Harvard Chemistry Professor Honored for Long, Diverse Career

WELCH AWARD

George M. Whitesides, the Mallinckrodt Professor of Chemistry at Harvard University, will receive the 2005 Welch Award in Chemistry in honor of "more than four decades of life-enhancing contributions to diverse areas of chemistry." The $300,000 award has been given annually by the Houston-based Welch Foundation since 1972.

Whitesides has worked in many areas of chemistry, particularly physical organic chemistry, biochemistry, surface science, and materials science. His many contributions to surface science include work in self-assembled monolayers and the development of soft litho graphy. He also pioneered mesoscale self-assembly, in which components on the millimeter or centimeter scale spontaneously organize themselves into larger structures.

"Identifying interesting problems, learning how things work, and applying those insights to benefit people has been extremely fulfilling, and I am honored that the Welch Foundation has recognized me for such work," Whitesides says. "I share the foundation's dedication to basic research in chemistry and look forward to continuing my work in exciting new directions that continually expand chemistry's borders."

Whitesides received an A.B. from Harvard in 1960 and a Ph.D. from California Institute of Technology in 1964. He served on the faculty at Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1963 to 1982, when he joined the faculty at Harvard. Whitesides' many awards include the National Medal of Science, the ACS Award in Pure Chemistry, and the Arthur C. Cope Award.