Zhongyue Yang (MIT), Pier Alexandre Champagne (Ottawa).