Thang Hoa San ( vi, Thang Hoa Sân, zh, 湯華燊; born 28 August 1954) is an Australian chemist of Chinese-Vietnamese background. Thang was born in

Saigon , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

in 1954 to Chinese parents who migrated to Vietnam in the 1930s. He completed his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

Saigon University Saigon University (SGU) is a public university located in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The university offers over 30 degree programs through its academic faculties in 3 campuses, including law, business administration, information technology, applie ...

in 1976, and worked as a chemist at SINCO, a sewing machine manufacturer. In 1979, Thang left Vietnam as a refugee from the Vietnam War, and spent five months in a refugee camp in Malaysia before arriving in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, Australia later in the year. He enrolled at

Griffith University Griffith University is a public research university in South East Queensland on the east coast of Australia. Formally founded in 1971, Griffith opened its doors in 1975, introducing Australia's first degrees in environmental science and Asian s ...

where he completed an Honours degree in chemistry and a PhD in organic chemistry. In 1986, Thang joined the

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentar ...

, the Australian government's scientific agency. In 1987, he left to join ICI Australia, but returned to CSIRO in 1990. In September 2014, research by Thomson Reuters for their citation laureate prize named Thang as one of a trio of CSIRO scientists (together with

Ezio Rizzardo Ezio Rizzardo (born 26 December 1943 in Pederobba, Italy) is a polymer chemist at the Australian research agency CSIRO. Biography Born in Italy, Rizzardo's family immigrated to Australia in 1957. After graduating from the University of New Sout ...

and Graeme Moad) most likely to be contenders for the

Nobel Prize in Chemistry ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...

for their work in co-developing the

reversible addition−fragmentation chain-transfer polymerization Reversible addition−fragmentation chain-transfer or RAFT polymerization is one of several kinds of reversible-deactivation radical polymerization. It makes use of a chain-transfer agent in the form of a thiocarbonylthio compound (or similar, fr ...

(RAFT) process. The three had shared the ATSE Clunies-Ross Award earlier that year. However, in December that year, Thang revealed that he had been

laid off A layoff or downsizing is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or, more commonly, a group of employees (collective layoff) for business reasons, such as personnel management or downsizing (reducing the ...

by the organisation in September, but had continued to work there unpaid in an honorary position. He later worked as a professor for

Beijing University of Chemical Technology Beijing University of Chemical Technology (BUCT, ), colloquially known in Chinese as Beihua (北化, ''Běihuà'') or Huada (化大, ''Huàdà''), is a public technological university in mainland China. BUCT was founded in 1958 and is a part ...

, and in May 2015, joined

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

as a professor of chemistry and was elected as a

Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science The Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Science is made up of about 500 Australian scientists. Scientists judged by their peers to have made an exceptional contribution to knowledge in their field may be elected to Fellowship of the Academy. ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thang, San 1954 births Living people 21st-century chemists Australian chemists Polymer scientists and engineers Vietnamese scientists CSIRO people Griffith University alumni Academic staff of Monash University Companions of the Order of Australia Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science Fellows of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering Vietnamese emigrants to Australia Vietnamese refugees