CME's Hammes-Schiffer Receives Royal Society of Chemistry, American Chemical Society Awards

(October 2020)

Sharon Hammes-Shiffer

Sharon Hammes-Schiffer, deputy director of the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis (CME) and the John Gamble Kirkwood Professor of Chemistry at Yale University, has received awards from both the Royal Society of Chemistry and the American Chemical Society (ACS).

The Royal Society of Chemistry bestowed Hammes-Schiffer with their 2020 Bourke Award. The award honors the quality of Hammes-Schiffer's research developing and applying theories and methods to simulate and describe electron and proton movement during chemical reactions.

Her research also garnered her the 2021 ACS Award in Theoretical Chemistry, sponsored by the ACS Division of Physical Chemistry. Hammes-Schiffer's analytic theories and computational methods have helped to guide the design of energy storage catalysts, explain enzyme reactions, and inform efforts to created more effective enzymes through mutation. Her work with the CME Energy Frontier Research Center studies theories converting energy between electrical and chemical.

CME's director Morris Bullock expressed his enthusiasm for Hammes-Schiffer's awards. "We are happy that Sharon's landmark achievements are recognized by both the Bourke Award and the American Chemical Society. Her leadership and creativity have propelled progress forward in the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis and her vision for integrating discoveries in theory and computations with experimental studies has been a hallmark of the success."

The Bourke Award enables distinguished scientists from overseas to lecture in the UK in the field of physical chemistry or chemical physics. The award, formerly the Bourke Lectureship, was established in 1954 to commemorate Lieutenant Colonel John Bourke (1865-1933), one of the benefactors of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Hammes-Schiffer and her fellow ACS award recipients will be honored at the ACS 2021 Spring National Meeting.