Friend, Madix elected as Fellows of the American Chemical Society

Cynthia Friend, Theodore Williams Richards Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and Professor of Materials Science in the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS), and Robert J. Madix, Senior Research Fellow in Chemical Engineering in SEAS and the Charles Lee Powell Professor, Emeritus, at the Stanford School of Engineering, were among the 192 new American Chemical Society (ACS) Fellows for 2010.

“Whether it’s making new materials, finding cures for disease, or developing energy alternatives, these fellows are scientific leaders, improving our lives through the transforming power of chemistry,” said ACS President Joseph S. Francisco in announcing the 2010 class of ACS Fellows. “They are also consummate volunteers who contribute tirelessly to the community and the profession.”

The new ACS Fellows will be honored at the society’s fall national meeting in Boston later this month. The members of this class represent well the breadth of the discipline: 33 of ACS’s 34 technical divisions are represented. And 79 of its 189 local sections are represented.

Friend obtained her B.S. degree in chemistry at the University of California at Davis in 1977, and continued her studies to obtain a Ph.D. at the University of California at Berkeley in 1981. She then did her postdoctoral work at Stanford University, and shortly after began at Harvard University.

The research in the Friend group is motivated by an interest in several technologies, including heterogeneous catalysis, nanostructure growth, environmental chemistry, laser-assisted materials processing, and chemical sensor technology.

Friend served as Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University from 2002-2005 and was Chair of the Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department from 2004-2007. She has been co-PI (Associate Director) of the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) since 2002 and a member of the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC) at Harvard since its inception. 

Madix obtained his B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois in 1961, where he was also a three year letterman in varsity baseball, and his Ph.D. degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1965. He was chairman of the Department from 1982 – 1985. In 2005 he accepted the position of Senior Research Fellow at SEAS.

Madix played a critical role in establishing the molecular foundation for elementary surface reactions on single crystal catalytic metals. He has also contributed significantly to the understanding of partial oxidation reactions on silver surfaces, the dynamics and kinetics of adsorption and surface reactions and the atomic-scale imaging of reactive processes on surfaces.

The fellows program began in 2009 to recognize and honor ACS members for their outstanding achievements in and contributions to the science, the profession, and service to the society. This year’s group members, like the first 163 ACS Fellows named in 2009, represent academe, industry, and government. Additional information about the program is available at www.acs.org/fellows.

Adapted from an ACS press release