ICReDD Director and Professor Satoshi Maeda has been awarded the Nagakura Saburo Award for 2021 by the The Chemical Society of Japan. This is the first year of the award, which was established in memory of Professor Saburo Nagakura via a large donation from his family after his passing in April 2020. The award honors contributions made to the world of chemistry and differs from other awards given by The Chemical Society of Japan in that it focuses on younger researchers who have produced highly original and unique research results, and who show great potential to influence the future of chemistry. This reflects Professor Nagakura’s own passion for educating and cultivating younger generations of scientists.
Professor Maeda was chosen for the Nagakura Saburo Award for 2021 for his research on the “construction of methods for predicting chemical reactions based on quantum chemical calculations.” He was also given the The 39th Academic Award from The Chemistry Society of Japan this year. His original, pioneering research is highly regarded in the domestic and international scientific community. His breakthroughs show great promise for future development, and he was therefore recognized as being worthy of the Nagakura Saburo Award.
The award consists of an award plaque featuring a medal inscribed with Professor Nagakura’s face as well as a prize of 10 million yen, which comes with no restrictions on when or how it is utilized.
The award will be presented on April 11th, 2022 at an award ceremony at The Chemical Society of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. The ceremony format may change subject to COVID conditions.
Professor Nagakura was an honorary member of The Chemical Society of Japan. He proposed charge transfer theory and made remarkable achievements in several fields within the molecular sciences while also showing skilled leadership in the area of cultivating young researchers. He held many important positions at both domestic and international institutes and organizations, including Director General at the Institute for Molecular Sciences and President of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). He was also President of The Chemical Society of Japan in 1984 and made great contributions to the development of the organization. For his exemplary achievements, Professor Nagakura received the Order of Culture from the Japanese government in 1990.
