Phi Lambda Upsilon

Phi Lambda Upsilon, in keeping with its stated objectives towards the promotion of high scholarship and original investigation in all branches of pure and applied chemistry, has established a national award for outstanding chemists early in their professional careers. This award, established in 1965, was named the "National Fresenius Award" in recognition of Carl Remigius Fresenius, one of the eminent chemists after whom Phi Lambda Upsilon was named.

This award is presented annually to an outstanding young scientist who has attained national recognition in the areas of research, teaching and/or administration. The first award was presented at the National ACS Meeting in April, 1965. This award continues and extends the traditions of the Society in recognizing and honoring excellence in Chemistry. As the list of names of past recipients (vide infra) testifies, the National Fresenius Award has taken its place among the pre-eminent awards in Chemistry in the United States.

The guidelines for The National Fresenius Award are as follows:

The award consists of a plaque of suitable design and a monetary award of $ 5,000.
The award recipient must be under 35 years of age at the date of the nomination.
The award recipient must have made substantial, nationally recognized scientific contributions.
Selection of the recipient is the responsibility of a five-member Award Committee composed of previous Fresenius Award recipients.
The recipient will be selected from persons nominated by the Chairs of the departments of Biochemistry, Chemical Engineering and Chemistry in United States Universities (as listed in the American Chemistry Society Directory of Graduate Research).
Only one award will be made each year.

The National Fresenius Award Nomination Procedure:

Nominations must be submitted to the National President by November 1 of each year:

Dr. Manuel P. Soriaga

National President, Phi Lambda Upsilon

Department of Chemistry

Texas A&M University

College Station, TX 77842-3012
(979) 845-1846

soriaga@mail.chem.tamu.edu

The nomination packet must consist of the following items:

i. A nomination letter, by the department Chair, that details why the nominee is particularly worthy of consideration for the Fresenius Award.

ii. A biography of the candidate that contains the following information:

Full name
Place and date of birth
Education
Professional activities
List of publications (no reprints)
List of awards, honors and noteworthy achievements

iii. Three (3) letters of recommendation from former mentors and/or professional associates.

The above items may be sent separately, but they must all arrive by the deadline. Submission may be by postal or electronic mail, but all letters must bear the appropriate signatures; i.e., the originals may have to be digitally scanned if transmission is to by e-mail.

Please direct all inquiries to the National President.

The National Fresenius Award Recipients

1965	Martin Karplus	Columbia University
1966	Ronald Breslow	Columbia University
1967	Mostafa El Sayed	Univ. of California - Los Angeles
1968	John Baldeschwieler	Stanford University
1969	Roald Hoffman	Cornell University
1970	Harry Gray	California Inst. of Technology
1971	Willis Flygare	University of Illinois
1972	Charles Cantor	Columbia University
1973	Nicholas Turro	Columbia University
1974	Richard Zare	Columbia University
1975	Robert Vaughn	California Inst. of Technology
1976	Joseph B. Lambert	Northwestern University
1977	William P. Reinhardt	University of Colorado
1978	Patrick S. Mariano	Texas A&M University
1979	Tobin J. Marks	Northwestern University
1980	John R. Shapley	University of Illinois
1981	Richard P. Van Duyne	Northwestern University
1982	Michael J. Berry	Rice University
1983	George C. Schatz	Northwestern University
1984	Mark S.Wrighton	Massachusetts Inst. of Technology
1985	Ben Freiser	Purdue University
1986	Jacqueline Barton	Columbia University
1987	Ian Rothwell	Purdue University
1988	Peter G. Wolynes	University of Illinois
1989	James L. Skinner	Columbia University
1990	Nathan S. Lewis	California Inst. of Technology
1991	Peter G. Schultz	Univ. of California - Berkeley
1992	John D. Simon	Univ. of California - San Diego
1993	Joseph T. Hupp	Northwestern University
1994	Scott D. Rychnovsky	University of Minnesota
1995	Robert M. Waymouth	Stanford University
1996	Erick M. Carreira	California Inst. of Technology
1997	Christopher C. Cummins	Massachusetts Inst. of Technology
1998	Chad A. Mirkin	Northwestern University
1999	Joseph DeSimone	Univ. of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
2000	David E. Clemmer	Indiana University
2001	Jillian M Buriak	Purdue University
2002	Andrei Tokmakoff	Massachusetts Inst. of Technology
2003	Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede	Tulane University
2004	Jeffrey R. Long	Univ. of California - Berkeley
2005	Andrew Lyon	Georgia Inst. of Technology
2006	Phil S. Baran	Scripps Research Institute
2007	Daniel T. Chiu	University of Washington
2008	Teri W. Odom	Northwestern University

The “Phi” in Phi Lambda Upsilon stands for “Fresenius”:

Carl Remigius Fresenius was one of the great chemists in the nineteenth century. He was Professor of Chemistry, Physics and Technology at the Agricultural Institute at Wiesbaden, Germany from 1845 until his death in 1897. At the age of 23, a year before he received the doctoral degree at the University of Giessen, he published the first edition of his famous “Introduction to Qualitative Analysis,” which proved to be so meritorious that it was translated into several foreign languages.

Fresenius was a critical analyst, widely known for the meticulous care and precision with which he carried out his analytical procedures. Many of his methods, such as the quantitative determination of lithium, manganese, and nickel, of phosphoric, nitric, boric, and titanic acids were the analytical methods of choice for decades. In developing these methods he was obligated to synthesize many of his own reagents. To improve the accuracy of precipitation methods, he made numerous solubility studies on the salts involved. He developed detailed methods for the analysis of waters and of plant materials.

In 1869 he established an agricultural chemistry research laboratory, in 1877 a food research laboratory, and in 1884 a bacteriological research laboratory.

Fresenius was also interested in the industrial application of chemistry. He was the discoverer of the lime-soda process of water-softening. The destructive distillation of wood and the processes for the recovery and utilization of the products also were originated and developed by Fresenius.

In 1862 he founded the “Zeitschrift für Analytische Chemie”, which remains one of the world’s leading journals in the field of analytical chemistry.