Awards
The Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry of the American Chemical Society presents the Langmuir award annually at the American Chemical Society National Meeting.
Irving Langmuir (31 January 1881 – 16 August 1957) was an American chemist and physicist, who was awarded the 1932 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in surface chemistry. He was the first industrial chemist to become a Nobel laureate. The American Chemical Society Journal for Surface Science is named Langmuir in his honor.
Langmuir Award Recipients
Nomination Deadline:
January 31, 2025
Nomination information found here.
2024
Daniel K. Schwartz
University of Colorado Boulder
Christine Keating
Pennsylvania State University
2023
Shu Yang
University of Pennsylvania
Read Interview
Christy Landes
Rice University
Read Interview
2022
Yadong Yin
University of California, Riverside
Janet A. W. Elliott
University of Alberta
2021
Deborah Leckband
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Ivan I. Smalyukh
University of Colorado, Boulder
2020
Kristen Fichthorn
Pennsylvania State University
Emmanuel Delamarche
IBM
2019
Katsuhika Ariga
National Institute for Materials Science, Japan
Ayusman Sen
The Pennsylvania State University
2018
Kathleen Stebe
University of Pennsylvania
Orlin Velev
North Carolina State University
2017
Paul Cremer
The Pennsylvania State University
Probing the Interaction of Anions and Cations with Phospholipid Membranes
Frank Caruso
The University of Melbourne
Engineering Particles for Bio-Nano Science and Beyond
2016
Bernard Binks
University of Hull
Rainbow coloured Pickering Emulsions: Behaviour of Pigment Particles at Fluid Interfaces
Robert Hamers
University of Wisconsin – Madison
Diamond at the Extremes
2015
Catherine J. Murphy
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The Golden Age of Colloids and Surfaces
Buddy D. Ratner
University of Washington
Biointerfaces: Beginnings, State of the Art, and Horizons
2014
Anna Balazs
University of Pittsburgh
Designing Biomimetic Capsules and Gels that Undergo Directed Movement
Helmuth Möhwald
Max-Planck-Inst. of Colloids and Interfaces
From Langmuir Monolayers to Layer by Layer Assembly
2013
Prashant V. Kamat
University of Notre Dame
Meeting the Clean Energy Challange with Semiconductor Nanostructres
Nicholas A. Kotov
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Self-Assembly of Nanoparticles: FromConcept to Applicactions
2012
Hai-Lung Dai
Temple University
Nonlinear Light Scattering from Buried Interfaces in Colloids and Thin Films
Luis Liz-Marzán
CIC biomaGUNE
Colloidal Nanoplasmonics: From the Building Blocks to Sensing Devices
2011
Steve Granick
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Janus Colloids
Flemming Besenbacher
Aarhus University
Catalytic Model Systems Studied by High-Resolution, Video-Rate Scanning Tunneling Microscopy
2010
Richard M. Lambert
University of Seville
Catalytic Chemistry and Self-Assembly on Metal Surfaces
Vincent M. Rotello
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Engineering the Nanoparticle Interface for Materials and Biological Applications
2009
Jennifer A. Lewis
Harvard University
Microscale patterning of functional colloidal architectures
Phillip B. Messersmith
Northwestern University
Biointerfacial aspects of mussel adhesive proteins and their biomimetic analogs
2008
Martinus A. Cohen Stuart
Wageningen University
Charge-driven self-assembly: Micelles, worms, fibrils and gels
Miquel Salmeron
University of California, Berkeley
Water at interfaces: Adsorption, reactions, wetting
2007
Charles M. Lieber
Harvard University
Nanowires, nanoscience and nanotechnologies
Moungi G. Bawendi
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Science and technology of nanocrystal quantum dots
2006
Arjun G. Yodh
University of Pennsylvania
Thomas J. McCarthy
University of Masschusetts, Amherst
2005
Hans-Joachim Freund
Fritz-Haber Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Jay T. Groves
University of California Berkeley
2004
Israel Waches
Lehigh University
Darsh Wasan
Illinois Institute of Technology
2003
David J. Pine
UC-Santa Barbara
John C. Polanyi
University of Toronto
2002
William B. Russel
Princeton University
Martin Malmsten
Uppsala University
2001
Malgorzota Borowko
Marie Curie Sklodowska University, Lublin
James A. Schwarz
Syracuse University
2000
Marie-Paul Pileni
University Pierre et Marie Curie
Hermann Gaub
Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich
1999
Hyuk Yu
University of Wisconsin
Mark E. Davis
California Institute of Technology
1998
Bjorn Lindman
University of Lund
Srinivasan Manne
University of Arizona
1997
Matthew V. Tirrell
University of Minnesota
William A. Goddard
California Institute of Technology
1996
Gerhard J. Fleer
Wageningen University
Graham J. Hutchings
University of Wales
1995
Alice P. Gast
Stanford University
Cynthia M. Friend
Harvard University
1994
Eli Ruckenstein
SUNY, Buffalo
Benjamin Chu
SUNY, Stony Brook
1993
Jacob N. Israelachvili
UC-Santa Barbara
J. Michael White
University of Texas
1992
Alexis T. Bell
University of California, Berkeley
Dennis Chapman
University of London
1991
Stig. Friberg
Clarkson University
D. Wayne Goodman
Texas A&M University
1990
George L. Gaines, Jr.
Rensselaer Polytech Institute
Gabor A. Somorjai
University of California, Berkeley
1989
George M. Whitesides
Harvard University
Sylvia T. Ceyer
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1988
J. Lunsford
Texas A&M University
Ron Ottewill
University of Bristol
1987
D. Fennel Evans
University of Minnesota
K. Klier
Lehigh University
1986
Gerhard Ertl
Fritz-Haber Inst. de MPG, Berlin
Benjamin Widom
Cornell University
1985
Eli Ruckenstein
SUNY, Buffalo
Benjamin Chu
SUNY, Stony Brook
1984
J.A. Mann
Case Western University
Mark Cardillo
AT&T Bell Laboratories
1983
Paul Becher
Paul Becher Associates
Paul Weisz
Mobil Research & Development, Princeton
1982
Ernest Yeager
Case Western Reserve University
W. Keith Hall
University of Pittsburgh
1981
Art Adamson
University of Southern California
Robert Madix
Stanford University
1980
Michel Boudart
Stanford University
Milton Kerker
Clarkson University
1979
John Yates
University of Pittsburgh
Janos Fendler
Clarkson University
For Graduate Research in Colloid and Surface Chemistry
Victor K. LaMer was born in 1895 in Leavenworth, Kansas, and died in 1966 while attending a scientific meeting in Nottingham, England. High-spirited and ebullient, he was an enthusiast for science, an infectious quality he transmitted to his students. He served as an Army lieutenant in World War I and his war-related research during World War II was recognized by the awarding of the Presidential Certificate of Merit.
He was the editor of the Journal of Colloid Science (now the Journal of Colloid and Interface Science) from its founding in 1946 until he was succeeded by Kerker in 1965. In addition to his seminal work on colloids, his fundamental contributions to physical chemistry have found their way into every textbook and university course on that subject.
The Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry of the American Chemical Society presents the Victor K. LaMer award annually at the ACS Colloid and Surface Science Symposium. The award is for an outstanding Ph.D. thesis accepted by a US or Canadian university during the three year period prior to the award year.
$3,000 PRIZE
Victor K. LaMer Award Recipients
Nomination Deadline:
January 31, 2025
Nomination information found here.
2024
Vinny Chandran Suja
Stanford University
Department of Chemical Engineering
2023
Haichao Wu
University of Colorado Boulder
Chemical & Biological Engineering
2022
Rebecca Pinals
University of California, Berkeley
Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
2021
Rose Cersonsky
University of Michigan
Department of Chemical Engineering
2020
Xiao Su
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering
2019
Rong Ye
University of California, Berkeley
Department of Chemistry
2018
Kaifeng Wu
Emory University
Department of Chemistry
2017
Chih-Jen Shih
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering
2016
Michel Personick
Northwestern University
Department of Chemistry
2015
Qian Chen
University of Illinois
Materials Science and Engineering
2014
Daniel Beltran-Villegas
Johns Hopkins University
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
2013
Rafal Klajn
Northwestern University
Chemical and Biological Engineering
2012
Bo Wang
University of Illinois
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
2011
Matthew Helgeson
University of Delaware
Department of Chemical Engineering
2010
Daeyeon Lee
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering
2009
Liangfang Zhang
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
2008
Ali Khademhosseini
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering
2007
Amanda J. Haes
Northwestern University
Department of Chemistry
2006
Jwa-Min Nam
Northwestern University
Department of Chemistry
2005
Christy L. Haynes
Northwestern University
Department of Chemistry
2004
James E. Smay
University of Illinois
Materials Science and Engineering
2003
Teri Wang Odom
Harvard University
Department of Chemistry
2002
Christopher D. Zangmeister
University of Arizona
Department of Chemistry
2001
Garth J. Simpson
University of Colorado
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
2000
Yunfeng Lu
University of New Mexico
Department of Chemical Engineering
1999
Younan Xia
Harvard University
Department of Chemistry
1998
Darrell Velegol
Carnegie Mellon University
Department of Chemical Engineering
1997
John Levins
University of Pennsylvania
Department of Chemical Engineering
1996
Frank M. Zimmerman
Cornell University
Department of Physics
1995
Vicki L. Colvin
University of California Berkeley
Department of Chemistry
1994
Paul E. Laibinis
Harvard University
Department of Chemistry
1993
Robert D. Tilton
Stanford University
Department of Chemical Engineering
1992
Andrew D. Johnson
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Department of Chemistry
1991
Antonios G. Mikos
Purdue University
Department of Chemical Engineering
1990
Andrea K. Myers-Beaghton
Princeton University
Department of Chemical Engineering
1989
John M. Vohs
University of Delaware
Department of Chemical Engineering
1988
James P. Ebel
Carnegie-Mellon University
Department of Chemical Engineering
1987
Peter S. Kirlin
University of Delaware
Department of Chemical Engineering
1986
Manoj K. Chaudhury
SUNY, Buffalo
Department of Chemical Engineering
1985
Syed Qutubbuddin
Caregie-Mellon University
Department of Chemical Engineering
1984
Jeffry Harwell
University of Texas, Austin
Department of Petroleum Engineering
1983
David G Welkie
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Department of Materials Science
1982
Mark A. Barteau
Stanford University
Department of Chemical Engineering
1981
Michel Deeba
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Department of Chemistry
1980
Wilson Ho
University of Pennsylvania
Department of Physics
1979
Eduardo D. Glandt
University of Pennsylvania
Department of Chemical Engineering
1978
Frederick A. Putnam
Carnegie-Mellon University
Department of Chemical Engineering
1977
Hung Dah Shih
SUNY, Stony Brook
Department of Materials Science
1976
Felix T. Hong
Rockefeller University
Department of Biophysics
1975
Michele Flicker
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Department of Chemistry
1974
Stephen L. Brenner
Indiana University
Department of Chemistry
1973
W. Henry Weinberg
University of California Berkeley
Department of Chemical Engineering
1972
Donald E. Brooks
University of Oregon
Department of Biochemistry
1971
Edward McCafferty
Lehigh University
Department of Chemistry
1970
Charles W. Querfeld
Clarkson College of Technology
Department of Physics
For Outstanding Young Investigator in Colloid & Surfactant Science
$3,000 PRIZE
The Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry of the American Chemical Society invites nominations for the Unilever Award for Outstanding Young Investigator in Colloid & Surfactant Science. This annual award is to be presented this year at the 99th ACS Colloid and Surface Science Symposium to be held from June 22-26, 2025, at the University of Alberta.
Purpose: To recognize and encourage fundamental work in colloid or surfactant science carried out in North America by researchers in the early stages of their careers.
Nature: The award consists of $3,000 and a plaque. In addition, up to $2,000 will be provided towards travel expenses to the meeting at which the award will be presented. The winner is expected to deliver a lecture.
Establishment and Support: The award was established in 2003 by the Unilever Corporation.
Rules of Eligibility
Nominees who are within seven (7) years of receiving their Ph.D. will be eligible for the Award. The cut-off date for eligibility this year will be July 1, 2018. Special consideration is given to the originality and creativity of the work and to its potential impact. The research must have been carried out in North America.
Nomination
Nomination may be made by a colleague or anyone familiar with the nominee’s work. The nomination packet should be sent electronically by email, preferably in a single PDF file, containing the nomination letter, three letters of support from others in addition to the nomination letter, the nominee’s curriculum vita with a complete list of publications, and reprints of up to five papers, which demonstrate the nominee’s excellence in publication of his or her research work. The nomination letter should contain a carefully edited 25-word citation, which reflects the nominee’s specific achievements. Previous years’ nominations will be automatically renewed up to the cut-off date for eligibility, but you are encouraged to submit relevant updated material.
Criteria: The judges will consider originality, quality, and significance of the work and its potential impact on current and future research as well as on industrial and commercial applications.
Deadline: The nomination material must be received by Friday, January 31, 2025.
Please send nomination material to:
Professor K. P. Ananth
James L Winkle College of Pharmacy
University of Cincinnati
ananthky@ucmail.uc.edu
Telephone: 513-558-5856
cc: albert.post@unilever.com
Unilever Award Recipients
Nomination Deadline:
January 31, 2025
Nomination information found here.
2024
Dohyung Kim
University of Pennsylvania
Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
2023
Xiao Su
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
2022
Amir Sheikhi
Pennsylvania State University
Chemical & Biomedical Engineering
2021
Lilian Hsiao
North Carolina State University
Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
2020
Sujit S. Datta
Princeton University
Chemical & Biological Engineering
2019
Lauren Zarzar
Pennsylvania State University
Department of Chemistry
2018
Qian Chen
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Department of Materials Science & Engineering
2017
Robert Macfarlane
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Department of Materials Science & Engineering
2016
Matthew E. Helgeson
University of California, Santa Barbara
Department of Chemical Engineering
2015
Jill Millstone
University of Pittsburgh
Department of Chemistry
2014
Daeyon Lee
University of Pennsylvania
Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
2013
Prashant K. Jain
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Department of Chemistry
2012
Liangfang Zhang
University of California, San Diego
Department of Nanoengineering
2011
Ryan Hayward
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Polymer Science and Engineering
2010
Ali Khademhosseini
Harvard University
Department of Health Sciences and Technology
2009
Suljo Linic
University of Michigan
Department of Chemical Engineering
2008
David S. Ginger
University of Washington
Department of Chemistry
2007
Michael Strano
University of Illinois at Champaign Urbana
Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
2006
Bartosz A. Grzybowski
Northwestern University
Chemical & Biological Engineering
2005
Yunfeng Lu
Tulane University
Department of Chemical Engineering
2004
Christine Keating
Pennsylvania State University
Department of Chemistry
2025 Colloid and Surface Technology Award
The award was established in 2020 by the ACS Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry.
Nomination Deadline: January 31, 2025
Purpose
To recognize and encourage applied and translational work in colloid and surface science by individuals or small teams of researchers (typically 2-4) in industry, government laboratories, or academia.
Each winner will receive:
- An award plaque
- An honorarium of US $3,000
- Up to US $1,000 in travel and accommodations funding to attend and present at ACS Fall 2025
Rules of Eligibility
Researchers in industry, government laboratories, or academia are eligible to apply. Special consideration is given to the originality and creativity of the research leading to the process or product developed and to its impact on society.
Nomination
Nomination may be made by a colleague or anyone familiar with the nominee’s work. The nomination packet should be sent by email, as a single PDF file, to helgeson@engineering.ucsb.edu. Please include “Technology Award Nomination” in the subject line. The single PDF file should contain the nomination letter, two letters of support from others (with preferably at least one letter from an industry or government laboratory researcher) in addition to the nomination letter, the curriculum vita of each team member, and a list of five supporting documents (e.g., patents, publications, press releases, description of founder role in new company, description of a new product or technology, website URL) that demonstrate societal impact of the relevant colloid and surface technology advance. The nomination letter should contain a carefully edited 25-word citation, which reflects the technological advance. Previous years’ nominations will be automatically renewed for two additional years, but you are encouraged to submit relevant updated material. Self-nominations are discouraged.
Ciriteria
The judges will consider the innovative nature of the technology (process or product), and the extent of demonstrated societal impact.
Nominate an outstanding undergraduate! Nomination deadline is 10 days before the Call for Papers deadline for each national meeting.
We invite undergraduate students and advisors from PUI (Primarily Undergraduate Institution) to contribute to the standing symposia of the Colloid and Surface Chemistry division:
- Nanomaterials
- Surface Chemistry
- Basic Research in Colloids, Surfactants and Interfaces
- Biomaterials and Biointerfaces
One student abstract will be selected for an oral presentation in each of these four symposia. The others would be invited to present their work as a poster at the national meeting.
The award (one for each of the four symposia above) will consist of:
- Student registration fee for the national meeting
- Travel support for the student ($200)
- Student and advisor will be invited to Colloid and Surface Chemistry division luncheon
- Award certificate for student and advisor (presented at the luncheon)
Application and selection process
The application consists of two parts:
- Abstract
- Nomination letter from research advisor explaining why the student would deliver a good presentation. The letter should clearly indicate the intended target symposium (see list above).
Both of these should be submitted via the link below 10 days before the call for papers deadline.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1eior1jMlAlzogwp1iLYf0E03Bo3ddVVEwEl1ADKlRcQ/edit
Notifications of acceptance will be sent the day before the call for papers deadline.
Eric Borguet and Lorena Tribe
COLL PUI Student Award Organizers
ACS Colloid and Surface Science Travel Awards
COLL will award several travel grants of up to $500 per PhD graduate student or postdoctoral researcher as the first author of contributed oral presentations in sessions sponsored by COLL at an ACS Spring or Fall National Meeting. Applicants will be chosen on the basis of the quality of their work as evidenced by the abstract of the paper, a letter of support from their academic advisor and the travel distance. Applicants must be PhD students or postdocs at the time of the National Meeting. Applications from individuals from groups underrepresented in STEM fields are particularly encouraged.
Both student/postdoc and advisor, domestic or foreign, must be members of COLL, not just of ACS. New members can sign up via the ACS website and are encouraged to do so before the application deadline, for verification purposes. A student may only receive a COLL Travel Award once during their PhD and postdoc.
Use an application from the link below. No more than one student/postdoc from one advisor may apply. If successful, an awardee must furnish a social security number (or equivalent) for tax purposes. A signed supporting letter from the mentor of the student or postdoc must be included with the application along with a 2 page CV.
The advisor should submit all application forms, 2 page CV, and supporting letter, as attachments, via email to Matthew Helgeson at helgeson@ucsb.edu by February 14, 2024 (5 p.m. EST). Please convert both the application and signed supporting letter into a SINGLE PDF file, if possible. Please personalize the subject of the application email by “Smith_J_COLL-STA-2024 Spring”, ideally as a single PDF file called Smith_J_COLL-STA-2024 Spring.pdf, where “Smith_J” should be replaced by the first initial and last name of the applicant.
(Only applications with all required information included in ONE EMAIL will be considered. Incomplete applications will be returned for resubmission in entirety.)
Decisions for the awards will be sent by email to the applicants before the ACS National Meetings with instructions on how to receive reimbursement checks.