UNC chemist to receive Porter Medal

Professor Thomas Meyer won the Porter Medal, the highest international award in photochemistry.

Thomas J. Meyer, a chemist and pioneer in the field of solar energy research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will receive the Porter Medal, the most significant international award in photochemistry.

Meyer is Arey Distinguished Professor of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences. He also is director of the UNC Energy Frontier Research Center (sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science), which conducts research in solar fuels. Much of Meyer’s research addresses the question: “How can we convert sunlight into inexpensive and reliable sources of energy?”

The Porter Medal, named for the late Nobel laureate George Porter, is awarded every two years to the scientist who has contributed the most to the subject of photochemistry. It will be presented by the European Photochemistry Association, the Inter-American Photochemistry Society, and the Asian and Oceanian Photochemistry Association July 15-20 in Coimbra, Portugal.

Meyer joined the UNC faculty in 1968. He previously served as associate director for strategic research at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and as vice chancellor for graduate studies and research at UNC. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Guggenheim Fellow and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has won many other awards for his research in chemistry and was awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine for service to the state of North Carolina in 1999.

He is the author of 620 publications, and his research group holds three patents.

More info: http://www.portermedal.com