University of Chicago President Paul Alivisatos has been named one of this year’s winners of the Enrico Fermi Presidential Award—one of the most prestigious science and technology honors bestowed by the U.S. government—the White House announced Dec. 19.
A pioneering figure in the field of nanoscience, Alivisatos shares the honor with Prof. Héctor D. Abruña of Cornell University and John H. Nuckolls, the former director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Created in 1956, the award recognizes individuals who have made fundamental contributions to energy science and technology.
“It’s an honor to recognize three DOE scientists who have accomplished a tremendous feat of advancing scientific knowledge in nanoscience, electroanalytical chemistry and fusion,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm of this year’s honorees. “The legacy of their work will be felt for generations as America continues be a global leader in technological innovation.”
According to the award citation, Alivisatos’ groundbreaking research helped develop “the foundational materials and physical chemistry to produce beneficial nanocrystals and polymers with controlled size, shape, connectivity, and topology that underpin energy-efficient technology, optical devices, and medical diagnostic technology.”
The Fermi Award was established in memory of the late Nobel Prize-winning physicist and UChicago faculty member who helped achieve the historic first nuclear chain reaction at UChicago in 1942. It encourages excellence in research and honors scientists, engineers and policymakers whose work benefits humanity.
“I am delighted to receive this award. It is a recognition that carries special meaning, given the connection of its namesake to the University of Chicago and its community of scholars, many of whom have dedicated themselves toward achieving even greater knowledge and understanding in a field to which Fermi made such an extraordinary impact,” said Alivisatos, who is the John D. MacArthur Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Chemistry, the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and the College. “For my contributions to be recognized alongside theirs is a true honor.”
Alivisatos is the latest member of the UChicago community to win the prestigious Fermi Award. Of the 71 individuals who have received the award, more than a quarter have been UChicago faculty members or alumni. Past winners include former faculty members Mortimer Elkind (1996), Richard L. Garwin (1996), Ugo Fano (1995), Leon Lederman (1992), Robert R. Wilson (1984), Herbert L. Anderson (1982), Edward Teller (1962) and Glenn T. Seaborg (1959). Alumni recipients include Mildred Dresselhaus (2010) (PhD’58), John B. Goodenough (2009) (PhD’52), Arthur H. Rosenfeld (2005) (PhD’54), John N. Bahcall (2003) (SM’57), Martin Kamen (1995) (SB’33, PhD’36), Liane Brauch Russell (1993) (PhD’49), Marshall N. Rosenbluth (1985) (PhD’49), Alvin M. Weinberg (1980) (SB’35, SB’36, PhD’39), William L. Russell (1976) (PhD’37), Harold M. Agnew (1978) (MS’48, PhD’49) and Ernest O. Lawrence (1957).
The honor is the second this year for Alivisatos, who this June was named one of the recipients of the 2024 Kavli Award in Nanoscience. His other awards include the National Medal of Science, the Wolf Prize in Chemistry, the Priestley Medal and the international BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award.
Alivisatos and his fellow Fermi Award honorees will be recognized on Jan. 10, 2025 at an event in Washington, D.C.
—Prof. Jacqueline Stewart
