Elias James Corey

Elias James Corey (born July 12 1928), American organic chemist. In 1990 he won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his development of the theory and methodology of organic synthesis", specifically retrosynthesis.

Corey (as he is known to all organic chemists) has gained a certain infamy in the field of chemistry for having two graduate student commit suicide and explicitly blame their advisor (Corey) for their doing so. His office at Harvard University is again infamous for the stoplight on the outside of the door: green means it had better be important, yellow means it better be a matter of life or death, and red means that even if the world is ending in a nuclear holocaust and Dr. Corey's only chance for survival is for you to burst in a drag him to a bomb shelter, you may STILL not knock.

His son, David R. Corey, is a biochemist, which reportedly caused some family tension.