Jean-Michel Savéant (19 September 1933 – 16 August 2020) was a French

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

who specialized in

electrochemistry Electrochemistry is the branch of physical chemistry concerned with the relationship between Electric potential, electrical potential difference and identifiable chemical change. These reactions involve Electron, electrons moving via an electronic ...

. He was elected member of the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

in 2000 and foreign associate of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

in 2001. He published in excess of 400 peer-reviewed articles in chemistry literature.

Biography

Born in

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

, Jean-Michel Savéant graduated in 1958 and obtained his PhD in 1966 at the

École normale supérieure École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...

. In 1971 he moved to

Paris Diderot University Paris Diderot University, also known as Paris 7 (), was a French university located in Paris, France. It was one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was split into 13 universities in 1970. Paris Diderot merged with Pari ...

where he founded the Laboratoire d'Électrochimie Moléculaire. He was an

emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

professor of

in this university as well as an emeritus CNRS Research Director. He was the author of over 500

publications To publish is to make Content (media), content available to the general public.Berne Conv ...

Major contributions

Jean-Michel Savéant’s scientific activity is outlined by the foundation and development of a new discipline - molecular

. Molecular electrochemistry has transferred the knowledge acquired by electrochemistry towards various fields of chemistry and biochemistry, in particular towards the chemistry of

electron The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary charge, elementary electric charge. It is a fundamental particle that comprises the ordinary matter that makes up the universe, along with up qua ...

and proton transfer, free radical chemistry, chemical reactivity theory,

coordination chemistry A coordination complex is a chemical compound consisting of a central atom or ion, which is usually metallic and is called the ''coordination centre'', and a surrounding array of chemical bond, bound molecules or ions, that are in turn known as ' ...

, photochemistry, solid physico-chemistry,

enzymology An enzyme () is a protein that acts as a biological catalyst by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different mol ...

and

catalytic Catalysis () is the increase in reaction rate, rate of a chemical reaction due to an added substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed by the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst ...

activation of small molecules, especially those involved in solving contemporary energy challenges.

Awards

*Prix Louis Ancel de la Société Chimique de France (1966) * Médaille d'argent du CNRS (1976) *Faraday Medal of the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the ...

(1983) *Medaglia Luigi Riccoboni (1983) *Prix Emile Jungfleisch of the Académie des Sciences (1989) *Charles N. Reilley Award (1990) * Olin Palladium Award of the Electrochemical Society (1993) *Medaglia Luigi Galvani della Società Chimica Italiana (1997) *Manuel Baizer Award of the Electrochemical Society (2002) *Bruno Breyer Medal of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (2005) *Distinguished Fairchild Scholar at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

(1988) *Oscar K. Rice Distinguished Lecturer at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

(1995) *Nelson Leonard Distinguished Lecturer at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1999) *Baker Lecturer at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

(2002) *Membre de l' Académie des Sciences (2000) *Foreign Associate of the

of the United States of America (2001). *

Air Liquide Air Liquide S.A. ( , ; literally " liquid air") is a French multinational company which supplies industrial gases and services to various industries including medical, chemical and electronic manufacturers. Founded in 1902, after Linde it is ...

Essential Molecules Challenge (2016)Air Liquide announces the winners of the “Essential Molecules Challenge”
/ref>

Bibliography

* * * *

References

External links

List of Publications (1958-to present)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saveant, Jean-Michel 1933 births 2020 deaths Members of the French Academy of Sciences Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences 20th-century French chemists 21st-century French chemists Electrochemists