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Distinguished scholar Professor Vivian Wing-Wah YAM, Dean of Science (Interim) and Philip Wong Wilson Wong Professor in Chemistry and Energy from The University of Hong Kong, is a recipient of the American Chemical Society (ACS) National Award – the 2022 Josef Michl ACS Award in Photochemistry in recognition of her exceptional accomplishments in fundamental research in photochemistry.

“I am humbled and honored to be a recipient of the 2022 ACS National Award, the 2022 Josef Michl ACS Award in Photochemistry. I would like to thank my students and postdoctoral researchers, past and present, for their hard work, and the University for the strong support throughout the years,” Professor Yam said. 

The Josef Michl ACS Award in Photochemistry is sponsored by the Josef Michl Award Endowment, and is presented biennially in even-numbered years to those who have accomplished outstanding creative experimental or theoretical research in fundamental photochemistry. The 2022 Awardee will be honored at the American Chemical Society’s ACS 2022 Spring Meeting in San Diego, CA in March 2022, where the awardee will present the Award Address, and an Award Symposium will also be arranged in the awardee’s honor.

Professor Yam obtained both her BSc (First Class Hons) and PhD from HKU. Her research interests include inorganic/organometallic chemistry, supramolecular chemistry, photophysics and photochemistry, and metal-based molecular functional materials. The award was made with citation for her contribution to inorganic/organometallic photochemistry through innovative design of chromophoric/luminescent metal complexes and their supramolecular assemblies for advancing OLED, sensing and solar energy research.

Professor Yam is an elected Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (2001), Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) (2006), International Member of the US National Academy of Sciences (2012), Foreign Member of Academia Europaea (2015), and Founding Member of the Hong Kong Academy of Sciences (2015). She was Laureate of the 2011 L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award. Furthermore, she was the recipient of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Centenary Medal in 2005/06, RSC Ludwig Mond Award in 2015, Japanese Photochemistry Association (JPA) Eikohsha Award in 2006, Japan Society of Coordination Chemistry (JSCC) International Award in 2016, the Porter Medal in 2020, and a Croucher Senior Research Fellowship in 2000/01, etc. She has been serving as the Chief Editor for Chemistry for the new flagship journal Natural Sciences of Wiley since 2020.

For more information of the award, please visit:
https://cen.acs.org/people/awards/ACS-2022-national-award-winners/99/i35

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