Chemists Honored By American Chemical Society
Northwestern University’s Department of Chemistry had good reason to celebrate as five faculty members earned 2016 American Chemical Society National Awards.
The five award-winning faculty members are Northwestern’s largest contingent of chemists to capture the prestigious ACS awards in a single year. The five were recognized for their achievements and individual roles in advancing the chemistry field and encouraging future progress.
“The ACS awards are a fitting recognition of the excellence of these superb scientists, and we are very proud of them,” said Peter C. Stair, chair of the Department of Chemistry. “They reflect the quality of the faculty in the chemistry department at Northwestern University.”
The winners include:
- Mercouri Kanatzidis, the Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor in Chemistry. Kanatzidis received the ACS Award in Inorganic Chemistry, an honor recognizing outstanding research in the preparation, properties, reactions or structures of inorganic substances. A chemistry department faculty member since 2006, Kanatzidis is a pioneering scholar in the field of renewable energy and a past recipient of the Renewable Energy Prize from the Eni Awards, considered by some the “Nobel Prizes for energy.”
- Adjunct professor Antonio Facchetti, who doubles as the chief scientific officer at Polyera. Facchetti received the ACS Award for Creative Invention, which recognizes a single inventor for the successful application of research in chemistry and/or chemical engineering that contributes to the material prosperity and happiness of people. Facchetti’s research focuses on organic optoelectrics, including organic thin-film transistors and organic photovolatics.
- Mark Ratner, the Lawrence B. Dumas Distinguished University Professor of Chemistry. Ratner captured the Peter Debye Award in Physical Chemistry, which honors outstanding research of a theoretical or experimental nature in the field of physical chemistry. In his more than 40 years on the Northwestern faculty, Ratner has gained international acclaim as a scholar in seven major areas of chemistry, including environmental chemistry, energy science and nanoscience.
- George C. Schatz, a Northwestern faculty member since 1976. Schatz was named winner of the Irving Langmuir Award in Chemical Physics, a biennial award given to those who have made an outstanding contribution to chemical physics or physical chemistry within the last decade. Schatz’s research covers theory and modeling in plasmonic materials, single molecule mechanical properties and DNA photophysics and mechanical properties.
- Frederick D. Lewis, who first joined the Northwestern faculty in 1969. Lewis was named winner of the inaugural Josef Michl ACS Award in Photochemistry. The new honor recognizes excellence in fundamental research in organic or inorganic photochemistry and/or photophysics. Lewis’ research is directed toward understanding the relationship between the unique structure of DNA and its interaction with light.