Caltech Professor Receives National Academy of Sciences Award

PASADENA, Calif.— Harry B. Gray, Arnold O. Beckman Professor of Chemistry and founding director of the Beckman Institute at the California Institute of Technology, has been awarded the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Award in Chemical Sciences.

This medal and prize of $20,000 are awarded annually for "innovative research in the chemical sciences that, in the broadest sense, contributes to a better understanding of the natural sciences and to the benefit of humanity," according to NAS. Gray was chosen for "his demonstration of long-range electron tunneling in proteins, his inspirational teaching and mentoring of students, and his unselfish service as a statesman for chemistry." The prize, supported by the Merck Company Foundation, has been presented since 1979.

Gray's noteworthy career has focused on interdisciplinary research that addresses many of the fundamental problems in inorganic spectroscopy and photochemistry, biological inorganic chemistry, and biophysics.

Gray, the recipient of numerous distinguished honors and awards, has been a Caltech professor since 1966. He was named the Arnold O. Beckman Professor of Chemistry in 1981, and served as chair of the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from 1978 to 1984. From 1986 to 2001 he was the head of the Beckman Institute. Gray received the National Medal of Science in 1986.

Contact: Deborah Williams-Hedges (626) 395-3227 debwms@caltech.edu

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