Award is Highest Honor Given by Society of Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines

Karl Kadish (left) receives the 2012 Hans Fischer Career Award in Porphyrin Chemistry from Professor Hugo Scheer, University of München, representing the Hans Fischer Foundation.Karl M. Kadish, Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished University Professor of Chemistry, received the 2012 Hans Fischer Career Award in Porphyrin Chemistry from the Society of Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines. The lifetime achievement award is the highest honor given by the Society.

Funded by the Hans-Fischer-Gesellschaft in Munich, the award is given every two years to a senior scientist for a lifetime of work in the field of porphyrin-related bioinorganic chemistry. The award is named for Hans Fischer, a German organic chemist and 1930 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on the chemistry of pyrrole and the synthesis of haemin.

Kadish received the award during the Seventh International Conference on Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines held in JeJu, Korea, July 1-6. His award lecture, given on July 2 and entitled “Electrochemistry of Porphyrins, Corroles, Phthalocyanines, and Related Molecules,” was attended by more than 650 meeting participants from 39 different countries.

In the award letter, the conference chairman recognized Kadish for his “tremendous contributions to the field and the community.” Kadish has published more than 500 peer-reviewed manuscripts since joining the UH chemistry department while also editing more than 65 books on porphyrins, phthalocyanines and related topics. He has served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines for more than a dozen years and has directed the research of more than 150 visiting professors, postdoctoral fellows and students, 81 of whom have received their Ph.D. or M.S. degrees under his direction since 1974.

- Kathy Major, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics