FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | September 28, 2021

American Chemical Society prepares for 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry announcement

WASHINGTON, Sept. 28, 2021 — To assist with coverage of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the American Chemical Society (ACS) will issue a statement from ACS President H. N. Cheng, Ph.D., after the official announcement is made from Stockholm on Wednesday, Oct. 6. Cheng will be available for interviews beginning at 6:15 a.m. ET.

Many past winners of the chemistry prize have been ACS members and authors of research papers published in ACS’ suite of more than 65 peer-reviewed scientific journals.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which awards the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, plans to announce this year’s winner(s) around 5:45 a.m. ET on Oct. 6. Cheng will be available for Zoom interviews from 6:15 to 10 a.m. ET. Journalists interested in talking with Cheng must schedule an interview in advance by contacting the ACS newsroom by 5 p.m. ET on Oct. 4. Scheduling will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

Cheng is a research chemist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Southern Regional Research Center in New Orleans. His research over the years has included utilization of agro-based materials, green polymer chemistry, biocatalysis, pulp and paper chemistry, functional foods, polymer characterization and NMR. He has authored or co-authored more than 290 papers and 26 patent publications, co-edited 23 books and organized or co-organized 42 symposia since 2000.

In addition to Cheng, ACS has many subject matter experts in an array of chemistry fields. Depending on the prized field, the following ACS affiliates will have representatives available to comment on Oct. 6:

Email the ACS newsroom to obtain contact information for additional comment sources on Oct. 6. Also that day, CAS will make available a statistical summary of the chemistry Nobel laureates and their discovery. It will offer context for the honored research, the awardees’ impact on their field and current applications; contact CAS for the summary.

In preparation for the chemistry Nobel Prize announcement, on Thursday, Sept. 30, at 2 p.m. ET, ACS Webinars and Chemical & Engineering News will host a virtual panel on “Who Will Win the #ChemNobel?” Four special guests will predict who will claim chemistry’s big prize, weigh in on Nobel controversies and answer your Nobel-worthy science questions. Reporters are invited to participate either by registering for the event or contacting the ACS newsroom for a link to the live broadcast on YouTube.

To automatically receive press releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

Note: ACS does not conduct research, but publishes and publicizes peer-reviewed scientific studies.

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