CATALYST
DE PAR TME NT OF CHEM IS TRY S cience. At I ts S o u rce.
Biannual Newslet te r | Fall 2012 |
President Barack Obama congratulates Distinguished Professor Peter Stang on receiving the National Medal of Science
One of a Kind U Chemist Receives High Honors In September 2011, University of Utah organic chemist Peter J. Stang received the National Medal of Science – the highest U.S. honor for a scientist or engineer – and was honored by President Barack Obama at the White House in October 2011. “I am very humbled, honored and pleased,” said Stang, 69, a Distinguished Professor of chemistry. “ To date, I have had approximately 100 postdoctoral students and Ph.D. students whom I mentored, and this recognizes their work too.” Stang has been a member of the Chemistry Department since 1969, and was a previous Department Chair and Dean of the College of Science.
Stang was cited by the White House “for his creative contributions to the development of organic supramolecular chemistry and for his...record of public service.” President Obama said: “Each of these extraordinary scientists, engineers and inventors is guided by a passion for innovation, a fearlessness even as they explore the very frontiers of human knowledge, and a desire to make the world a better place. Their ingenuity inspires us all to reach higher and try harder, no matter how difficult the challenges we face.” (continued on page 2)