Call for nominations for HIST Breakthrough Awards

The ACS Division of the History of Chemistry (HIST) is calling for nominations for its 2017 Citation for Chemical Breakthrough Awards.

The awards recognize breakthrough publications, books, and patents worldwide in the field of chemistry. The advances must have been revolutionary in concept, broad in scope, and long-term in impact.

Departments or institutions being recognized will receive a plaque to be hung near the office or laboratory where the breakthrough was achieved.

The award, now entering its 12th year, has recognized 57 breakthrough achievements in chemistry around the world. The 2016 awardees are the University of Innsbruck for Leopold Pfaundler’s 1867 research on the kinetic theory of chemical reactions; the University of Chicago for Willard F. Libby’s 1947 discovery of radiocarbon dating to estimate the age of organic materials; the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, for Herbert S. Gutowsky’s 1951 first observation of spin-spin coupling in liquids, a crucial step in transforming NMR spectroscopy into one of the most powerful tools in chemical science; and the Medical Research Council in Cambridge, England, for Fred Sanger’s 1977 DNA sequencing with chain-terminating inhibitors to determine the sequences of bases in DNA.

Nominations are due by May 26 and must include a full literature citation and a supporting statement of up to 200 words.

For more information about the award and past winners, or to submit a nomination, visit goo.gl/nZ56rE, or e-mail Jeffrey I. Seeman at jseeman@­richmond.edu.