Three faculty members in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology in the College of Arts & Sciences have been honored with national awards.

Song Lin, Howard Milstein Faculty Fellow and associate professor of chemistry, received the National Fresenius Award from Phi Lambda Upsilon, the national chemistry honor society. The American Chemical Society (ACS) awarded Todd Hyster, associate professor of chemistry, the Arthur C. Cope Scholars Award and awarded Justin Wilson, associate professor of chemistry, the Harry Gray Award for Creative Work in Inorganic Chemistry by a Young Investigator.

The Fresenius Award, established in 1965, recognizes German chemist Carl Remigius Fresenius and honors chemists early in their careers. The Gray Award, established in 2012, recognizes innovative research in any field of inorganic chemistry, considers the creativity and broader implications of the research and honors chemists fewer than 10 years removed from their terminal degree. The Cope Scholars Award recognizes excellence in organic chemistry, and was created by the ACS at the behest of Arthur C. Cope, a prominent chemist in the early to mid-20th century.

Lin’s research group is an organic chemistry lab specializing in synthetic electrochemistry, asymmetric catalysis and organic materials. The research uses unique electrochemical systems to expand both the scope and sustainability of synthetic chemistry. Lin received the National Science Foundation’s Career Award in 2018, became an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow in 2019 and received the FMC corporation’s New Investigator Award earlier this year.

“I am very proud of what my research team together has been able to accomplish in the past five years, and we appreciate Phi Lambda Upsilon for recognizing our contributions to chemical research with this award,” Lin said.

Hyster’s research group is also an organic chemistry lab. It specializes in causing enzymatic and organic reactions not found in nature to create new molecules and identifying protein/catalyst hybrids to generate energy. In addition to the Cope Award, Hyster is a Searle Scholar, an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow and a winner of the Amgen Young Investigator Award.

“It is a surprise and honor to receive this recognition. It is really a testament to the hard and creative work done by the students and postdocs in my group,” Hyster said.

Wilson’s research group investigates the use of metal-containing chemical compounds for both the treatment and diagnosis of human disease.. In addition to this award, Wilson received a 2019 Cottrell Research Scholar Award and the 2019 ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry Emerging Investigator in Bioinorganic and Medicinal Inorganic Chemistry Award.

“I am humbled and honored to receive this recognition from the ACS, and owe credit to the talented students and postdocs who I have had the privilege to work with,” Wilson said. “As we work at the interface of inorganic and medicinal chemistry, it has been exciting to see how these subfields of chemistry can combine to give valuable new products that have drawn industrial interest.” 

Lin and Wilson’s awards will be presented at the Spring 2022 National ACS meeting; Hyster’s award will be presented at the Arthur C. Cope Symposium. 

Jonathan Mong '25 is a communications assistant for the College of Arts & Sciences.