Omar M. Yaghi, a professor in chemistry at University of California, Berkeley, was named winner of the 2024 Tang Prize in Sustainable Development for discoveries unlocking essential tools to combat the climate crisis.
In a June 18 press release, the Taipei City-based Tang Prize Foundation said Yaghi was selected for his pioneering work with ultra-porous frameworks that can be tailored for carbon capture, hydrogen and methane storage, and water harvesting from desert air.
Born into a Palestinian refugee family in the desert on the outskirts of Amman, Jordan, Yaghi moved to the U.S. at 15 to further his education. He earned an undergraduate degree in chemistry from State University of New York at Albany and followed it with a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign before taking a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University.
Yaghi is founding director of the Berkeley Global Science Institute, senior faculty scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and co-director of the Kavli Energy NanoScience Institute. He also holds 60 U.S. patents and has been honored with prestigious awards from 17 countries.
In a statement released later the same day by UC Berkeley’s College of Chemistry, Yaghi said it is a distinct honor to be awarded the prestigious prize. The researcher added that his field of reticular chemistry will continue to be vital to creating viable sustainability solutions.
Established by Taiwan entrepreneur Samuel Yin in 2012 and first conferred two years later, the biennial Tang Prize recognizes achievements in four categories: sustainable development, biopharmaceutical science, Sinology and rule of law. Each award brings a cash prize of NT$50 million (US$1.54 million). (SFC-E)
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