Dr. Mitsuo Sawamoto, Professor Emeritus of Kyoto University, Japan, will receive the 2026 IUPAC Stepto Lecture Award, established in 2016 to commemorate late Professor Robert (Bob) Stepto (1937–2015), who served IUPAC for 28 years including his presidency of the Polymer Division (2002-05). Following Stepto’s spirit, the award recognizes every two years an exceptional polymer scientist acknowledged not only as a true pioneer in research but as a respectful world leader who has made significant contributions to the polymer science community beyond research, through IUPAC and/or other means.
Mitsuo Sawamoto (b. 1951, Japan) received his B.S. (1974), M.S. (1976), and Ph.D. (1979) degrees in polymer chemistry from Kyoto University. After postdoctoral research at The University of Akron, U. S. A. (1980–81), he joined the Department of Polymer Chemistry, Kyoto University in 1981 and was Professor of Polymer Chemistry since 1994. In 2017, he retired from the institution and moved to Chubu University, where he was Professor (2017-22), Special Appointed Professor (2022-24), Guest Professor and Executive Advisor (2024-26), and now University Fellow at the Frontier Research Institute.
Sawamoto’s pioneering contributions to polymer science include: Developments of the first living cationic polymerization with Lewis acid catalysts and the first living radical polymerization with transition metal catalysts; the precision synthesis of designed functional polymers (block, amphiphilic, star-shaped, and end-functionalized polymers, etc.); and the sequence regulation in chain-growth polymerization, as published in >525 peer-reviewed original papers, 52 reviews, 46 patents with total citations over 28,000 times (55 papers with >100 citations) and h-Index 78.
These contributions led him to receive, among others: Award of the Society of Polymer Science, Japan (SPSJ) (1992); Divisional Research Award of the Chemical Society of Japan (CSJ) (1999); Macro Group UK Medal (2012); SPSJ Award for Outstanding Achievement (2013); Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon (2015)*; Alexander von Humboldt Research Award (2016); Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry (2017); Clarivate Citation Laureate in Chemistry (2021); Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon (2025)*; Person of Cultural Merit (2025)*; and CSJ Honorary Membership (2026). [* Presented by His Majesty the Emperor Akihito, Japan]
To the polymer science community, Mitsuo has extensively contributed in: The IUPAC Polymer Division as Task Group leader (2002-05), Associate Member (2006-08, 2012-14), Titular Member (2008-11, 2015-18), and National Representative (2018-19); The Science Council, Japan as Executive Member (2005-14, three terms); The Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) as Executive Program Director (2014-24); SPSJ as Vice President (2006-08) and President (2008-10); and CSJ as Executive Director (2017-25).
Professor Sawamoto will deliver the Stepto Award Plenary Lecture at the 51st IUPAC World Polymer Congress (MACRO 2026) in Kuching, Malaysia, July 28-31.
Post prepared by Masami Kamigaito (Nagoya University) and Makoto Ouchi (Kyoto University)
Previous Awardees
> 2024 Christine Luscombe
> 2022 Graeme Moad
> 2020 Tony Ryan
> 2018 Chris Ober
> 2016 Michael Buback
< more about the Stepto Lecture Award
Announcement to be published in the July 2026 issue of Chem Int