Julius Rebek, Jr. was born April 11, 1944 in Beregszasz, Hungary and lived in Austria from 1945-49. He and his family then settled in the United States, in Kansas. He received his undergraduate education at the University of Kansas in 1966, and obtained a Ph.D. degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1970) for studies in peptide chemistry with Professor D.S. Kemp. As an Assistant Professor at the University of California at Los Angeles (1970-76) he developed the "three-phase test" for reactive intermediates. In 1976 he moved to the University of Pittsburgh where he rose to the rank of Professor of Chemistry and developed cleft-like structures for studies in molecular recognition. In 1989 he returned to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was the Camille Dreyfus Professor of Chemistry and devised synthetic, self-replicating molecules.

In July of 1996, he moved his research group to The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) to become the Director of The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, which had been established that year at TSRI thanks to an extraordinary commitment of $100 million from Aline W. and L.S. Skaggs through the Skaggs Institute for Research and their family foundation, The ALSAM Foundation. Scientific members of The Skaggs Institute hold dual appointments in one of TSRI's research departments. They have broad expertise in determining the structure of biological macromolecules, devising chemical and antibody catalysts, synthesizing natural products and combinatorial libraries, effecting molecular recognition, and designing methods for molecular modeling. These programs give the Institute its research identity at the interface of chemistry and biology in the United States and worldwide. At the Skaggs Institute, Dr. Rebek continues to work in combinatorial chemistry and self-assembling systems. Since 1970, over 150 students and associates have studied under his guidance.

The goal of The Skaggs Institute is to maintain itself as a model for research in chemical biology and to provide a nurturing environment for the next generation of scientists. The ultimate research identity of The Skaggs Institute will be the scientists it produces.