WASHINGTON, Oct. 9, 2013 — Marinda Li Wu, Ph.D., president of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world’s largest scientific society, comments on today’s award of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Martin Karplus, Ph.D., of the Université de Strasbourg and Harvard University; Michael Levitt, Ph.D., of Stanford University; and Arieh Warshel, Ph.D., of the University of Southern California. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the prize “for the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems.”
“As president of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society, I am delighted to congratulate the new laureates on behalf of our more than 163,000 members. Warshel is among those members and has been so for 20 years,” said Wu. “The winners have laid the groundwork for linking classic experimental science with theoretical science through computer models to simulate how chemicals interact with each other. The resulting insights are helping us develop new medicines; for example, their work is being used to determine how a drug could interact with a protein in the body to treat disease.”
The winners also have published several articles in many of ACS’ more than 40 peer-reviewed journals. Karplus’ research has appeared in 11 of ACS’ journals, including Biochemistry, the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Macromolecules and the Journal of Physical Chemistry A, B and C. Levitt has published studies in Biochemistry, the Journal of the American Chemical Society, and the Journal of Physical Chemistry A, B and C. Warshel’s work appears in 11 ACS journals, including Biochemistry, the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Inorganic Chemistry and the Journal of Physical Chemistry A, B and C.
A paper by Warshel and Karplus in the Journal of the American Chemical Society was an important work cited by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
News articles on the laureates’ work also have appeared in Chemical & Engineering News, ACS’ weekly newsmagazine.
The laureates also have been recognized by ACS for their groundbreaking research. Karplus won the ACS Award for Computers in Chemical and Pharmaceutical Research in 2001. Martin Karplus won the first ACS award in Theoretical Chemistry in 1993.
Wu is 2013 president of the American Chemical Society. The holder of seven U.S. patents, she has worked in Dow Chemical’s Central Research Laboratory and is founder of Science is Fun! Wu has considerable prior experience with ACS, including service as a councilor and as a member of the board and numerous ACS committees. She has been a member of the society since 1971 and was head of the California Section in 2001. Wu has a B.S. cum laude with Distinction in Chemistry from The Ohio State University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois.
