Paul Anastas receives 2016 RCS Award

Often called “the father of green chemistry,” a field that promotes the design of products and processes that minimize environmental impacts and hazardous outcomes, Anastas is  the Teresa and H. John Heinz III Professor in the Practice of Chemistry for the Environment.

The Royal Society of Chemistry’s Green Chemistry Award, established in 2001, is awarded for the design, development or implementation of novel chemical products or processes which have the potential to reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances.

The award includes a £2,000 prize.

Anastas holds joint appointments with the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, the Yale Department of Chemistry, and the Department of Chemical Engineering. He is also director of the Yale Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering.

“Any recognition that I receive is simply a reflection of the miraculous work by the international green chemistry community,” Anastas said. “I am fortunate to have been a part of a scientific realization called green chemistry that has brought about innovation and understanding of how to use the power of chemistry to not only invent, discover, and transform matter, but also do it in a way that advances sustainability for people and the planet.”

“When I look across the breadth of inventions that green chemistry has brought about over the course of the past 25 years, I am amazed as much by the good it has done for society as I am electrified by the future discoveries yet to be realized by the field of green chemistry.”