Héctor D. Abruña, the Émile M. Chamot Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences, will receive the Enrico Fermi Award, one of the oldest and most prestigious science and technology honors bestowed by the U.S. government. The award will be shared with two other scientists, Paul Alivisatos and John Hopkins Nuckolls.

Abruña is being recognized “for revolutionizing the fundamental understanding of electroanalytical chemistry and innovating characterization for development of batteries, fuel cells and energy materials that have led to advancements for the electrical energy transformation and generation,” according to a White House press release. “Over four decades, Abruña has been one of the most important global contributors to an improved understanding of electrochemical interfaces.”

As a Fermi Award winner, Abruña will receive a citation signed by the U.S. president and the secretary of energy, and a gold-plated medal bearing the likeness of Enrico Fermi; the $100,000 honorarium will be shared equally among the three winners.

“Prof. Abruña is a giant in his field, and his work developing new materials for energy conversion and storage has helped drive the global transition toward renewable energy sources,” said Interim President Michael I. Kotlikoff. “The impact of the Abruña group’s research and discovery will be felt for generations, and I am delighted to see it recognized in this way.”

The award recognizes scientists, engineers and science policymakers who have given unstintingly over their careers to advance energy science and technology. The Fermi Award is administered on behalf of the White House by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

“Professor Abruña’s research is critical as we face the challenge of climate change,” said Peter John Loewen, the Harold Tanner Dean of Arts and Sciences. “He is an inspiring leader not only for his science, but also for his mentorship in training future generations of scientists and his collaborations across his field and beyond.”

Abruña said the award was “an extraordinary honor and recognition.”

“It’s a truly humbling experience, especially when you look at the list of previous awardees,” he said. “The energy challenge is one that requires a global effort and commitment where we all have to contribute since it transcends borders. From that collective point of view, while I am deeply honored, the real credit goes to all the people in my research group, who for the past 41 years have contributed with ideas, effort and dedication. The credit and merit is theirs, and I will be accepting the award on their behalf.”

Abruña’s work leverages a combination of electroanalytical chemistry and spectroscopic techniques to develop new approaches to investigate problems related to batteries, fuel cells and other technologies of importance to advance national goals for decarbonization and renewable energy innovation.

As the director of Cornell’s Center for Alkaline-Based Energy Solutions (CABES), an Energy Frontier Research Center supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, NYSERDA and Empire State Development, Abruña and his collaborators have made progress in developing and deploying highly efficient and environmentally benign energy conversion technologies with emphasis on fuel cells and electrolyzers employing low cost transition metals whose use is enabled by operating at high (alkaline) pH.

In addition to his own research, Abruña has partnered with universities in his native Puerto Rico and the Partnerships in Research and Education in Materials (PREM) program to bring underrepresented groups to the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS) to perform energy related research.

Abruña has received numerous other awards recognizing his contributions, including the 2024 Global Energy Prize, the American Chemical Society’s National Award in Analytical Chemistry in 2021, the ISE-Elsevier Prize for Experimental Electrochemistry and the Frumkin Memorial Medal from the International Society of Electrochemistry. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2018 and to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2007. 

The Enrico Fermi Presidential Award was established in 1956 as a memorial to the legacy of Enrico Fermi, an Italian-born naturalized American citizen and 1938 Nobel Laureate in physics, who achieved the first nuclear chain reaction in 1942. Previous Cornell faculty members who have received Fermi Awards include Nobel Laureate Hans Bethe, the John Wendell Anderson Professor of Physics, Emeritus, in 1961, and Robert R. Wilson, professor emeritus of physics, in 1984.

Linda B. Glaser is news and media relations manager for the College of Arts and Sciences.