ACS Award For Distinguished Service In The Advancement Of Inorganic Chemistry: Vincent L. Pecoraro

Sponsor: Strem Chemicals

Citation: For outstanding contributions to research and major service in the discipline of inorganic chemistry.

Current position: John T. Groves Collegiate Professor of Chemistry, University of Michigan

Education: B.S. biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles; Ph.D., chemistry, University of California, Berkeley

Pecoraro on what gets him inspired:“A reproducible, unexpected result. While it is always gratifying to build a molecule, achieve a desired physical property, or be able to complete specific catalysis from first principles in a predictable manner, the most exciting times are when a new result challenges one’s preconceptions about how nature works. At that point, we move from the application of existing principles to the search for new knowledge.”

What his colleagues say:“Vince is without question one of the top synthetic inorganic chemists practicing today. It is exceedingly rare that an individual can make a single groundbreaking advance, yet Vince has been capable of doing this in four different areas: manganese bioinorganic chemistry, vanadium bioinorganic chemistry, de novo designed metallopeptides, and metallamacrocycles, a field which he founded.”—Melanie Sanford, University of Michigan