'Day of all days': Fraser Stoddart honored in Stockholm

Northwestern University’s Sir Fraser Stoddart, recipient of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, finally had his “day of all days” when he received his award at a regal ceremony held Saturday at the Stockholm Concert Hall.

Related: Stoddart, along with two others, wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry

King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden presented Stoddart and the eight other laureates in attendance with their Nobel medals and diplomas as more than 1,500 guests looked on. The great Nobel Banquet followed in the Blue Hall of the Stockholm City Hall.

Citing the two other recipients of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry at the banquet, Stoddart, the Board of Trustees Professor of Chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and a member of Northwestern’s International Institute for Nanotechnology, said:

“I draw pleasure, along with Ben Feringa and Jean-Pierre Sauvage, in joining the roster of chemists, recognized for over a century for their ingenuity and creativity by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. What an honor it is for us to be chosen to share their company.”

Stoddart, Feringa and Sauvage won the Nobel Prize for the design and synthesis of nanomachines made of moving molecules.

Stoddart is pictured above, at left, with Sauvage after the ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall. Photo by Alexander Mahmoud of Nobel Media AB 2016.

More than 80 family, friends and research group members joined Stoddart in Stockholm to help him celebrate during a very festive Nobel Week (Dec. 6-12).

Taking full advantage of his new Twitter account, Stoddart had the time of his life sharing his sentiments about the many Nobel Prize traditions he participated in throughout the week.

In addition to attending the award ceremony and banquet, Stoddart:

• Autographed a chair at the Nobel Museum, where he also presented his gift, a model of a rotaxane
• Delivered his Nobel Lecture in Chemistry, “Design and Synthesis of Molecular Machines Based on the Mechanical Bond,” at Stockholm University
• Attended the Nobel Prize Concert at the Stockholm Concert Hall, featuring violinist Janine Jansen and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
• Dined with fellow honored Nobel laureates at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and, four days later, at the Royal Banquet at the Royal Palace