Scripps Research Institute University of California, San Diego University of Pennsylvania Kyriacos Costa Nicolaou (Greek: Κυριάκος Κ. Νικολάου; born July 5, 1946) is a Cypriot-American chemist known for his research in the area of natural products total synthesis.

K. C. Nicolaou was born on July 5, 1946, in Karavas, Cyprus where he grew up and went to school until the age of 18.

In 1964, he went to England where he spent two years learning English and preparing to enter University.

The Nicolaou group is active in the field of organic chemistry with research interests in methodology development and total synthesis.

His group's route to Taxol, completed in 1994 at roughly the same time as a synthesis by the group of Robert A. Holton, attracted national news media attention due to Taxol's structural complexity and its potent anti-cancer activity.