2021 Recipients
The following are the recipients of the 2021 National Awards administered by the American Chemical Society (ACS).
ACS Award for Achievement in Research for the Teaching and Learning of Chemistry
Sponsored by the ACS Exams Institute
ACS Award for Affordable Green Chemistry
Sponsored by Dow and endowed by the Rohm and Haas Company
Kerry Gilmore, University of Connecticut
Peter H. Seeberger, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces
Andreas Seidel-Morgenstern, Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems
Award Citation: For their outstanding success in developing continuous chemical processes to produce artemisinin combination therapies (ACTs), important malaria medications, from plant waste material, air, and light.
ACS Award for Computers in Chemical and Pharmaceutical Research
Sponsored by the ACS Division of Computers in Chemistry
M. Katharine Holloway, Gfree Bio, LLC
Award Citation: For the computer-aided design of novel lifesaving medicines, particularly HIV and HCV protease inhibitors for the treatment of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C.
ACS Award for Creative Advances in Environmental Science and Technology
Sponsored by ACS Division of Environmental Chemistry and Aerodyne Research, Inc.
Allen H. Goldstein, University of California, Berkeley
Award Citation: For groundbreaking research on the chemistry and emissions of natural and anthropogenic trace gases and aerosols in the atmosphere.
ACS Award for Creative Invention
Sponsored by ACS Corporation Associates
Scott R. Culler, 3M
Award Citation: For his outstanding development of the first abrasives technology with uniform, precision-shaped ceramic grain, where each grain functions as a cutting tool.
ACS Award for Creative Work in Fluorine Chemistry
Sponsored by the Arkema
Beate Koksch, Freie Universität Berlin
Award Citation: For her outstanding contributions to fluorine chemistry at the interface of chemistry, biology, as well as protein science and engineering with exceptional originality and creativity.
ACS Award for Creative Work in Synthetic Organic Chemistry
Sponsored by MilliporeSigma
Jonathan A. Ellman, Yale University
Award Citation: For developing the landmark tert-butanesulfinamide approach to stereoselective synthesis and for pioneering contributions C-H bond functionalization reactions and combinatorial small molecule synthesis.
ACS Award for Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Inorganic Chemistry
Sponsored by Strem Chemicals, Inc.
Kenneth D. Karlin, Johns Hopkins University
Award Citation: For ground-breaking copper- and heme-dioxygen chemistry research and for a career encompassing service to the bioinorganic community, the ACS and its Division of Inorganic Chemistry.
ACS Award for Encouraging Disadvantaged Students into Careers in the Chemical Sciences
Sponsored by The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation
Elaine S. Yamaguchi (retired), Chevron
Award Citation: Elaine S. Yamaguchi, a seminal contributor to the California Sections of Project SEED and Women Chemists Committee, is commended for devotion to those underrepresented in chemical sciences.
ACS Award for Encouraging Women into Careers in the Chemical Sciences
Sponsored by The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation
Kay M. Brummond, University of Pittsburgh
Award Citation: Kay Brummond serves as a pathfinder, an agent of change, and mentor to women at all stages of their careers in the Chemical Sciences.
ACS Award for Research at an Undergraduate Institution
Sponsored by Research Corporation for Science Advancement
Daniel Rabinovich, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Award Citation: For a career involving outstanding supervision and mentorship of undergraduate chemical professionals in synthetic inorganic chemistry.
ACS Award for Team Innovation
Sponsored by the ACS Corporation Associates
François Beaume, Arkema’s Pierre Benite plant
Walter P. Kosar Jr., Arkema
Gregory S. O’Brien, Arkema
Roderick Reber III, Arkema
Jean-Michel Espenan, Polymem
Olivier Lorain, Polymem
Award Citation: In recognition of the development and commercialization of durable antifouling poly(vinylidene fluoride) hollow fiber ultrafiltration membranes for water purification using block copolymers.
ACS Award in Analytical Chemistry
Sponsored by the Battelle Memorial Institute
Héctor D. Abruña, Cornell University
Award Citation: For revolutionizing the understanding of electrochemical interfaces by pioneering development of operando methods, modification of electrode surfaces and development of fuel cell and battery materials.
ACS Award in Applied Polymer Science
Sponsored by Eastman Chemical Company
Dirk J. Broer, Eindhoven University of Technology
Award Citation: For pioneering discoveries in the field of liquid crystalline materials, particularly in the areas of reactive, smart materials for optical and display applications.
ACS Award in Chromatography
Sponsored by MilliporeSigma
David S. Hage, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Award Citation: For his outstanding accomplishments in the theory, development, and use of high-performance affinity chromatography and related methods for separations, chemical analysis, and biomolecular interaction studies.
ACS Award in Colloid Chemistry
Sponsored by Colgate-Palmolive Company
Emily A. Weiss, Northwestern University
Award Citation: For her outstanding contributions to colloidal photocatalysis, and to chemical design of the interfaces of nanoscale colloids with their environments.
ACS Award in Industrial Chemistry
Sponsored by the ACS Division of Industrial & Engineering Chemistry
David S. Hays, 3M
Award Citation: For discovering fundamentally new molecules and materials and mastering their complex manufacturing processes across diverse markets including pharmaceuticals, optical films, specialty adhesives, and release liners.
ACS Award in Inorganic Chemistry
Sponsored by MilliporeSigma
Kristin Bowman-James, University of Kansas
Award Citation: For her fundamental contributions to inorganic chemistry by providing insight to anion coordination from a transition metal coordination perspective.
ACS Award in Organometallic Chemistry
Sponsored by The Dow Chemical Company Foundation
Melanie S. Sanford, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Award Citation: For detailed studies of high-valent organometallic Pd and Ni complexes that have led fundamental advances in inorganic chemistry and catalysis.
ACS Award in Polymer Chemistry
Sponsored by ExxonMobil Chemical
Ken B. Wagener, University of Florida
Award Citation: For significant contributions in both industry and academia, including pioneering the acyclic diene metathesis polymerization, which launched an entirely new field of synthetic polymer chemistry.
ACS Award in Pure Chemistry
Sponsored by the Alpha Chi Sigma Fraternity and the Alpha Chi Sigma Educational Foundation
Rebekka S. Klausen, Johns Hopkins University
Award Citation: For transformative achievements in the synthesis of functional silicon-based polymers inaccessible from traditional feedstocks and reaction mechanisms.
ACS Award in Separations Science & Technology
Sponsored by Waters Corporation
James W. Jorgenson, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Award Citation: For development of capillary electrophoresis, ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography, and working two dimensional separations and application to complex mixture analysis.
ACS Award in Surface Chemistry
Sponsored by the Procter & Gamble Company
Vicki H. Grassian, University of California San Diego
Award Citation: For pioneering research, teaching and service contributions to the surface chemistry of environmental interfaces, including aerosols, nanomaterials and indoor surfaces, providing leadership in the field.
ACS Award in the Chemistry of Materials
Sponsored by DuPont
Yury Gogotsi, Drexel University
Award Citation: For groundbreaking research in the synthesis of novel classes of carbon-based nanomaterials and the elucidation of mechanisms involved in capacitive energy storage.
ACS Award in Theoretical Chemistry
Sponsored by the ACS Division of Physical Chemistry
Sharon Hammes-Schiffer, Yale University
Award Citation: For her groundbreaking advances in the quantum mechanical treatment of nuclear motion and her definitive applications to proton transfer and proton coupled electron transfer (PCET).
Award for Volunteer Service to the American Chemical Society
Sponsored by the American Chemical Society
Mary K. Engelman (retired), Eastman Chemical
Award Citation: For exemplifying the spirit of volunteerism through her efforts to increase public awareness of chemistry and to promote science to students of all ages.
Roger Adams Award in Organic Chemistry
Sponsored by Organic Reactions Inc. and Organic Syntheses Inc.
Kendall N. Houk, University of California, Los Angeles
Award Citation: Houk fused quantum theory into the heart of organic chemistry by experiments and computations, lucid models to understand reactivity, and collaborations with experimentalists.
Alfred Bader Award in Bioinorganic or Bioorganic Chemistry
Sponsored by the Alfred R. Bader Fund
Amy C. Rosenzweig, Northwestern University
Award Citation: For pioneering work in bioinorganic chemistry elucidating metalloenzyme catalysis and cellular metal homeostasis at the molecular level.
Earle B. Barnes Award for Leadership in Chemical Research Management
Sponsored by The Dow Chemical Company Foundation
Pat N. Confalone, Confalone Consulting
Award Citation: Pat Confalone has built and nurtured world-class R&D organizations in medicinal, agricultural, and process chemistry - driven by a lifelong passion for organic chemistry.
Ronald Breslow Award for Achievement in Biomimetic Chemistry
Sponsored by the Ronald Breslow Award Endowment
Jonathan L. Sessler, University of Texas at Austin
Award Citation: For the discovery of expanded porphyrins, molecular recognition via base-pairing, pyrrole-based anion binding, and demonstrating the power of this biomimetic chemistry in drug discovery.
Herbert C. Brown Award for Creative Research in Synthetic Methods
Sponsored by the Purdue Borane Research Fund and the Herbert C. Brown Award Endowment
Mark Lautens, University of Toronto
Award Citation: For his discoveries in metal and multi-metal catalyzed C-C and C-X bond-methods that are useful in the synthesis of bioactive target molecules.
James Bryant Conant Award in High School Chemistry Teaching
Sponsored by the Journal of Chemical Education and ChemEd X
Shea Wickelson, Salt Lake Center for Science Education
Award Citation: In Shea Wickleson's classroom “No Future Chemist is Left Behind”
Arthur C. Cope Award
Sponsored by the Arthur C. Cope Fund
John Hartwig, University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Award Citation: For the discovery, development, and mechanistic elucidation of practical reactions catalyzed by transition metal complexes, including CH bond functionalization and cross-coupling.
Arthur C. Cope Late Career Scholars Award
Sponsored by the Arthur C. Cope Fund
Igor V. Alabugin, Florida State University
Award Citation: For advancing stereoelectronic concepts to provide a deeper understanding of chemical reactivity, culminating in the design of new cyclization, cycloaddition, and cycloaromatization reactions.
Christopher J. Cramer, University of Minnesota
Award Citation: For the development, dissemination, and application of state-of-the-art theoretical models in order to understand the structures, properties, and reactivities of organic and organometallic molecular systems.
Ilan Marek, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology
Award Citation: For his pioneering work on transforming alkyne derivatives into densely functionalized aliphatic chains possessing several adjacent stereocenters.
Michinori Suginome, Kyoto University
Award Citation: For his design of molecular systems for new reactions and functions and his pioneering development of chirality-switchable, helical macromolecular scaffolds for control of chirality.
Arthur C. Cope Mid Career Scholars Award
Sponsored by the Arthur C. Cope Fund
Yimon Aye, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL)
Award Citation: For her outstanding achievements in the development of new technologies that shine light on how ephemeral biological electrophiles can rewire cellular signaling processes.
Peter R. Schreiner, Justus Liebig University
Award Citation: For contributions spanning organocatalysis, diamondoid hydrocarbons, dispersion, and tunneling that open new fields for Organic Chemistry.
Dirk Trauner, New York University
Award Citation: For outstanding contributions to the field of natural product synthesis and his seminal role in the field of photopharmacology and chemical optogenetics.
Helma Wennemers, ETH Zurich
Award Citation: For the development of small molecules that function like natural macromolecules, especially bioinspired asymmetric catalysts and functionalizable molecular scaffolds.
Arthur C. Cope Early Career Scholars Award
Sponsored by the Arthur C. Cope Fund
David A. Nagib, The Ohio State University
Award Citation: For developing novel strategies to enable highly selective functionalizations of unactivated carbon-hydrogen bonds by free radical mechanisms.
David Sarlah, University of Illinois
Award Citation: For his creative development of arene para-photocycloadditions that have led to imaginative applications in the stereocontrolled synthesis of highly functionalized cyclohexanes and complex natural products.
Elias J. Corey Award for Outstanding Original Contribution in Organic Synthesis by a Young Investigator
Sponsored by the Pfizer Endowment Fund
Ryan A. Shenvi, Scripps Research California
Award Citation: For fundamental discoveries in organic chemistry, synthetic methodology, and natural products total synthesis, providing key insights into the mechanism of action of natural products.
F. Albert Cotton Award in Synthetic Inorganic Chemistry
Sponsored by the F. Albert Cotton Endowment Fund
Marinella Mazzanti, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne (EPFL)
Award Citation: For her outstanding accomplishments in uranium and lanthanide chemistry spanning from the stabilization of unusaul oxidation states to multi-metallic cluster synthesis and small molecule activation.
Peter Debye Award in Physical Chemistry
Sponsored by DuPont
Michael David Fayer, Stanford University
Award Citation: For pioneering work on the dynamics, interactions, and structures of complex liquids through the development and application of ultrafast two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy.
Frank H. Field and Joe L. Franklin Award for Outstanding Achievement in Mass Spectrometry
Sponsored by Waters Corporation
Veronica Bierbaum, University of Colorado Boulder
Award Citation: For pioneering contributions to gas phase ion chemistry, including detailed reaction mechanisms, quantitative thermochemistry, and novel astrochemistry, enabled by innovative developments in instrumentation.
Francis P. Garvan–John M. Olin Medal
Sponsored by the Francis P. Garvan–John M. Olin Medal Endowment
Carol J. Burns, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Award Citation: For exceptional service to the chemistry community through pioneering research in actinide chemistry, service in national security, and championing workforce development and equity in science.
James T. Grady–James H. Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public
Sponsored by the American Chemical Society
Sam Kean, freelance writer
Award Citation: For his books, public speaking, and podcast, which have helped to increase appreciation for chemistry.
Harry Gray Award for Creative Work in Inorganic Chemistry by a Young Investigator
Sponsored by the Gray Award Endowment
Smaranda C. Marinescu, University of Southern California
Award Citation: For her outstanding accomplishments in developing efficient catalytic systems for the conversion of solar energy into chemical bonds.
Ernest Guenther Award in the Chemistry of Natural Products
Sponsored by Givaudan
Bradley S. Moore, University of California San Diego
Award Citation: For his insightful and innovative contributions to the fields of natural products chemistry, chemical biology, biosynthesis, genomics and molecular genetic engineering.
M. Frederick Hawthorne Award in Main Group Inorganic Chemistry
Sponsored by Givaudan
Karl O. Christe, University of Southern California
Award Citation: For major and original contributions to main group chemistry.
Kathryn C. Hach Award for Entrepreneurial Success
Sponsored by the Kathryn C. Hach Award Fund
Craig Hawker, University of California, Santa Barbara
Award Citation: In recognition of Dr. Hawker's innovative leadership in creating, developing, and commercializing revolutionary polymer-based therapeutics and personal care products through multiple successful start-up companies.
E. B. Hershberg Award for Important Discoveries in Medicinally Active Substances
Sponsored by Merck Research Laboratories
Edward Roberts, Scripps Research California
Award Citation: For his development of bitopic modulators for therapeutic intervention, including agonists for multiple sclerosis, Crohns disease, ulcerative colitis.
Joel Henry Hildebrand Award in the Theoretical and Experimental Chemistry of Liquids
Sponsored by the ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Company
Biman Bagchi, Indian Institute of Science
Award Citation: For developing theories of solvation dynamics; barrier less chemical reactions; Forster energy transfer; mode-coupling theory of electrolyte conduction, diffusion, viscosity; water in biological systems; binary liquid mixtures; phase transitions.
E. V. Murphree Award in Industrial & Engineering Chemistry
Sponsored by ExxonMobil Research & Engineering
Yong Wang, Washington State University and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Award Citation: For the development of innovative catalytic materials and reaction engineering concepts leading to sustainable technologies for solving current and future energy, resource, and environmental challenges.
Nakanishi Award
Sponsored by the Nakanishi Prize Endowment
Mei Hong, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Award Citation: By developing and applying advanced techniques of solid-state NMR, Professor Hong has discovered important features of membrane channels, amyloid proteins and plant cell walls.
Nobel Laureate Signature Award for Graduate Education in Chemistry
Sponsored by Avantor
Paul E. Ohno, Harvard University (student)
Franz M. Geiger (preceptor), Northwestern University.
Award Citation: For unraveling heretofore unknown interfacial phenomena at charged interfaces using nonlinear optics, and for discovery of the χ(3) phase angle.
James Flack Norris Award in Physical Organic Chemistry
Sponsored by the ACS Northeastern Section
Peter Chen, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich
Award Citation: For creative use of gas-phase methods for the investigation of organometallic catalysis in solution.
George A. Olah Award in Hydrocarbon or Petroleum Chemistry
Sponsored by the George A. Olah Award Endowment
Michael M. Haley, University of Oregon
Award Citation: For groundbreaking work on the synthesis and study of carbon-rich/-pi-electron-rich hydrocarbons related to non-natural carbon allotropes graphyne and graphdiyne.
Charles Lathrop Parsons Award
Sponsored by ACS
Ruth Woodall, Tennessee Scholars and Neuronexus Foundation
Award Citation: For distinguished and outstanding public service, her passionate advocacy for diversity and mentorship, and for her multi-disciplinary expertise in STEM, public relations, and non-profit management.
George C. Pimentel Award in Chemical Education
Sponsored by Cengage Learning and the ACS Division of Chemical Education
Dudley Shallcross, University of Bristol
Award Citation: For innovative contributions to the teaching of chemistry (science) from elementary school to postgraduate study and in promoting chemistry to prospective students and the public.
Glenn T. Seaborg Award for Nuclear Chemistry
Sponsored by the ACS Division of Nuclear Chemistry & Technology
Sherry J. Yennello, Texas A&M University
Award Citation: For her innovative and illuminating research on the role of the N/Z degree of freedom on dynamics and equilibration in nuclear reactions.
Gabor A. Somorjai Award for Creative Research in Catalysis
Sponsored by the Gabor A. & Judith K. Somorjai Endowment Fund
Paul J. Chirik, Princeton University
Award Citation: For pioneering work in sustainable catalysis with Earth-abundant elements that through control of electronic structure transformed the way chemists approach the periodic table.
Henry H. Storch Award in Energy Chemistry
Sponsored by the Henry H. Storch Endowment
Harry W. Deckman, ExxonMobil Research & Engineering
Award Citation: For contributions to broaden the energy options available to society, address the challenges of atmospheric carbon dioxide, and improve the energy efficiency of industrial separations.
E. Bright Wilson Award in Spectroscopy
Sponsored by the E. Bright Wilson Endowment
Lai-Sheng Wang, Brown University
Award Citation: For his pioneering studies of multiply charged anions and cryogenically-cooled anions using photoelectron spectroscopy.
Ahmed Zewail Award in Ultrafast Science & Technology
Sponsored by the Ahmed Zewail Endowment Fund established by the Newport Corp.
Majed Chergui, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne (EPFL)
Award Citation: For pioneering ultrafast X-ray spectroscopy and developing novel ultrafast deep-ultraviolet spectroscopic tools for the study of chemical dynamics in solutions and charge-carrier dynamics in materials.
National Fresenius Award
Sponsored by Phi Lambda Upsilon, The National Chemistry Honor Society
Timothy Berkelbach, Columbia University
Award Citation: For outstanding theoretical and computational contributions to the excited-state electronic properties of novel solids and nanomaterials.