On May 24, 1989, Dr. Kyriacos Costa “K.C.” Nicolaou joined the Research Institute of Scripps Clinic faculty.  Dr. Nicolaou was previously Rhodes-Thonipson Professor of Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania.

Nicolaou was best known for the development of synthetic techniques useful in the synthesis of a wide variety of organic compounds. In 2013, Nicolaou joined the Rice University faculty with the aid of a $6 million recruitment grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT).