• Stephen R. Leone, National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellowship, Department of
  Defense (2010); Miller Professorship, Miller Research Institute (2010); Polanyi Medal of the Gas Kinetics Division of the Royal Society of Chemistry, UK (2010); Morris Belkin Visiting Professorship, Weizmann Institute (2009); American Chemical Society Peter Debye Award (2005)
• Prof. Neil Bartlett, "Historic Landmarks", Chemical Heritage (Fall 2006)
• Prof. Neil Bartlett, Noble Gas Reactivity Research Honored: International Historic Chemical Landmark Award, Chemical Engineering News (July 3, 2006)
• Prof. Neil Bartlett, International Historic Chemical Landmark Award (May 23, 2006)
• Daniel Haxton, Student Excellence Award, Gaseous Electronics Conference (October 2005)
• Prof. C. William McCurdy, Appointed Director of Ultrafast X-Ray Program (August 2005)
• Prof. Alexis T. Bell, American Institute of Chemical Engineers 2005 William H. Walker Award (August 17, 2005)
• CSD Division Director Daniel Neumark, The Optical Society of America's William Meggers Award (2005)
• Enrique Iglesia, Northwestern University's Center for Catalysis and Surface Science V.N. Ipatieff Lectureship (2005)
• Anne Gorden, Plutonium decontamination agent characterization team member and co-author (2005)
• Prof. John Prausnitz, 2003 National Medal of Science (February 16, 2005)
• CSD Division Director Daniel Neumark, Selected Vice Chair of APS Group (February 8, 2005)
• Prof. Enrique Iglesia, Robert Burwell Lectureship in Catalysis (2005)
• Prof. Neil Bartlett, Grand Prix de la Fondation de la Maison de la Chimie (July 8, 2004)
• Prof. Enrique Iglesia, Award for Excellence in Natural Gas Conversion (June 2004)
• Prof. John Prausnitz, Honorary Doctor of Engineering degree from the University of Padua
• Prof. Alexis T. Bell, Honorary Professor of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (April 22, 2004)
• Prof. Enrique Iglesia, R. H. Wilhelm Award in Chemical Reaction Engineering (November, 2003)
• Prof. Neil Bartlett, Noble Gas Experiment named one of the 10 Most Beautiful Experiments by ACS Chemical & Engineering News (August 25, 2003)
  
  

Stephen R. Leone

Leone

• American Chemical Society Peter Debye Award, 2005
                                     
• Morris Belkin Visiting Professorship, Weizmann Institute, 2009
  
  
• Polanyi Medal of the Gas Kinetics Division of the Royal Society of Chemistry,
  UK, 2010
  
  
• Miller Professorship, Miller Research Institute, 2010
  
  
• National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellowship, Department of
  Defense, 2010

Ex-Lab Chemist Bartlett Receives Canadian Honor

Bartlett

The groundbreaking research of chemist Neil Bartlett, who worked at Berkeley Lab for 30 years, will be designated an International Historic Chemical Landmark in a special ceremony at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver on May 23. Bartlett proved while he was at UBC in the 1960s that noble gases, now used in eye surgery and to fight tumors, are inert. The American Chemical Society sponsors the Landmarks program. In 1969, Bartlett joined the faculty of UC Berkeley, retiring in 1993. He is a retired Senior Scientist from the Lab’s Chemical Sciences Division. Full story.

Chemical Sciences Student Wins Excellence Award

Haxton

UC Berkeley graduate student Daniel Haxton won the Student Excellence Award at the annual Gaseous Electronics Conference, held in October in San Jose. Haxton is a member of the Atomic and Molecular Theory Group in the Chemical Sciences Division of Berkeley Lab and is doing his Ph.D thesis work under the direction of Lab scientists William McCurdy and Thomas Rescigno. He won the award for his groundbreaking theoretical work on dissociative electron attachment to water.

Ultrafast X-Ray Program Created; McCurdy Leads

McCurdy

Berkeley Lab's Chemical Sciences Division has announced the formation of a new Ultrafast X-Ray Science Lab, which was recently funded by DOE's Office of Basic Energy Sciences. The program is a joint experimental and theoretical effort aimed at applying ultrafast laser and accelerator-based light sources in the soft and hard X-ray regimes to problems in chemical dynamics and in atomic and molecular physics. Bill McCurdy, a faculty senior scientist in Chemical Sciences, will become the program's first director. "Experiments performed with the techniques being developed in this new laboratory will challenge the entire body of theoretical methods we now use to understand atomic scale dynamics," says McCurdy, former Associate Lab Director for Computing Sciences.

Chemist Bell Receives Top Engineering Prize

Bell

Alexis Bell, a principal investigator in Berkeley Lab’s Chemical Sciences Division and Professor of Chemical Engineering at UC Berkeley, has been honored by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers with its 2005 William H. Walker Award. The prize honors individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to chemical engineering literature. Bell’s citation credits his “pioneering the application of quantum methods to elucidate the siting and reactivity of exchanged cations in zeolites and the detailed pathways of chemical reactions." Full story.

Neumark Wins Optical Award

Neumark

The Optical Society of America has awarded Chemical Sciences Division Director Daniel Neumark its William Meggers award, which recognizes outstanding work in spectroscopy. The award specifically honors Neumark's "pioneering contributions to the molecular spectroscopy of transient species, including transition state spectroscopy by photo-detachment, the development of anion zero-electron-kinetic-energy spectroscopy and time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy." He will receive the award at the society's annual meeting in October.

Catalysis Expert Iglesia Receives Lectureship

Iglesia

Berkeley Lab chemical scientist and UC Berkeley professor Enrique Iglesia has been awarded the V.N. Ipatieff Lectureship at Northwestern University's Center for Catalysis and Surface Science for 2005. The lectureship was established in 1988 to "enhance students' educational experience with visits by internationally distinguished researchers in catalysis." Iglesia is also the recipient of the 2005 American Chemical Society's Olah Award and the Catalysis Society's 2005 Burwell award. Go here for more information on Iglesia.

Macrocyclic Chemistry Award for Researcher

Raymond

Lab chemical scientist and UC Berkeley professor Kenneth Raymond is the recipient of the Izatt-Christensen Award, which will be presented at the International Symposium on Macrocyclic Chemistry in Dresden, Germany this summer. The symposium was established in 1977 by scientists Reed Izatt, James Chistensen, and J.S. Bradshaw. Raymond will receive $2,000 and present a talk during the event. He was recognized for his "highly innovative chemistry, which has expanded from relatively simple biomimetics to the beautiful catalytically active nanometer-scaled flasks."

Chemist John Prausnitz To Get National Medal

Prausnitz

President Bush announced on Monday that he had selected eight eminent scientists to receive the nation's highest honor for science — the 2003 National Medal of Science — and one of them is John M. Prausnitz, Senior Scientist in Berkeley Lab's Chemical Sciences Division and a Professor of Chemical Engineering at UC Berkeley. An authority on molecular thermodynamics, Prausnitz will receive his award at the White House on March 14. Medal of Science Laureates are selected for pioneering research "that has led to a better understanding of the world around us, as well as to the innovations and technologies that give the United States its global economic edge." More info.

Neumark Selected Vice Chair of APS Group

Neumark

Daniel Neumark, director of the Lab's Chemical Sciences Division, has been elected as the vice chair of the American Physical Society's Division of Chemical Physics. His term will begin in March. Neumark has served as director of Chemical Sciences since 2000. His research interests include the investigation of spectroscopy and dynamics of transition states, radicals, and clusters using frequency and time-domain techniques. He is also a professor of chemistry at UC Berkeley

French Chemistry Honor For Neil Bartlett's Work

Bartlett

Neil Bartlett, a retired principal investigator with the Lab's Chemical Sciences Division, was recently awarded "Le Grand Prix" from La Fondation de la Maison de la Chimie, or, translated into English, The Foundation of the House of Chemistry. The international honor is the grand prize of the Foundation. The award commemorates Bartlett's life work on novel high-oxidation-state materials. He will receive the prize at a special ceremony this July in Paris. The honor commemorates French chemist Marcelin Berthelot.

Enrique Iglesia Receives Gas Conversion Prize

Iglesia

Enrique Iglesia, a Chemical Sciences researcher and professor of chemical engineering at UC Berkeley, has been awarded the 2004 Award for Excellence in Natural Gas Conversion. This award is given every three years at the Natural Gas Conversion Symposium and recognizes an individual who has made “enduring and significant contributions to science and technology for conversion of natural gas to valuable products.” Iglesia will receive the prize at the Symposium in June.

Amid Italian Pomp, Chemist Receives Honor

Prausnitz

John Prausnitz, a scientist in the Lab's Chemical Sciences Division, recently received an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree from the University of Padua, located in Italy. The degree was conferred in a colorful ceremony in an ancient palazzo where Galileo lectured 400 years ago. Prausnitz has, over the last 10 years, hosted numerous students and postdocs from the University of Padua. He also received an honorary degree from the University of L'Aquila, Italy in 1983.

Bell Receives Russian Professorship and Ph.D.

Bell

Chemical Sciences Division scientist Alexis Bell recently became the first person in the field of chemistry and chemical engineering to receive an honorary professorship of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He also received an honorary doctoral degree from the organization. The honor was conferred "...for his outstanding contributions to science and international cooperation." During his visit to Russia to accept the award, Bell presented two lectures: "Heterogeneous Catalysts and the Search for Structure-Function Relationships," and "Identification of Active Centers and Reaction Mechanisms: Grand Challenges for Researchers in the Field of Catalysis."

Chemical Engineer Wins Top Institute Prize

Iglesia

Berkeley Lab chemical scientist Enrique Iglesia has been named winner of the 2003 R.H. Wilhelm Award by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. The award, which recognizes an individual’s significant and new contribution in chemical reaction engineering, is sponsored by ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Company. Iglesia, who is also a chemical engineering professor at Cal, is widely recognized for his work on the basic processes involved in the synthesis of inorganic structures and in their function as heterogeneous catalysts for reactions used in refining, energy conversion, petrochemical synthesis, and environmental protection. He is the current Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Catalysis.

Lab Scientist Makes Top-Ten Experiments List

Bartlett