Jean-Luc Bredas, KAUST distinguished professor and director of the University’s Solar and Photovoltaics Engineering Research Center (SPERC), received a 2016 American Chemical Society (ACS) Award in the Chemistry of Materials at the 251st ACS National Meeting in San Diego, California (U.S.) on March 15, 2016.

Bredas was appointed director of SPERC in January 2014, and has conducted groundbreaking theoretical research into new organic materials that can be exploited for novel generation of devices based on organics used as semiconductors. His research group at KAUST aims to understand the electronic and optical properties of these promising organic materials, with a focus on applications in the fields of electronics, photonics and information technology.

The ACS award is sponsored by the American Chemical Company E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. (DuPont). It was established by the company in 1988 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the commercialization of nylon and the discovery of Teflon, and also recognizes outstanding achievements in the field of the chemistry of materials. Considerable emphasis is also placed on nominees’ work as mentors and colleagues to their fellow researchers.

The ACS National Meeting & Exposition aims to give a greater understanding of the role chemistry plays in global health and safety, the economy and the environment, and provides the opportunity for attendees to share ideas with leading experts in the field.

“The ACS Award in the Chemistry of Materials means a lot to me, as it represents a recognition from my peers around the world. It is humbling to become associated with the leading figures in the field of materials chemistry who received the award in prior years,” Bredas said. “As the main theme of the ACS meeting in San Diego is ‘Computers in Chemistry,’ it seems fitting that I appear to be the first computational chemist to receive the award.”