The Priestley Medal is the highest honor conferred by the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all d ...

(ACS) and is awarded for distinguished service in the field of

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

. Established in 1922, the award is named after

Joseph Priestley Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, natural philosopher, separatist theologian, grammarian, multi-subject educator, and liberal political theorist. He published over 150 works, and conducted exp ...

, the discoverer of

oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...

who immigrated to the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

in 1794. The ACS formed in 1876, spearheaded by a group of chemists who had met two years previously in Priestley's home. The Priestley Medal is commonly awarded to scientists who are advanced in their fields, as it is intended to commemorate lifetime achievement. When the ACS started presenting the Priestley Medal in 1923, they intended to award it every three years. This continued until 1944, when it became an annual award.

Recipients

;1920s * 1923

Ira Remsen Ira Remsen (February 10, 1846 – March 4, 1927) was an American chemist who discovered the artificial sweetener saccharin along with Constantin Fahlberg. He was the second president of Johns Hopkins University. Early life Ira Remsen was bor ...

* 1926

Edgar Fahs Smith Edgar Fahs Smith (May 23, 1854 – May 3, 1928) was an American scientist who is best known today for his interests in the history of chemistry. He served as provost of the University of Pennsylvania from 1911 to 1920, was deeply involved in the ...

* 1929 Francis P. Garvan ;1930s * 1932 Charles L. Parsons * 1935

William A. Noyes William Albert Noyes (November 6, 1857 – October 24, 1941) was an American analytical and organic chemist. He made pioneering determinations of atomic weights, chaired the Chemistry Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champ ...

* 1938

Marston T. Bogert Marston Taylor Bogert (April 18, 1868 – March 21, 1954) was an American chemist. Biography He was born in Flushing, Queens, Flushing, New York (state), New York on April 18, 1868 and studied at the Flushing Institute, which was a well known p ...

;1940s * 1941

Thomas Midgley, Jr. Thomas Midgley Jr. (May 18, 1889 – November 2, 1944) was an American mechanical and chemical engineer. He played a major role in developing leaded gasoline (tetraethyl lead) and some of the first chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), better known i ...

* 1944 James Bryant Conant * 1945

Ian Heilbron Sir Ian Morris Heilbron DSO FRS (6 November 1886 – 14 September 1959) was a Scottish chemist, who pioneered organic chemistry developed for therapeutic and industrial use. Early life and education Heilbron was born in Glasgow on 6 November ...

* 1946

Roger Adams Roger Adams (January 2, 1889 – July 6, 1971) was an American organic chemist who developed the eponymous Adams' catalyst, and helped determine the composition of natural substances such as complex vegetable oils and plant alkaloids. He isolat ...

* 1947

Warren K. Lewis Warren Kendall Lewis (21 August 1882 – 9 March 1975) was an MIT professor who has been called the father of modern chemical engineering. He co-authored an early major textbook on the subject which essentially introduced the concept of unit opera ...

* 1948

Edward R. Weidlein Edward Ray Weidlein (July 14, 1887 – August 15, 1983) was a chemist and later director, chairman, and president at the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research. He served as president of the American Chemical Society in 1937 and of the American I ...

* 1949 Arthur B. Lamb ;1950s * 1950

Charles A. Kraus Charles August Kraus (August 15, 1875 – June 27, 1967) was an American chemist. He was professor of chemistry and director of the chemical laboratories at Clark University, where he directed the Chemical Warfare Service during World War I. Lat ...

* 1951 E. J. Crane * 1952 Samuel C. Lind * 1953 Sir Robert Robinson * 1954

W. Albert Noyes, Jr. William Albert Noyes Jr. (April 18, 1898 – November 25, 1980), commonly known as W. Albert Noyes Jr., was an American chemist known for his contributions to photochemistry. During World War II, he was a leader in U.S. defense research efforts. H ...

(son of

) * 1955 Charles A. Thomas * 1956 Carl S. Marvel * 1957

Farrington Daniels Farrington Daniels (March 8, 1889 – June 23, 1972) was an American physical chemist who is considered one of the pioneers of the modern direct use of solar energy. Biography Daniels was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on March 8, 1889. Dani ...

* 1958

Ernest H. Volwiler Ernest Henry Volwiler (August 22, 1893 – October 3, 1992) was an American chemist. He spent his career at Abbott Laboratories working his way from staff chemist to CEO. He was a pioneer in the field of anesthetic pharmacology, assisting in th ...

* 1959

Hermann Irving Schlesinger Hermann Irving Schlesinger (October 11, 1882 – October 3, 1960) was an American inorganic chemist, working in boron chemistry. He and Herbert C. Brown discovered sodium borohydride in 1940 and both were involved in the further development of bo ...

;1960s * 1960 Wallace R. Brode * 1961

Louis Plack Hammett Louis Plack Hammett (April 7, 1894 – February 9, 1987) was an American physical chemist. He is known for the Hammett equation, which relates reaction rates to equilibrium constants for certain classes of organic reactions involving sub ...

* 1962 Joel H. Hildebrand * 1963

Peter J. W. Debye Peter Joseph William Debye (; ; March 24, 1884 – November 2, 1966) was a Dutch-American physicist and physical chemist, and Nobel laureate in Chemistry. Biography Early life Born Petrus Josephus Wilhelmus Debije in Maastricht, Netherlands, D ...

* 1964 John C. Bailar, Jr. * 1965

William J. Sparks William Joseph Sparks (February 26, 1905 – October 23, 1976) was a chemist at Exxon. As an inventor, his most important contribution was the development of butyl rubber. Sparks served as president of the American Chemical Society in 1966 and ...

* 1966 William O. Baker * 1967 Ralph Connor * 1968 William G. Young * 1969 Kenneth S. Pitzer ;1970s * 1970

Max Tishler Max Tishler (October 30, 1906 – March 18, 1989) was president of Merck Sharp and Dohme Research Laboratories where he led the research teams that synthesized ascorbic acid, riboflavin, cortisone, pyridoxine, pantothenic acid, nicotinamide, ...

* 1971 Frederick D. Rossini * 1972

George B. Kistiakowsky George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

* 1973 Harold C. Urey * 1974

Paul J. Flory Paul John Flory (June 19, 1910 – September 9, 1985) was an American chemist and Nobel laureate who was known for his work in the field of polymers, or macromolecules. He was a leading pioneer in understanding the behavior of polymers in solu ...

* 1975 Henry Eyring * 1976

George S. Hammond George Simms Hammond (May 22, 1921 – October 5, 2005) was an American scientist and theoretical chemist who developed "Hammond's postulate", and fathered organic photochemistry,–the general theory of the geometric structure of the transition ...

* 1977

Henry Gilman Henry Gilman (May 9, 1893 – November 7, 1986) was an American organic chemist known as the father of organometallic chemistry, the field within which his most notable work was done. He discovered the Gilman reagent, which bears his name. Earl ...

* 1978

Melvin Calvin Melvin Ellis Calvin (April 8, 1912 – January 8, 1997) was an American biochemist known for discovering the Calvin cycle along with Andrew Benson and James Bassham, for which he was awarded the 1961 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He spent most of h ...

* 1979

Glenn T. Seaborg Glenn Theodore Seaborg (; April 19, 1912February 25, 1999) was an American chemist whose involvement in the synthesis, discovery and investigation of ten transuranium elements earned him a share of the 1951 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. His work i ...

;1980s * 1980 Milton Harris * 1981

Herbert C. Brown Herbert Charles Brown (May 22, 1912 – December 19, 2004) was an American chemist and recipient of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work with organoboranes. Life and career Brown was born Herbert Brovarnik in London, to Ukrainian Jewis ...

* 1982 Bryce Crawford, Jr. * 1983

Robert S. Mulliken Robert Sanderson Mulliken Note Longuet-Higgins' amusing title for reference B238 1965 on page 354 of this Biographical Memoir. The title should be "Selected papers of Robert S Mulliken." (June 7, 1896 – October 31, 1986) was an American ph ...

* 1984 Linus Pauling * 1985

Henry Taube Henry Taube, (November 30, 1915 – November 16, 2005) was a Canadian-born American chemist who was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for "his work in the mechanisms of electron-transfer reactions, especially in metal complexes." He ...

* 1986

Karl A. Folkers Karl August Folkers (September 1, 1906 – December 7, 1997) was an American biochemist who made major contributions to the isolation and identification of bioactive natural products. Career Folkers graduated from the College of Liberal Arts and ...

* 1987

John D. Roberts John Dombrowski Roberts (June 8, 1918 – October 29, 2016) was an American chemist. He made contributions to the integration of physical chemistry, spectroscopy, and organic chemistry for the understanding of chemical reaction rates. Ano ...

* 1988

Frank H. Westheimer Frank Henry Westheimer NAS ForMemRS APS (January 15, 1912 – April 14, 2007) was an American chemist. He taught at the University of Chicago from 1936 to 1954, and at Harvard University from 1953 to 1983, becoming the Morris Loeb Professor of ...

* 1989

George C. Pimentel George Claude Pimentel (May 2, 1922 – June 18, 1989) was the inventor of the chemical laser. He also developed the technique of matrix isolation in low-temperature chemistry. In theoretical chemistry, he proposed the three-center four-electron ...

;1990s * 1990

Roald Hoffmann Roald Hoffmann (born Roald Safran; July 18, 1937) is a Polish-American theoretical chemist who won the 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He has also published plays and poetry. He is the Frank H. T. Rhodes Professor of Humane Letters, Emeritus, at ...

* 1991 Harry B. Gray * 1992

Carl Djerassi Carl Djerassi (October 29, 1923 – January 30, 2015) was an Austrian-born Bulgarian-American pharmaceutical chemist, novelist, playwright and co-founder of Djerassi Resident Artists Program with Diane Wood Middlebrook. He is best known for his ...

* 1993 Robert W. Parry * 1994 Howard E. Simmons * 1995 Sir Derek H. R. Barton * 1996

Ernest L. Eliel Ernest Ludwig Eliel (December 28, 1921 – September 18, 2008) was an organic chemist born in Cologne, Germany. Among his awards were the Priestley Medal in 1996

* 1997

Mary L. Good Mary Lowe Good (June 20, 1931 – November 20, 2019) was an American inorganic chemist who worked academically, in industrial research and in government. Good contributed to the understanding of catalysts such as ruthenium which activate or speed ...

* 1998

F. Albert Cotton Frank Albert Cotton FRS (April 9, 1930 – February 20, 2007) was an American chemist. He was the W.T. Doherty-Welch Foundation Chair and Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Texas A&M University. He authored over 1600 scientific articles. C ...

* 1999

Ronald Breslow Ronald Charles David Breslow (March 14, 1931 – October 25, 2017) was an American chemist from Rahway, New Jersey. He was University Professor at Columbia University, where he was based in the Department of Chemistry and affiliated with the De ...

;2000s * 2000

Darleane C. Hoffman Darleane Christian Hoffman (born November 8, 1926) is an American nuclear chemist who was among the researchers who confirmed the existence of Seaborgium, element 106. She is a faculty senior scientist in the Nuclear Science Division of Lawrenc ...

* 2001

Fred Basolo Fred Basolo (11 February 1920 – 27 February 2007) was an American inorganic chemist. He received his Ph.D. at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1943, under Prof. John C. Bailar, Jr. Basolo spent his professional career at Nort ...

* 2002 Allen J. Bard * 2003 Edwin J. Vandenberg * 2004

Elias J. Corey Elias James Corey (born July 12, 1928) is an American organic chemist. In 1990, he won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his development of the theory and methodology of organic synthesis", specifically retrosynthetic analysis. Regarded by many ...

* 2005 George A. Olah * 2006 Paul S. Anderson * 2007

George M. Whitesides George McClelland Whitesides (born August 3, 1939) is an American chemist and professor of chemistry at Harvard University. He is best known for his work in the areas of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, organometallic chemistry, molecu ...

* 2008 Gabor A. Somorjai * 2009 M. Frederick Hawthorne ;2010s * 2010

Richard Zare Richard Neil Zare (born November 19, 1939, in Cleveland, Ohio) is the Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professor in Natural Science and a Professor of Chemistry at Stanford University. Throughout his career, Zare has made a considerable impact in physical ...

* 2011

Ahmed H. Zewail Ahmed Hassan Zewail ( ar, أحمد حسن زويل, ; February 26, 1946 – August 2, 2016) was an Egyptian-American chemist, known as the "father of femtochemistry". He was awarded the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on femtochemistry ...

* 2012 Robert S. Langer * 2013

Peter J. Stang Peter John Stang (born November 17, 1941) is a German American chemist and Distinguished Professor of chemistry at the University of Utah. He was the editor-in-chief of the ''Journal of the American Chemical Society'' from 2002 to 2020. Biography ...

* 2014

Stephen J. Lippard Stephen James Lippard (born October 12, 1940) is the Arthur Amos Noyes Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is considered one of the founders of bioinorganic chemistry, studying the interactions of ...

*2015 Jacqueline Barton *2016

Mostafa El-Sayed Mostafa A. El-Sayed (Arabic: مصطفى السيد) is an Egyptian-American physical chemist, a leading nanoscience researcher, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a US National Medal of Science laureate. He was the editor-in-chief ...

*2017

Tobin J. Marks Tobin Jay Marks (born November 25, 1944) is the Vladimir N. Ipatieff Professor of Catalytic Chemistry, Professor of Material Science and Engineering, Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and Professor of Applied Physics at Northw ...

*2018

Geraldine L. Richmond Geraldine Lee Richmond (born January 17, 1953 in Salina, Kansas) is an American chemist and Physical chemistry, physical chemist who is serving as the Under Secretary of Energy for Science in the US Department of Energy. Richmond was confirmed to ...

* 2019

Karl Barry Sharpless Karl Barry Sharpless (born April 28, 1941) is an American chemist and a two-time Nobel laureate in Chemistry known for his work on stereoselective reactions and click chemistry. Sharpless was awarded half of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry " ...

;2020s * 2020 JoAnne Stubbe * 2021 A. Paul Alivisatos * 2022 Peter B. DervanPeter Dervan Named 2022 Priestley Medalist
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References

External links

The Priestley Society
{{Joseph Priestley Awards of the American Chemical Society Awards established in 1922

Recipients

See also

References

Further reading

External links