Nichols Medal

William H. Nichols Medal

The William H. Nichols Medal recognizes outstanding contributions in the field of chemistry and is the first award authorized by the American Chemical Society. Presented at a gala award dinner annually since 1903, the Nichols Medal encourages original research in chemistry. Nichols Medal recipients are a singularly significant group of distinguished scientists which includes twenty Nobel Laureates and thirty-three National Medal of Science recipients.

Shown at left is 2026 Nichols Medalist Prof. Mercouri Kanatzidis of Northwestern University (biography) who will be feted for his on April 10, 2026 at a symposium in his honor entitled:

Frontiers in Materials Chemistry and Energy Innovation

The William H. Nichols Award is generously supported by The Boston Foundation via the

William H. Nichols Fund for Chemistry.

2026 William H. Nichols Distinguished Symposium

Frontiers in Materials Chemistry and Energy Innovation

Honoring

Professor Mercouri G. Kanatzidis

Friday, April 10, 2026

St. John's University, Queens, NY

416 D'Angelo Center

1:00 p.m. Welcome

Mr. Joseph Wiener, 2026 Chair, ACS New York Section, PepsiCo

1:05 p.m. Opening of the Distinguished Symposium

Mr. Joseph Ulichny, 2026 Chair-Elect, ACS New York Section, Columbia University

1:15 p.m. Electrochemical Approaches for Sustainable Phosphate and Lithium Cycles

Professor Kyoung-Shih Choi University of Wisconsin - Madison

1:45 p.m. Applications of Ductile Electronics Strategies to Soft Matter Solar Cells

Professor Tobin Marks, 2010 William H. Nichols Medalist, Northwestern University

2:15 p.m. Coffee Break

2:45 p.m. Discovering Compounds and Designing Materials

Professor Ram Seshadri, University of California - Santa Barbara

3:15 p.m. Nature's Bluepring: Powering the Planet with Sunlight, Water & Carbon Dioxide

Professor Aditya Mohite, Rice University

3:45 p.m. How Halide Provskites Expanded the Frontiers of Photovoltaic Solar Energy

Professor Mercouri G. Kanatzidis, Nichols Medalist, Northwestern University

4:30 p.m. Reception

6:00 p.m. Medal Award Presentation

William H. Nichols Medalists (Complete List PDF)

2026 Dr. Mercouri Kanatzidis For transformative work in halide-perovskite solar cells

2025. Dr. Benjamin F. Cravatt For activity-based protein profiling & covalent drug discovery

2024 Dr. Emily A. Carter For groundbreaking quantum insights into sustainable catalysis

2023 Dr. Karen I. Goldberg For pioneering work in organometallic reaction mechanisms

2022 Dr. Alison Butler For pioneering contributions to marine bioinorganic chemistry

2021 No Award

2020 Dr. Krzysztof Matyjaszewski For the development of Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization

2019 Dr. Vicki H. Grassian For Contributions to Interfacial Environmental Chemistry

2018 Dr. Debra R. Rolison For Pioneering 3D Nanoarchitectures for Energy-relevant Materials

2017 Dr. Chad A. Mirkin For Pioneering Practical Applications of Nanochemistry

2016 Dr. Stephen L. Buchwald For Landmark Contributions to Organometallic Chemistry,

Ligand Design and Catalysis

2015 Dr. Gabor A. Somorjai For outstanding Contributions to the Elucidation of Novel

National Medal of Science Highly Selective Nanocatalysts

2014 Dr. Amos B. Smith, III For outstanding Contributions to Synthetic Organic Chemistry

2013 Dr. Richard Eisenberg Contributions to Inorganic Photochemistry

2012 Dr. Alan G. Marshall Advances in Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance

Mass Spectrometry

2011 Dr. Julius Rebek, Jr. Advances in the Science of Molecular Recognition and

Encapsulation

2010 Dr. Tobin J. Marks Pioneering Research in Catalysis and Soft Matter Electronics

National Medal of Science

2009 Dr. Carolyn R. Bertozzi For New Methods at the Interface of Chemistry and Biology

Nobel Laureate

2008 Dr. Nadrian C. Seeman For Founding and Establishing the Field of Structural DNA

Nanotechnology

2007 Dr. Nicholas J. Turro For Pioneering Research on the Photochemistry of Organic

Molecules and Supramolecular Systems

2006 Dr. K. Barry Sharpless For Click Chemistry, A New Strategy for Chemical Discovery

Double Nobel Laureate

2005 Dr. Richard N. Zare For Pioneering Studies of Chemical Reactions on the Molecular

National Medal of Science Level

2004 Dr. Allen J. Bard For the Invention and Development of the Scanning

National Medal of Science Electrochemical Microscope (SECM)

2003 Dr. Harry B. Gray For The Currents of Life: Electron Flow Through Iron and Copper

National Medal of Science Proteins

2002 Dr. Alan G. MacDiarmid For Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Conducting

Nobel Laureate Polymers

2001 Dr. Stuart L. Schreiber For Outstanding Contributions to Understanding Signal

Transduction Pathways by Merging Synthetic Organic Chemistry

and Molecular Cell Biology Approaches

2000 Dr. Barry M. Trost For Outstanding Contributions in the Use of Novel

Methodologies for Synthetic Chemistry

2022 William H. Nichols Distinguished Symposium Recap

The 2022 William H. Nichols Medal was presented to Prof. Alison Butler of the University of California - Santa Barbara for her pioneering contribution to marine bioinorganic chemistry. The medal presentation followed the Nichols Distinguished Symposium in her honor entitled Minerals, Microbes, and Metalloenzymes: Inorganic Chemistry at the Interface. The symposium included the following lectures:

Where Inorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Meet presented by Prof. Seth Cohen, University of California - San Diego
Redox Control of the Immune Response by Indoleamine 2,3-Dioxygenase presented by Prof. John T. Groves, Princeton University
Biosynthesis of a Copper-Chelating Natural Product presented by Prof. Amy Rosenzweig, Northwestern University
From Microbes to Mussels: Bioinorganic Chemistry in the Marine Environment presented by 2022 Nichols Medalist Prof. Alison Butler, University of California - Santa Barbara
these technical talks were followed by the Medal Award Ceremony was presided over by Dr. Kathleen Kristian, 2022 Chair, ACS New York Section

2020 Nichols Distinguished Symposium Recap

The 2020 Nichols Medal was presented to Prof. Krzysztof Matyjaszewski of Carnegie Mellon University for the development of Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization (ATRP). The medal presentation was preceded by the Nichols Distinguished Symposium that included the following talks:

Polymer-Enhanced Biomacromolecules presented by Dr. Alan Russell (Amgen)
Responsive Materials from Dynamic Bonds presented by Professor Brent S. Sumerlin (University of Florida)
Dancing in the Dark with CHIPs: Polymers for Next Generation Photonics and Imaging presented by Professor Jeffrey Pyun (University of Arizona)
Selective Proteomic Analysis of Cellular Sub-Populations in Complex Biological Systems presented by Professor David A. Tirrell (CalTech)
Macromolecular Engineering by Taming Free Radicals using Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization presented by 2020 Nichols Medalist Professor Krzysztof Matyjaszewski (Carnegie Mellon University)

2027 Nichols Medal Nominations

Due May 31, 2026

A call for nominations for the William H. Nichols Medal will be published in April 2026 issue of The Indicator with formal nominations and supporting letters due by the end of May 2026. Investigators who have published a significant and original contribution in any field of chemistry during the five calendar years preceding the presentation meeting are eligible for consideration by the Nichols Medal Jury. The Nichols Medal Jury deliberates and makes their decision by July. Download the Nomination Form here. Nominations and supporting letters should be emailed to Nichols_Medal@newyorkacs.org by May 31st for full consideration.

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