Gábor A. Somorjai

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'''Gabor A. Somorjai''' (May 4, 1935 – July 7, 2025) was a Hungarian-born American [[professor]] of [[chemistry]] at the [[University of California, Berkeley]], and was a leading researcher in the field of [[surface chemistry]] and [[catalysis]], especially the catalytic effects of metal surfaces on gas-phase reactions ("heterogeneous catalysis"). For his contributions to the field, Somorjai won the [[Wolf Prize in Chemistry]] in 1998,<ref>{{cite web |title=Somorjai Wins Wolf Prize |url=http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/publications/newsletter/1998/march1998nl.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100611215136/http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/publications/newsletter/1998/march1998nl.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 11, 2010 |date=June 11, 2010}}</ref> the [[Linus Pauling Award]] in 2000,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pauling Award Medal 2020 |url=https://sites.uw.edu/pauling2020/ |access-date=February 13, 2025 |website=sites.uw.edu}}</ref> the [[National Medal of Science]]{{citation needed|date=October 2022}} in 2002, the [[Priestley Medal]] in 2008,<ref name="CENJune11">{{cite journal | last = Jacoby | first = Mitch | title = Somorjai is Priestley Medalist | journal = [[Chemical and Engineering News]] | volume = 85 | issue = 24 | page = 12 | date = June 11, 2007 | url = http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/85/i24/8524news4.html | archive-url = https://archive.today/20130112151140/http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/85/i24/8524news4.html | url-status=dead | archive-date = January 12, 2013 | access-date = June 20, 2007 }}</ref> the 2010 [[BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award]] in Basic Science and the [[NAS Award in Chemical Sciences]] in 2013.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}} In April 2015, Somorjai was awarded the [[American Chemical Society]]'s [[William H. Nichols Medal]].<ref name="newyorkacs.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.newyorkacs.org/meetings/Nichols/2015Nichols.php|title=2015 William H. Nichols Award Symposium|website=www.newyorkacs.org}}</ref>

'''Gabor A. Somorjai''' (May 4, 1935 – July 7, 2025) was a Hungarian-born American [[professor]] of [[chemistry]] at the [[University of California, Berkeley]], and was a leading researcher in the field of [[surface chemistry]] and [[catalysis]], especially the catalytic effects of metal surfaces on gas-phase reactions ("heterogeneous catalysis"). For his contributions to the field, Somorjai won the [[Wolf Prize in Chemistry]] in 1998,<ref>{{cite web |title=Somorjai Wins Wolf Prize |url=http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/publications/newsletter/1998/march1998nl.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100611215136/http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/publications/newsletter/1998/march1998nl.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 11, 2010 |date=June 11, 2010}}</ref> the [[Linus Pauling Award]] in 2000,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pauling Award Medal 2020 |url=https://sites.uw.edu/pauling2020/ |access-date=February 13, 2025 |website=sites.uw.edu}}</ref> the [[National Medal of Science]]{{citation needed|date=October 2022}} in 2002, the [[Priestley Medal]] in 2008,<ref name="CENJune11">{{cite journal | last = Jacoby | first = Mitch | title = Somorjai is Priestley Medalist | journal = [[Chemical and Engineering News]] | volume = 85 | issue = 24 | page = 12 | date = June 11, 2007 | url = http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/85/i24/8524news4.html | archive-url = https://archive.today/20130112151140/http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/85/i24/8524news4.html | url-status=dead | archive-date = January 12, 2013 | access-date = June 20, 2007}}</ref> the 2010 [[BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award]] in Basic Science and the [[NAS Award in Chemical Sciences]] in 2013.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}} In April 2015, Somorjai was awarded the [[American Chemical Society]]'s [[William H. Nichols Medal]].<ref name="newyorkacs.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.newyorkacs.org/meetings/Nichols/2015Nichols.php|title=2015 William H. Nichols Award Symposium|website=www.newyorkacs.org}}</ref>

Somorjai died on July 7, 2025, at the age of 90.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gabor Somorjai Obituary (2025) – Palo Alto, CA |url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/gabor-somorjai-obituary?id=58809939 |access-date=July 9, 2025 |website=Legacy.com}}</ref>

Somorjai died on July 7, 2025, at the age of 90.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gabor Somorjai Obituary (2025) – Palo Alto, CA |url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/gabor-somorjai-obituary?id=58809939 |access-date=July 9, 2025 |website=Legacy.com}}</ref>

In the 1990s, Somorjai started working with physicist [[Yuen-Ron Shen|Y. R. Shen]] on developing a technique known as [[Sum Frequency Generation Spectroscopy]]<ref>{{cite journal|first1=Zhan|title=Studies of Polymer Surfaces by Sum Frequency Generation Vibrational Spectroscopy|last1=Chen|first2=Y. R.|last2=Shen|first3=Gabor A.|last3=Somorjai|date=October 1, 2002|journal=Annual Review of Physical Chemistry|volume=53|issue=1|pages=437–465|doi=10.1146/annurev.physchem.53.091801.115126|pmid = 11972015|bibcode=2002ARPC...53..437C }}</ref> to study surface reactions without the need for a vacuum chamber. He is also studying surface reactions in nanotechnology at the atomic and molecular level using [[atomic force microscope|atomic force microscopy]] and [[scanning tunnelling microscope|scanning tunnelling microscopy]], both of which can be used without vacuum.

In the 1990s, Somorjai started working with physicist [[Yuen-Ron Shen|Y. R. Shen]] on developing a technique known as [[Sum Frequency Generation Spectroscopy]]<ref>{{cite journal|first1=Zhan|title=Studies of Polymer Surfaces by Sum Frequency Generation Vibrational Spectroscopy|last1=Chen|first2=Y. R.|last2=Shen|first3=Gabor A.|last3=Somorjai|date=October 1, 2002|journal=Annual Review of Physical Chemistry|volume=53|issue=1|pages=437–465|doi=10.1146/annurev.physchem.53.091801.115126|pmid = 11972015|bibcode=2002ARPC...53..437C }}</ref> to study surface reactions without the need for a vacuum chamber. He is also studying surface reactions in nanotechnology at the atomic and molecular level using [[atomic force microscope|atomic force microscopy]] and [[scanning tunnelling microscope|scanning tunnelling microscopy]], both of which can be used without vacuum.

Somorjai's expertise in surfaces was used as a consultant to the [[2002 Winter Olympics]] where he gave advice on how to make ice-skating surfaces as fast as possible. Somorjai's research had shed new light on ice, demonstrating that skaters skated on a top-layer of rapidly vibrating molecules,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.exploratorium.edu/hockey/ice2.html|title=Science of Hockey: Why Is Ice Slippery? – Exploratorium|website=www.exploratorium.edu|access-date=August 31, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120719170256/http://www.exploratorium.edu/hockey/ice2.html|archive-date=July 19, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> rather than on a layer of liquid water on top of the ice acting as a lubricant, which had previously been the generally accepted explanation for the slipperiness of ice.

Somorjai's expertise in surfaces was used as a consultant to the [[2002 Winter Olympics]] where he gave advice on how to make ice-skating surfaces as fast as possible. Somorjai's research had shed new light on ice, demonstrating that skaters skated on a top layer of rapidly vibrating molecules, <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.exploratorium.edu/hockey/ice2.html|title=Science of Hockey: Why Is Ice Slippery? – Exploratorium|website=www.exploratorium.edu|access-date=August 31, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120719170256/http://www.exploratorium.edu/hockey/ice2.html|archive-date=July 19, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> rather than on a layer of liquid water on top of the ice acting as a lubricant, which had previously been the generally accepted explanation for the slipperiness of ice.

During his career, Somorjai published more than one thousand papers and three textbooks on surface chemistry and heterogeneous catalysis. He is now the most-often cited person in the fields of surface chemistry and catalysis.

During his career, Somorjai published more than one thousand papers and three textbooks on surface chemistry and heterogeneous catalysis. He was the most-often cited person in the fields of surface chemistry and catalysis.

==Honors and awards==

==Honors and awards==

Somorjai was elected to the [[United States National Academy of Sciences|National Academy of Sciences]] in 1979 and the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1983. He was awarded the Wolf Foundation Prize in Chemistry in 1998 for his contribution to chemistry, sharing the honor with Professor [[Gerhard Ertl]] of the [[Fritz Haber Institute of the MPG|Fritz-Haber Institute]] in Berlin. Somorjai was awarded the [[National Medal of Science]] for his contribution as a chemist in 2002. The [[American Chemical Society]] also awarded him the Peter Debye Award in Physical Chemistry and the Adamson Award in Surface Chemistry. In 2002, he was awarded the status of University Professor across the University of California network, an honor he shares with two dozen other academics. In 2004 he won the [[F. Albert Cotton#F.A. Cotton Medal for Excellence in Chemical Research|F.A. Cotton Medal for Excellence in Chemical Research]] of the [[American Chemical Society]]. In 2008 he received the [[Priestley Medal]], the highest award of the [[American Chemical Society]], for his "extraordinarily creative and original contributions to surface science and catalysis".<ref name = "CENJune11" /> In 2009 he was named a Miller Senior Fellow of the [[Miller Institute]] at the University of California Berkeley. He was awarded the prestigious 2010 [https://web.archive.org/web/20110203010507/http://www.fbbva.es/TLFU/tlfu/ing/microsites/premios/fronteras/galardonados/2010/ciencias.jsp BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Basic Science]. In addition he was also awarded in 2010 the ENI New Frontiers of Hydrocarbons Prize and the Honda Prize. The recipient of the 2007 [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]], [[Gerhard Ertl]], and other members of the surface science community, were surprised and mystified by the Nobel Prize committee's decision to pass over Somorjai, awarding the prize for surface-chemistry to Ertl alone.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2007/October/10100703.asp|title=Surface chemistry wins Nobel Prize – News – Chemistry World}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://cen.acs.org/articles/86/i14/Surface-Sciences-Sage.html|title=Surface Science's Sage – April 7, 2008 Issue – Vol. 86 Issue 14 – Chemical & Engineering News|first=Mitch|last=Jacoby|website=cen.acs.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/birthday-boy-gets-nobel|title=Birthday Boy Gets a Nobel|date=October 10, 2007}}</ref> In 2009 Somorjai was recipient of the [[Reed M. Izatt]] and James J. Christensen Lectureship. In 2013 Somorjai was awarded the National Academy of Sciences [[NAS Award in Chemical Sciences]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/publications/news/2013/somorjai_giving_and_receiving_honors.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514095915/http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/publications/news/2013/somorjai_giving_and_receiving_honors.php|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 14, 2013|title=UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry – News and Publications – Gabor Somorjai: Giving and receiving honors|date=May 14, 2013}}</ref> In April 2015, Somorjai was awarded the [[American Chemical Society]]'s [[William H. Nichols Medal]].<ref name="newyorkacs.org"/> Most recently, in 2023, Somorjai was recipient of the [[Enrico Fermi Award]] along with [[Darleane C. Hoffman]].

Somorjai was elected to the [[United States National Academy of Sciences|National Academy of Sciences]] in 1979 and the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1983. He was awarded the Wolf Foundation Prize in Chemistry in 1998 for his contribution to chemistry, sharing the honor with Professor [[Gerhard Ertl]] of the [[Fritz Haber Institute of the MPG|Fritz-Haber Institute]] in Berlin. Somorjai was awarded the [[National Medal of Science]] for his contribution as a chemist in 2002. The [[American Chemical Society]] also awarded him the Peter Debye Award in Physical Chemistry and the Adamson Award in Surface Chemistry. In 2002, he was awarded the status of University Professor across the University of California network, an honor he shares with two dozen other academics. In 2004, he won the [[F. Albert Cotton#F.A. Cotton Medal for Excellence in Chemical Research|F.A. Cotton Medal for Excellence in Chemical Research]] of the [[American Chemical Society]]. In 2008, he received the [[Priestley Medal]], the highest award of the [[American Chemical Society]], for his "extraordinarily creative and original contributions to surface science and catalysis".<ref name = "CENJune11" /> In 2009, he was named a Miller Senior Fellow of the [[Miller Institute]] at the University of California Berkeley. He was awarded the prestigious 2010 [https://web.archive.org/web/20110203010507/http://www.fbbva.es/TLFU/tlfu/ing/microsites/premios/fronteras/galardonados/2010/ciencias.jsp BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Basic Science]. In addition, he was also awarded in 2010 the ENI New Frontiers of Hydrocarbons Prize and the Honda Prize. The recipient of the 2007 [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]], [[Gerhard Ertl]], and other members of the surface science community, were surprised and mystified by the Nobel Prize committee's decision to pass over Somorjai, awarding the prize for surface-chemistry to Ertl alone.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2007/October/10100703.asp|title=Surface chemistry wins Nobel Prize – News – Chemistry World}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://cen.acs.org/articles/86/i14/Surface-Sciences-Sage.html|title=Surface Science's Sage – April 7, 2008 Issue – Vol. 86 Issue 14 – Chemical & Engineering News|first=Mitch|last=Jacoby|website=cen.acs.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/birthday-boy-gets-nobel|title=Birthday Boy Gets a Nobel|date=October 10, 2007}}</ref> In 2009, Somorjai was recipient of the [[Reed M. Izatt]] and James J. Christensen Lectureship. In 2013 Somorjai was awarded the National Academy of Sciences [[NAS Award in Chemical Sciences]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/publications/news/2013/somorjai_giving_and_receiving_honors.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514095915/http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/publications/news/2013/somorjai_giving_and_receiving_honors.php|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 14, 2013|title=UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry – News and Publications – Gabor Somorjai: Giving and receiving honors|date=May 14, 2013}}</ref> In April 2015, Somorjai was awarded the [[American Chemical Society]]'s [[William H. Nichols Medal]].<ref name="newyorkacs.org"/> Most recently, in 2023, Somorjai was recipient of the [[Enrico Fermi Award]] along with [[Darleane C. Hoffman]].

==The Somorjai Award==

==The Somorjai Award==