Holt Sakai

Ph.D., Harvard, 2023

After spending the first 18 years of his life growing up in Honolulu, Hawaii, he wanted to experience life beyond paradise and moved to a faraway land called Connecticut. He completed his undergraduate studies in chemistry under the direction of Prof. Timothy Newhouse at Yale working on palladium-catalyzed dehydrogenation. During the summers, he spent time researching Cu-catalyzed amination in lab of Prof. Greg Fu, and later as a discovery chemistry intern at Genentech. Outside of the lab, he enjoys trying new foods, listening to podcasts, and taking long walks.

Fun Facts

• Holt enjoys consuming digital media (e.g. Netflix, podcasts) at increased playback speeds, ranging from 1.5-3X.
• When eating steamed broccoli, Holt prefers the stems to the florets.
• Holt is a believer in the power of naps. In particular, he is a strong proponent of the coffee nap (a shot of espresso immediately followed a 15-20 minute sleep).