Chemist Receives International Acclaim

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Northwestern University chemist Tobin J. Marks recently received two international honors: the President’s International Award for Distinguished Scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and an honorary doctorate from the Technical University of Munich (TUM). 

Marks, the Vladimir N. Ipatieff Professor of Chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering and Professor of Applied Physics, is a world leader in the fields of organometallic chemistry, chemical catalysis, materials science, organic electronics, photovoltaics, nanotechnology and sustainability. 

The President’s International Fellowship for Distinguished Scientists supports leading international scientists to conduct a lecture tour in China for one to two weeks. Each professor is invited to visit at least two CAS-affiliated institutions to lecture and interact with CAS researchers and postgraduate students. The recipient also is expected to host CAS postdoctoral researchers at his or her lab for a research stay funded by CAS for up to three months. This award was previously called the Albert Einstein Award by CAS.

Marks was honored by TUM, the highest-ranked technical university in Germany (“the German MIT”), for his contributions in various fields of chemical research. Marks previously received the Wilhelm-Manchot Prize of the Chemistry Department at TUM and is also a TUM Distinguished Affiliated Professor. He is a member of the German National Academy of Sciences (the Leopoldina) and winner of the German Chemical Society Karl Ziegler Prize.

During his career, Marks has developed processes for numerous types of recyclable, environmentally friendly plastics, efficient organic displays and transistor circuitry, and organic solar energy cells. He designed a co-catalyst that led to what is now a standard process for producing better polyolefin plastics, including polyethylene and polypropylene. Marks is also a world leader in the areas of unconventional printed electronics, solar energy and green sustainable catalysis.