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Tobin Marks
Awarded Prestigious Gibbs Medal in Chemistry
EVANSTON,
Ill. --- Tobin J. Marks, the Vladimir N. Ipatieff Professor of Catalytic
Chemistry at Northwestern University, is the recipient of the American
Chemical Society Chicago Section's 2001 Josiah Willard Gibbs Medal,
regarded by many as the highest award given to chemists next to
the Nobel Prize.
Twenty-six
of the medalists honored since 1911 have become Nobel Laureates.
The
Gibbs award recognizes outstanding research chemists who have made
significant contributions to their fields of chemistry and whose
work has made possible scientific developments that have contributed
to the welfare of humanity. Medalists are selected by a national
jury of eminent chemists from different chemical specialties.
Marks
is one of only three Northwestern faculty members to receive the
award. The others are Vladimir Ipatieff in 1940 and Fred Basolo
in 1996.
The
medal will be presented at a special ceremony May 18 at Argonne
National Laboratory.
Marks
will be honored for his original research that has had a major,
lasting impact on important areas of chemical science, ranging from
f-element coordination and organometallic chemistry, to homogeneous
small molecule and polymerization catalysis, to molecule-based photonic
materials, low-dimensional electronic conductors, oxide chemical
vapor deposition, high temperature superconductors, and metallocene
anti-tumor agents. His style embodies discriminating choice of problem,
elegant synthesis, incisive elucidation of reaction mechanism, and
decisive application of an awesome array of physicochemical techniques.
For
over 30 years, Marks has conducted pioneering and interdisciplinary
research in the areas of inorganic, organometallic, catalytic and
materials chemistry. His research focuses on the design, synthesis
and in-depth characterization of new substances having important
chemical, physical and/or biological properties. His work is credited
with having major impact on contemporary catalysis with seminal
research in the areas of organo-f-element homogeneous catalysis,
metal-ligand bonding energetics, supported organometallic catalysis,
and metallocene polymerization catalysis.
He
has been a leader in the development and understanding of single-site
olefin polymerization catalysis (now a multi-billion dollar industry)
as well as in the study of new materials having remarkable electrical,
mechanical, interfacial and photonic properties.
Marks
was the second most cited inorganic chemist worldwide from 1981
to 1997, according to a Science Citation Index analysis by the Institute
for Scientific Information.
His
numerous honors and awards include the 1989 American Chemical Society
(ACS) Award in Organometallic Chemistry, 1994 ACS Award in Inorganic
Chemistry, the 2001 ACS Award in the Chemistry of Materials, the
2000 F. A. Cotton Medal of the American Chemical Society's Texas
A&M Section and the Texas A&M University chemistry department,
for his "masterful and varied contributions to inorganic and organometallic
chemistry" and the 1999 Paolo Chini Award of the Italian Chemical
Society.
Marks’
most recent honor is the 2001 Robert Burwell Award of the North
American Catalysis Society. The award is given in recognition of
substantial contributions to one or more areas in the field of catalysis
with emphasis on discovery and understanding of catalytic phenomena,
catalytic reaction mechanisms and identification and description
of catalytic sites and species.
Marks’
previous honors include election as a Fellow of the American Academy
of Arts and Sciences and election to membership in the National
Academy of Sciences. He has been awarded Guggenheim, Sloan, DuPont
and Dreyfus fellowships. He has received the National Fresenius
Award of Phi Lambda Upsilon Honorary Chemistry Fraternity, the Centenary
Medal of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and the Sobral Medal of
the Portugese Chemical Society.
He
has authored more than 600 articles in peer-reviewed journals, edited
six books and holds 52 patents. Marks has also served the chemical
community, organizing National Science Foundation, National Research
Council and Department of Energy workshops, NATO institutes, ACS
symposia, the Inorganic Gordon Conference and International MOCVD
workshops.
He has served as chair of the ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry
and on numerous governmental advisory committees. He has mentored
70 Ph.D. students and nearly as many postdoctoral fellows. More
than 50 of his students hold tenure-line academic positions worldwide.
Marks,
who joined the Northwestern faculty in 1970, has held numerous lectureships
and visiting professorships abroad. He has served on the editorial
boards of major journals in his field and currently is associate
editor of the American Chemical Society journal, Organometallics,
the leading journal in organometallic chemistry.
He
also serves on the advisory boards of several large corporations
and start-up companies and on numerous government and scientific
society advisory panels and committees.
Marks
was appointed to the Ipatieff professorship for the period of Sept.
1, 1999, to Aug. 31, 2014.
He
earned a bachelor of science degree from the University of Maryland
in 1966 and a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
in 1970.
3/6/01
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