Presentation
of the Albert Einstein World Award of Science

(Monterrey, Nuevo León, November 24, 2007)

Sir Prof. J Fraser Stoddart is considered to be one of the few chemists to have created a new field of chemistry in the last twenty-five years, by inserting an additional link — the mechanical one — into chemical compounds, as well as a defining characteristic to determine their unique properties.

His contributions have spurred chemistry in new and important directions and have a created a new school of thought, connecting the largest sub-discipline of chemistry with the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology.

Prof. Stoddart was a pioneer in the use of molecular recognition and self-assembly in order to mechanically create intertwined compounds called catenanes and rotaxanes to manufacture the smallest switches in the world, measuring approximately 1 cubic nanometer. Since then, these molecular switches have been incorporated in particular into the molecular circuits of RAM memory.

The nanoscience community considers that these mechanically intertwined compounds will be pivotal to the progress of promising areas of molecular electronics and nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS).

According to the ISI (Institute for Scientific Information), Prof. Stoddart is the third most quoted chemist in the world. He has received over 60 international distinctions, issued over 790 publications and given over 700 lectures worldwide.

Born in 1942 in Edinburgh, Scotland, he graduated in science in 1964 and obtained his Ph.D. from Edinburgh in 1966. In 1990, he moved to Birmingham University, where he was professor of organic chemistry before heading the School of Chemistry in 1993.

The members of the Interdisciplinary Committee of the World Cultural Council grant the 2007 Albert Einstein World Award for Science to Prof. J. Fraser Stoddart as a well-deserved acknowledgement of his outstanding contributions and pioneering work in the field of chemistry and molecular nanotechnology.

The committee also recognizes the educational work which he has accomplished, by placing chemists at the forefront of the budding field of nanoscience and nanotechnology. Prof. Stoddart has, furthermore, influenced and inspired whole generations of scientists by discoveries which are vital to major technological advances in both the present and the future.