Héctor Abruña, the Emile M. Chamot Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, has been awarded the Frumkin Memorial Medal from the International Society of Electrochemistry, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the field.

He will receive the medal, which is awarded every two years, at the society’s annual meeting in August 2020 in Belgrade, Serbia. The award honors the late Professor Alexander N. Frumkin, a Russian electrochemist credited with the fundamental theory of electrode reactions.

“It is truly humbling to be the recipient of the Frumkin Memorial Medal,” Abruña said. “However, the real credit belongs to the graduate students, postdocs and other co-workers, whose great work, creativity and dedication for over 35 years made it possible.”

Abruña’s most recent work involves fundamental studies of novel materials and architectures for batteries and fuel cells. His group uses standard electrochemical techniques in addition to X-ray and various electron microscopy methods and spectroscopic techniques.

His group also develops inorganic and organic battery materials to drive discovery of new chemical and electrochemical properties.

Abruña directs the Energy Materials Center at Cornell and leads the Center for Alkaline-Based Energy Solutions (CABES), which is part of the Energy Frontier Research Center program supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). 

CABES, dedicated to the development of advanced fuel cell technologies in alkaline media, in August 2018 was awarded a four-year, $10.75 million grant from the DOE Office of Science.

Abruña was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in May 2018.

Kathy Hovis is a writer for the College of Arts and Sciences.