Two Princeton professors win 2027 American Chemical Society awards

Princeton chemistry professors David MacMillan and Paul Chirik were announced as 2027 American Chemical Society national award winners for their contributions to the field of chemistry on Aug. 31.

MacMillan was given the 2027 Arthur C. Cope Award, which has been awarded annually by the ACS for achievements in organic chemistry since 1973. The Cope award recognizes a lifetime of significant contributions to the field and is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious awards in organic chemistry. 

Awardees receive $25,000, a medallion, and a certificate, as well a $150,000 research grant to go towards an institution of their choice.

The award is one of many for MacMillan, who received the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry alongside the German chemist Benjamin List for their work in organocatalysis. MacMillan and List were awarded for pioneering methods to use small organic molecules to advance chemical reactions.

In 2007, he was one of 10 scientists to receive the Arthur C. Cope Scholar award, which is separate from the Arthur C. Cope award and recognizes achievements earlier in a scientist’s career to encourage their continued growth. 

MacMillan described the award as deeply meaningful despite his previous awards.

“When you see the people who win this award, you can never imagine yourself being part of that group,” MacMillan said in an interview with The Daily Princetonian. “When I found out it was kind of surreal.”

MacMillan came to Princeton in 2006 after working at Caltech as a chemistry professor for six years. At the time, Princeton was making significant new investments in its chemistry department, including plans for what would become the Frick Chemistry Laboratory, and MacMillan was invited to aid in its growth. 

“It has been an amazing experience to be part of the team that helped put that all together,” he said. “I got to come and be a part of Princeton and see this great department build up and thrive … It’s just been an incredible sort of journey along the way.”

Chirik, who was awarded the 2027 ACS Award in Organometallic Chemistry, has also been witness to the chemistry department’s growth over the past 15 years and describes it as similarly fulfilling. 

“The longer I’m here, the more I love this place,” he told the ‘Prince’ in an interview. “It just does so many things right.”

Chirik described receiving the award as “amazing.” It comes in recognition of his research in earth-abundant metal catalysis, which seeks to understand how certain metals can be used to promote catalysis reactions. Winners receive $5,000 and a certificate. 

He was previously named one of the first recipients of an exploration-phase grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, as well as a winner of the Linus Pauling Medal and Rylander Award in Catalysis.

After decades in the field, Chirik said he still finds satisfaction from the “ability to make new things.” He said he particularly enjoys working with students as they seek to innovate.

“When my students come in and they’ve made this new molecule, there’s no other feeling to describe it,” he said. “It’s like the greatest feeling ever. So that’s what lured me into chemistry and that feeling has not changed in 30 years.”

Both MacMillan and Chirik will be presented with their awards in March at the ACS Spring 2027 meeting in New Orleans. 

Kimberly Hutchinson is a News contributor for the ‘Prince’ and a member of the Class of 2030 from Suwanee, Ga.

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