To celebrate International Day of Women and Girls in Science this February 11, IUPAC is pleased to announce the awardees of the IUPAC 2023 Distinguished Women in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering:
Lidia Armelao, National Research Council and University of Padova, Italy
Annette G. Beck-Sickinger, Leipzig University, Germany
Chunying Chen, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology of China, Beijing, China
Bin Liu, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Laura McConnell, Bayer U.S., Crop Science Division, USA
Marcia Foster Mesko, Federal University of Pelotas, Brazil
Jyotirmayee Mohanty, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India
Tatjana Parac-Vogt, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
Gill Reid, University of Southampton, UK
Mikiko Sodeoka, RIKEN, Japan
Nguyễn Thị Kim Thanh, University College London, UK
Marinda Wu, Dow (retired), USA
The awards program, initiated as part of the 2011 International Year of Chemistry celebrations, was created to acknowledge and promote the work of women chemists/chemical engineers worldwide. Each year since 2011, the award has gained more attention in the global community. These 12 awardees have been selected based on excellence in basic or applied research, distinguished accomplishments in teaching or education, or demonstrated leadership or managerial excellence in the chemical sciences. The Awards Committee has been particularly interested in nominees with a history of leadership and/or community service during their careers. The awards presentation will be made during the IUPAC World Chemistry Congress to be held in August 2023.
Prof. Mary Garson, Chair of the IUPAC Committee for Ethics, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, comments: “I warmly congratulate this year’s group of 12 awardees, selected from an impressive list of high achieving and creative women chemists or chemical engineers from all around the globe. In their individual stories, each of the 2023 nominees reveal a willingness to share their expertise and experiences with other chemists, and a passion for science. Their activities and outreach advance the chemical and chemical engineering sciences in so many diverse ways. As we acknowledge all of the nominees and congratulate the 12 awardees, I am confident that their individual stories will inspire women scientists worldwide and provide encouragement to all of us to advance the chemistry of the future.”
The International Day of Women and Girls in Science is a global day celebrating achievement and promoting full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls. The day marks a call to action for further achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. The year 2023 is also the International Year of Basic Science for Sustainable Development. IUPAC is celebrating both of these global initiatives with a Global networking Breakfast event (www.iupac.org/gwb/) to be held on February 14 and with the theme of “Breaking Barriers in Science”.
A list of recipients of the Award since its inception may be found HERE (PDF).
About IUPAC:
IUPAC was formed in 1919 by chemists from industry and academia. Since then, the Union has succeeded in fostering worldwide communications in the chemical sciences and in uniting academic, industrial and public sector chemistry in a common language. IUPAC is recognized as the world authority on chemical nomenclature, terminology, standardized methods for measurement, atomic weights and many other critically evaluated data. In more recent years, IUPAC has been pro-active in establishing a wide range of conferences and projects designed to promote and stimulate modern developments in chemistry, and also to assist in aspects of chemical education and the public understanding of chemistry. More information about IUPAC and its activities is available at www.iupac.org.
See https://iupac.org/what-we-do/awards/iupac-distinguished-women/ or originating call for nominations
Announcement published in Chem Int April 2023, p.22
See also PAC Jan 2024 for a special collection of invited papers by recipients of the 2023 IUPAC Distinguished Women in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Awards.