SACRED LEGACY ARCHIVES™

Ahmed Zewail

1946-02-26 – 2016-08-02

Photograph of Ahmed Zewail, with the Othmer Gold Medal, awarded 14 May 2009, at the Chemical Heritage Foundation.Credit: Douglas A. Lockard

Life & Legacy

Ahmed Hassan Zewail (Arabic: أَحْمَد حَسَن زُوَيْل; February 26, 1946 – August 2, 2016) was an Egyptian-American chemist, known as the "father of femtochemistry". He was awarded the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on femtochemistry and became the first Egyptian and Arab to win a Nobel Prize in a scientific field, and the first African to win a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He was a professor of chemistry and physics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where he was the first Caltech faculty member to be named the Linus Pauling Chair of Chemical Physics and was the director of the Physical Biology Center for Ultrafast Science and Technology.

Occupation & Career

chemist, university teacher, inventor, physicist

Education

University of Pennsylvania; Alexandria University

Faith & Community

Islam

Accomplishments, Inventions & Publications

Guggenheim Fellowship; Nobel Prize in Chemistry; Benjamin Franklin Medal; Davy Medal; Wolf Prize in Chemistry; NAS Award in Chemical Sciences; Albert Einstein World Award of Science; Priestley Medal; King Faisal Prize in Science; Order of the Nile; Tolman Award; Zeiss Research Award; Honorary doctor of the University of Lausanne; Mendel Medal; Fellow of the American Physical Society; honorary doctor of the University of Madrid Complutense; E. Bright Wilson Award in Spectroscopy; Welch Award in Chemistry; Herbert P. Broida Prize; Earle K. Plyler Prize; Knight of the Legion of Honour; honorary doctor of the Peking University; Foreign Member of the Royal Society; honorary doctorate of Lund University; Grand Cordon of the National Order of the Cedar‎; Officer of the National Order of Merit; Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences; Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award; honorary doctor of Yale University; Othmer Gold Medal; Linus Pauling Award; Peter Debye Award in Physical Chemistry; Great Immigrants Award; William H. Nichols Medal; Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards; King Faisal Prize; Order of the Republic; Order of Merit; National Order of the Cedar; Order of Zayed; Order of the Two Niles; honorary doctorate from ENS; honorary doctor of Baku State University; Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry; Golden Plate Award

Legacy Highlights

Honors & Awards

Albert Einstein World Award of Science · Benjamin Franklin Medal · Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry · Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards · Davy Medal · E. Bright Wilson Award in Spectroscopy · Earle K. Plyler Prize · Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award · Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences · Fellow of the American Physical Society · Foreign Member of the Royal Society · Golden Plate Award · Grand Cordon of the National Order of the Cedar‎ · Great Immigrants Award · Guggenheim Fellowship · Herbert P. Broida Prize · honorary doctor of Baku State University · honorary doctor of the Peking University · Honorary doctor of the University of Lausanne · honorary doctor of the University of Madrid Complutense · honorary doctor of Yale University · honorary doctorate from ENS · honorary doctorate of Lund University · King Faisal Prize · King Faisal Prize in Science · Knight of the Legion of Honour · Linus Pauling Award · Mendel Medal · NAS Award in Chemical Sciences · National Order of the Cedar · Nobel Prize in Chemistry · Officer of the National Order of Merit · Order of Merit · Order of the Nile · Order of the Republic · Order of the Two Niles · Order of Zayed · Othmer Gold Medal · Peter Debye Award in Physical Chemistry · Priestley Medal · Tolman Award · Welch Award in Chemistry · William H. Nichols Medal · Wolf Prize in Chemistry · Zeiss Research Award

Church

Islam

Employer

California Institute of Technology

Organizations & Memberships

American Academy of Arts and Sciences · American Association for the Advancement of Science · American Philosophical Society · American Physical Society · Chinese Academy of Sciences · European Academy of Sciences · French Academy of Sciences · Indian National Science Academy · Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van België voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten · National Academy of Sciences · Pontifical Academy of Sciences · Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters · Royal Society of London · Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences · Russian Academy of Sciences · The World Academy of Sciences