Yale’s Sharon Hammes-Schiffer Recognized for Her Pioneering Work in Chemistry Research

Sharon Hammes-Schiffer, the John Gamble Kirkwood Professor of Chemistry in the Faculty of Arts and Science at Yale University, was named the winner of the 2021 Willard Gibbs Award from the American Chemical Society. The Willard Gibbs Award, established in 1910, is named for pioneering Yale scientist Josiah Willard Gibbs. Past winners include Marie Curie and Linus Pauling. The award honors pioneering work that opens new fields of chemistry research.

“I am pleased and excited to have been chosen for the Gibbs Award, and I am honored to be named among such an accomplished group of past winners,” Dr. Hammes-Schiffer said. “This award is especially meaningful to me because Gibbs was a scientific pioneer and spent most of his life at Yale.”

Professor Hammes-Schiffer has conducted breakthrough research on proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) reactions and enzymatic processes that have led to new research strategies in light-harvesting solar energy assemblies. She has developed theoretical and computational models that have broad applications for artificial photosynthesis, charge transfer dynamics, and quantum mechanical effects in chemical, biological, and interfacial processes.

Dr. Hammes-Schiffer joined the Yale faculty in 2018. Earlier, she taught at the University of Illinois, Pennsylvania State University, and the University of Notre Dame. She is the editor-in-chief of the journal Chemical Reviews and is on the board of reviewing editors for Science.

Professor Hammes Schiffer is a graduate of Princeton University in New Jersey, where she majored in chemistry. She holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from Stanford University.