Ryoji Noyori (野依良治) (born September 3, 1938) won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
in 2001.
Noyori shared half of the prize with William S. Knowles for the study of
chirally catalyzed hydrogenations; the second half of the Prize went to K. Barry
Sharpless for his study in chirally catalyzed oxidation reactions (Sharpless
epoxidation).
Ryoji Noyori was born in Kobe, Japan. He became fascinated with chemistry at the
age of 12, after hearing a presentation on nylon. He saw the power of chemistry
as being the ability to "make high values from almost nothing". He became a
student at Kyoto University, working as an instructor in the research group of
Hotosi Nozaki before being appointed associate professor at Nagoya University.
After postdoctoral work with Elias J. Corey at Harvard he returned to Nagoya,
becoming a full professor in 1972. He is still based at Nagoya, though he is
also now president of Riken, a multi-site national research initiative with an
annual budget of $800 million.
Noyori believes strongly in the power of catalysis and of green chemistry; in a
recent article he argues for the pursuit of "practical elegance in synthesis".[1]
In this article he states that "our ability to devise straightforward and
practical chemical syntheses is indispensable to the survival of our species."
Elsewhere he has said that "Research is for nations and mankind, not for
researchers themselves." He encourages scientists to be politically active- "Researchers
must spur public opinions and government policies toward constructing the
sustainable society in the 21st century."
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