Jacqueline K. Barton, the Arthur and Marian Hanisch Memorial Professor of Chemistry and chair of the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, has been chosen as the recipient of the 2015 Priestly Medal, the highest honor of the American Chemical Society. The award is named after the British scientist Joseph Priestley who discovered oxygen. Professor Barton is being recognized for her research on the chemistry of DNA.
Professor Barton is a summa cum laude graduate of Barnard College in New York City. She earned a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry at Columbia University. Her first academic appointment was at Hunter College of the City University of New York. She then taught at Columbia and joined the faculty at CalTech in 1989.
Dr. Barton has received 10 honorary doctorates and in 2011 was presented with the National Medal of Science from President Obama.