The Wöhler Prize for Sustainable Chemistry has been awarded to Paul Anastas, Yale University, USA. The prize is jointly organized by the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh, German Chemical Society) and DECHEMA Gesellschaft für Chemische Technik und Biotechnologie e. V. (Society for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology) and recognizes Anastas’ contribution to establishing a scientific and technological approach to Green Chemistry.
The prize was presented by Barbara Albert, President of the GDCh on the final day, June 22nd, of the ACHEMA conference in Frankfurt, Germany, during a colloquium with presentations from Walter Leitner, RWTH Aachen, Germany, Martyn Poliakoff, The University of Nottingham, UK, and Wolfgang Plischke, Bayer AG, Leverkusen, Germany, on the future of green chemistry at 2 pm in the Forum, Level 0, of the Conference Center.

Paul Anastas studied chemistry at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA, and gained his Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry from Brandeis University, Massachusetts, USA. He joined the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a staff chemist and went on to work at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, concluding his service there as the assistant director for the environment. In 2007, Anastas joined the faculty at Yale University, USA, and in 2009, he returned to the EPA as Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Research and Development and the Science Advisor to the Agency. He stepped down from this role in February 2012 to return to Yale University where he is currently Director of the Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering.

Award Lecture:

• The Future of Green Chemistry and Molecular Design,
  Paul Anastas,
  Closing Colloquium, Friday, 22 June 2012 14:00 h, Forum, Level 0
  ACHEMA 2012, Frankfurt, Germany

Also of interest:

• News: Paul Anastas Leaving EPA
  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) research chief Paul Anastas announces plan to step down
• News: Paulson New EPA Science Adviser
  Glenn Paulson succeeds Paul Anastas as US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s science adviser
• Commentary: Building a Sustainable World
  Paul Anastas,
  Paul Anastas discusses why green chemistry is so fundamental to sustainability, and a worthy intellectual exercise
• Handbook of Green Chemistry,
  Paul T. Anastas (Series Editor), Chao-Jun Li (Volume Editor),
  Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, Germany, 2012.
  ISBN: 978-3-527-31576-5