* Information concerning affiliation/post/profile of the laureate is current at the time he/she received the prize.
CURRICULUM VITAE OF Dr. Gabor A. Somorjai
Education
1960 Ph.D., Chemistry, University of California at Berkeley (UC Berkeley), CA
1956 B.S., Chemical Engineering, Technical University, Budapest, Hungary
Employment
1964 - Present
Professor, Department of Chemistry, UC Berkeley
Professor, 1972; Associate Professor, 1967; and Assistant Professor, 1964
1964 - Present
Faculty Senior Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
1960 - 64
Research Staff, IBM, Yorktown Heights, New York
Somorjai was born in Budapest, Hungary, on May 4, 1935. He was a fourth year student of Chemical Engineering at the Technical University in Budapest in 1956 at the outbreak of the Hungarian Revolution. He left Hungary and emigrated to the United States, where he received his Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley in 1960. He became a U.S. citizen in 1962.
After graduation, he joined the IBM research staff in Yorktown Heights, NY, where he remained until 1964. At that time, he was appointed Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the UC Berkeley. In 1967, he was named Associate Professor, and in 1972 promoted to Professor. Concurrent with his faculty appointment, he is also a Faculty Senior Scientist in the Materials Sciences Division, and Director of the Surface Science and Catalysis Program at the Center for Advanced Materials, at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He was appointed University Professor by the UC Board of Regents in March of 2002.
Somorjai has educated 130 Ph.D. students and more than 200 postdoctoral fellows, about 100 of which hold faculty positions and many more are leaders in industry, He is the author of more than 1000 scientific papers in the fields of surface chemistry, heterogeneous catalysis, and solid state chemistry. He has written three textbooks, Principles of Surface Chemistry, Prentice Hall, 1972; Chemistry in Two Dimensions: Surfaces, Cornell University Press, 1981 Introduction to Surface Chemistry and Catalysis, Wiley-Interscience, 1994 and Introduction to Surface Chemistry and Catalysis, Second Edition, Wiley 2010; and a monograph, Adsorbed Monolayers on Solid Surfaces, Springer-Verlag, 1979.
Awards and Honors
2011
ENI New Frontiers of Hydrocarbons Prize
BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Basic Sciences
2009
Senior Miller Fellow, Miller Institute, UC, Berkeley
Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science Award
Excellence in Surface Science Award from the Surfaces in Biointerfaces Foundation
Fellow of the American Chemical Society
Honorary Membership, Chemical Society of Japan
2008
Priestley Medal from the American Chemical Society
2007
Langmuir Prize from the American Physical Society
2006
Remsen Award from the Maryland Section of the ACS
Honorary Fellow, Cardiff University
2003
Cotton Medal, Texas A&M University
2002
National Medal of Science
2000
American Chemical Society Award for Creative Research in Homogeneous or Heterogeneous Catalysis
Linus Pauling Medal for Outstanding Accomplishment in Chemistry, American Chemical Society, Puget Sound, Portland and Oregon Section
1998
Wolf Prize in Chemistry
1997
Von Hippel Award, Materials Research Society
1995
Chemical Pioneer, American Institute of Chemists
1994
Adamson Award in Surface Chemistry, American Chemical Society
1990
Honorary Membership in Hungarian Academy of Sciences
1989
Peter Debye Award in Physical Chemistry, American Chemical Society
Senior Distinguished Scientist Award, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
E.W. Mueller Award, University of Wisconsin
1986
Henry Albert Palladium Medal
1983
Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
1982
Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
Distinguished Scholar for Exchange with China
1981
Colloid and Surface Chemistry Award, American Chemical Society
1979
Member National Academy of Sciences
1978
Miller Professorship, UC Berkeley
1977
Emmett Award, American Catalysis Society
1976
Kokes Award, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland Elected Fellow, American Physical Society
1972
Unilever Visiting Professor, University of Bristol, United Kingdom
1969
Guggenheim Fellowship Visiting Fellow, Emmanuel College, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Memberships
National Academy of Science
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Chemical Society
American Physical Society (Fellow)
American Association for the Advancement of Science (Fellow)
Cosmos Club, Washington DC
Education
1960 Ph.D., Chemistry, University of California at Berkeley (UC Berkeley), CA
1956 B.S., Chemical Engineering, Technical University, Budapest, Hungary
Employment
1964 - Present
Professor, Department of Chemistry, UC Berkeley
Professor, 1972; Associate Professor, 1967; and Assistant Professor, 1964
1964 - Present
Faculty Senior Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
1960 - 64
Research Staff, IBM, Yorktown Heights, New York
Somorjai was born in Budapest, Hungary, on May 4, 1935. He was a fourth year student of Chemical Engineering at the Technical University in Budapest in 1956 at the outbreak of the Hungarian Revolution. He left Hungary and emigrated to the United States, where he received his Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley in 1960. He became a U.S. citizen in 1962.
After graduation, he joined the IBM research staff in Yorktown Heights, NY, where he remained until 1964. At that time, he was appointed Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the UC Berkeley. In 1967, he was named Associate Professor, and in 1972 promoted to Professor. Concurrent with his faculty appointment, he is also a Faculty Senior Scientist in the Materials Sciences Division, and Director of the Surface Science and Catalysis Program at the Center for Advanced Materials, at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He was appointed University Professor by the UC Board of Regents in March of 2002.
Somorjai has educated 130 Ph.D. students and more than 200 postdoctoral fellows, about 100 of which hold faculty positions and many more are leaders in industry, He is the author of more than 1000 scientific papers in the fields of surface chemistry, heterogeneous catalysis, and solid state chemistry. He has written three textbooks, Principles of Surface Chemistry, Prentice Hall, 1972; Chemistry in Two Dimensions: Surfaces, Cornell University Press, 1981 Introduction to Surface Chemistry and Catalysis, Wiley-Interscience, 1994 and Introduction to Surface Chemistry and Catalysis, Second Edition, Wiley 2010; and a monograph, Adsorbed Monolayers on Solid Surfaces, Springer-Verlag, 1979.
Awards and Honors
2011
ENI New Frontiers of Hydrocarbons Prize
BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Basic Sciences
2009
Senior Miller Fellow, Miller Institute, UC, Berkeley
Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science Award
Excellence in Surface Science Award from the Surfaces in Biointerfaces Foundation
Fellow of the American Chemical Society
Honorary Membership, Chemical Society of Japan
2008
Priestley Medal from the American Chemical Society
2007
Langmuir Prize from the American Physical Society
2006
Remsen Award from the Maryland Section of the ACS
Honorary Fellow, Cardiff University
2003
Cotton Medal, Texas A&M University
2002
National Medal of Science
2000
American Chemical Society Award for Creative Research in Homogeneous or Heterogeneous Catalysis
Linus Pauling Medal for Outstanding Accomplishment in Chemistry, American Chemical Society, Puget Sound, Portland and Oregon Section
1998
Wolf Prize in Chemistry
1997
Von Hippel Award, Materials Research Society
1995
Chemical Pioneer, American Institute of Chemists
1994
Adamson Award in Surface Chemistry, American Chemical Society
1990
Honorary Membership in Hungarian Academy of Sciences
1989
Peter Debye Award in Physical Chemistry, American Chemical Society
Senior Distinguished Scientist Award, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
E.W. Mueller Award, University of Wisconsin
1986
Henry Albert Palladium Medal
1983
Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
1982
Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
Distinguished Scholar for Exchange with China
1981
Colloid and Surface Chemistry Award, American Chemical Society
1979
Member National Academy of Sciences
1978
Miller Professorship, UC Berkeley
1977
Emmett Award, American Catalysis Society
1976
Kokes Award, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland Elected Fellow, American Physical Society
1972
Unilever Visiting Professor, University of Bristol, United Kingdom
1969
Guggenheim Fellowship Visiting Fellow, Emmanuel College, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Memberships
National Academy of Science
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Chemical Society
American Physical Society (Fellow)
American Association for the Advancement of Science (Fellow)
Cosmos Club, Washington DC
