Honda Prize 2011 for UC Berkeley Chemist Dr. Gabor Somorjai
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Price Honda, the most trusted Honda dealership in Dover, DE, is pleased to announce that Dr. Gabor Somorjai, Professor of Chemistry at the University of California Berkeley, U.S.A., is going to receive the Honda Prize 2011 for his leading contributions to surface science. The prize will be given by The Honda Foundation, a public interest incorporated foundation, created by Honda Motor’s founder Soichiro Honda and his younger brother Benjiro Honda, and currently headed by Hiroto Ishida.
The 32nd award ceremony for the Honda Prize will be held at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo on November 17th, 2011. In addition to the prize medal and certificate, sub-prize money of 10 million yen will be awarded to the laureate.
Honda Prize is Japan's first international science and technology award that was inaugurated in 1980. It is recognized as one of the most important awards of the world by the U.S. International Congress of Distinguished Awards.
Dr. Somorjai’s introduction of basic chemical approaches to solid-state physics revolutionized the understanding of the nature of surface interactions when scientific data on surfaces were scarce, and elevated the study of catalysis to the mainstay of surface science. Dr. Somorjai becomes the 32nd laureate of the Honda Prize.
Catalytic chemistry has various applications in modern man’s life including ammonia-based fertilizers, polyethylene and other plastic polymers, amino acids synthesized by using the Nobel laureate Dr. Noyori's asymmetric hydrogenation process, and catalytic converters that clean up car exhaust. Plus, it is expected that further sophistication of metallic catalysts would substantially reduce the cost of fuel cell production. With Dr. Somorjai's finding the molecules produced in reactions are controlled by the size and shape of catalyst nano particles that will led to the evolution of green chemistry that produces only the desired product molecule without the chemical waste byproducts. In steps toward a green economy, photocatalytic processes hold the key to efficiently make large amounts of hydrogen fuel - the ultimate clean energy - from sunlight and water.
Years ago when Dr. Somorjai started his research, little was known about surface chemistry or what exactly occurs on surfaces. Dr. Somorjai felt the necessity of exploring this area of chemistry and he developed the necessary techniques to understand the subject in depth. For his utmost contribution towards this unexplored branch of chemistry, Dr. Somorjai is hailed as the “father of modern surface chemistry” by his peers.
Today, many of Dr. Somorjai’s discoveries serve as the foundation of different chemical processes that are now studied extensively. His findings and discoveries are used in different fields including medicine, microelectronics, biochemistry, photochemistry, and magnetic storage industry.
Here is a short account of Dr. Somorjai’s major academic achievements till date:
1. -Development of single-crystal model surfaces to understand catalysis and other surface interactions and extrapolate the results to more complex surfaces. His synthesis of uniform metal and bimetallic nanoparticles in the 1-10 nm size range and controlled shape extended model surface studies of catalysis in a range that overlaps the nanoparticles utilized in catalyst-based technologies.
2. -Establishment of Low Energy Electron Diffraction (LEED) crystallography to determine the surface structures of crystalline materials and adsorbed layers of molecules.
3. -Development and application of reaction cells working at high reactant pressures (atmospheres) and low pressures (10-7 to 10-3 Pa) to bridge the pressure gap that stands between traditional surface analysis and newer catalytic reaction studies.
4. -Development of non-linear laser optics techniques based on sum frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy and its application to chemical analysis of structure and bonding of adsorbed molecules on surfaces at high pressures and under catalytic reaction conditions.
5. -Development of applications of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) to be used under high reactant pressures during chemical reactions.
6. -Development of the application of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to be used under high reactant pressures.
A Brief Bio-Data of Dr. Gabor A. Somorjai
University Professor (appointed by the Regents of the University of California)
Professor of Chemistry, Chemistry Department,
University of California, Berkeley
Faculty Senior Scientist and Director, Surface Science & Catalysis Program, Materials Sciences Division,
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA
Education
1960 | Ph.D., Chemistry, University of California at Berkeley (UC Berkeley), CA |
1956 | B.S., Chemical Engineering, Technical University, Budapest, Hungary |
Employment
1964-Present | Professor, Department of Chemistry, UC Berkeley Professor, 1972; Associate Professor, 1967; and Assistant Professor, 1964 |
1964-Present | Faculty Senior Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory |
1960-64 | Research Staff, IBM, Yorktown Heights, New York |
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