Midgley Award Goes to Galen Fisher

Galen B. Fisher, principal research scientist at Delphi Research Laboratories, will receive the 2004 Thomas Midgley Award from the Detroit Section on Nov. 3. Established in 1965, the award recognizes outstanding research contributions in the field of chemistry related to the automotive industry.

Fisher was selected for his contributions to understanding the surface chemistry of automotive exhaust catalysts. His work has helped to elucidate the kinetics of surface reactions critical in three-way catalysis; in particular, the connection between reactivity on model single-crystal surfaces and real-world catalysts.

Fisher received a bachelor's degree in physics from Pomona College in 1966 and a Ph.D. in applied physics from Stanford University. After postdoctoral work at Brown University and several years at the National Institute of Standards & Technology as a staff physicist, he joined General Motors Research Laboratories in 1978 as a group leader in catalysis research. His group moved to Delphi Research Laboratories in 1999.