Emmett Award To Bert Weckhuysen

Bert M. Weckhuysen, a professor of inorganic chemistry and catalysis at the Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science of Utrecht University, in the Netherlands, is the recipient of the 2011 Paul H. Emmett Award in Fundamental Catalysis. The award, sponsored by the Davison Chemical Division of W.R. Grace, honors a researcher of age 45 or younger who is advancing the understanding of basic catalytic phenomena, including the nature of active sites and species and the sequences of reaction mechanisms.

Weckhuysen was cited for his pioneering development and use of in situ spectroscopic methods to probe solids at the micro- and nanometer scales during their activation and function as catalysts. The award, consisting of a plaque and a $5,000 honorarium, will be presented during the 22nd North American Catalysis Society Meeting in Detroit in June 2011.