Chemistry Prof. Michael Wasielewski received the 2008 Porter Medal last month in recognition of his contributions to the field of photochemistry throughout his career.
The global award is considered the most prestigious in photochemistry, said Joseph Hupp, chairman of the chemistry department.
It is granted once every two years by the European Photochemistry Association, the Inter-American Photochemical Society, and the Asian and Oceanian Photochemistry Association in honor of the late photochemist George Porter, who was a Nobel Laureate in 1967.
Wasielewski called his win a “major accomplishment.”
“I’d say it’s one of the best,” he said.
The professor researches solar energy and artificial photosynthesis as part of his studies of photochemistry, which he describes as “the interaction of light with matter.”
Wasielewski came to Northwestern in 1994 from the Argonne National Laboratory.
“He is among the most expert people in the world on designing molecules that mimic key steps that nature uses to turn sunlight into fuel,” Hupp said. “He certainly provides a lot of leadership in the emerging field of energy conversion.”
Elements of photochemistry can be seen in everyday life, especially with the rising issues of solar energy, said Wasielewski, a former chairman of NU’s Chemistry Department. The field is a hybrid of physical chemistry, organic chemistry and material science, he said.
Wasielewski is one of about eight professors at NU who study solar energy, but the only scientist whose research is centralized on photochemistry, Hupp said.
With his “deep expertise in physical organic chemistry,” Wasielewski has been investigating ways to create energy and then capture it in solar fuels, said chemistry professor Mark Ratner, who nominated him for the award.
As a theorist, Ratner examines the properties and structure of the molecules Wasielewski constructs to try to improve them.
“He is a really interactive person and reaches out in many directions,” Ratner said, adding that Wasielewski collaborates on projects with several other scientists, as well.
In addition to leading the Argonne-Northwestern Solar Energy Research Center, which he established last year, Wasielewski also works with undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral students studying photochemistry. Under his supervision they synthesize organic molecules using lasers at the Center for Nanofabrication and Molecular Self-Assembly, fifth-year graduate student Emilie Giacobbe said.
“It’s obvious that he loves what he does,” she said. “He’s genuinely interested in finding answers.”
Among his previous accomplishments are the 2006 James Flack Norris Award in Physical Organic Chemistry from the American Chemical Society and the 2004 Award in Photochemistry from the Inter-American Photochemical Society.
Presently, Wasielewski’s solutions to problems such as alternative resources and sustainability are particularly pertinent, Hupp said.
“The field he has been working in is really coming to the forefront of science as the country and the world face up to the problem of energy for the future,” Hupp said.
