Richard N. Zare, the Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professor in Natural Science at Stanford University has been selected to receive the 2010 Theodore William Richards (TWR) Medal for Conspicuous Achievement in Chemistry from the Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society (NESACS). The Richards Medal, named for the first Nobel laureate in Chemistry from the United States, is the Section’s oldest and most prestigious award.

Professor Zare is being honored for his development of sensitive optical techniques for chemical analysis. According to Dr. Roy Gordon, Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University and Chair of the Richards Medal Selection Committee, the Selection Committee recognized that Zare’s techniques “have been applied to many different disciplines, from studies of fundamental chemical reactions, to chemical analysis of compartments within a cell, to the chemical analysis of heterogeneous features in particulates and meteorites; spanning the disciplines of chemistry, biology, and astrophysics. In each case, his work inspires us to understand how the chemical analysis of nanoenvironments can reveal hidden worlds that inform us deeply about large questions – from the nature of life within a cell to the origin of the solar system as it relates to the composition of the interstellar medium. Through Zare’s pioneering and fundamental advances, the world of the ultra small is being opened for study by the scientific community.”

Professor Zare joined the Stanford University Department of Chemistry in 1977. Prior to joining Stanford University, Professor Zare was an assistant professor at MIT (1965), and a professor at the University of Colorado (1966) and Columbia University (1969). He earned a B. A. in chemistry and physics (1961) and a Ph. D. in chemical physics (1964), both from Harvard University. He is the recipient of multiple honors and awards for teaching and for his work in chemistry, including, most recently, the 2010 Priestly Medal, to be given by the American Chemical Society this spring.
Professor Zare received the Richards Medal Award during ceremonies at Harvard University on Thursday, March 4, 2010. The evening included dinner at the Harvard Faculty Club, followed by the award presentation and a lecture, entitled “Theodore W. Richards Redux: Determining Isotope Ratios without Mass Spectrometers,” given by Dr. Zare in the Pfizer Lecture Hall.