Yale chemists James Mayer and Scott Miller, whose work investigates the inner workings of complex molecules and fundamental processes crucial to modern life, have won national awards from the American Chemical Society (ACS).
Mayer, the Charlotte Fitch Roberts Professor of Chemistry in Yale's Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), who conducts research across the fields of inorganic, materials, bioinorganic, organometallic, and physical organic chemistry, won the James Flack Norris Award in Physical Organic Chemistry. The honor is supported by an endowed fund established by the ACS Northeastern Section.
His work includes new discoveries in a variety of important chemical processes, such as those involved in fuel cells and solar fuels.
Since 2020, he has been among the principal investigators for the U.S. Department of Energy's Center for Hybrid Approaches in Solar Energy to Liquid Fuels (CHASE) project. He joined the Yale faculty in 2014.
Miller, the Sterling Professor of Chemistry in FAS, won the Gabor A. Somorjai Award for Creative Research in Catalysis. The award is supported by an endowed fund established by Gabor A. Somorjai and Judith K. Somorjai.
He and his lab develop new methods for the synthesis and derivatization of complex molecules and the catalytic modification of natural products - with applications as wide-ranging as biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. He joined the faculty in 2006.
Miller served as chair of the Department of Chemistry for six years and as the FAS divisional director for science from 2015 to 2017.
Miller and Mayer will be honored at an award ceremony in Atlanta on March 24, 2026, in conjunction with the ACS spring 2026 meeting.
