Scripps Research chemist Donna Blackmond elected to German National Academy of Sciences
Blackmond joins a long line of respected scholars defined as being “Nunquam otiosus,” or “never idle,” the motto of the academy.
July 07, 2020
LA JOLLA, CA — Donna Blackmond, PhD, a Scripps Research professor and chair of the Department of Chemistry on the California campus, has been elected to the prestigious German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.
The Leopoldina was founded in 1652 in Schweinfurt, Germany, making it the oldest continuously existing academy of natural sciences and medicine in the world. Members have included Marie Curie, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein and Max Planck, among many other notable scientists.
“The election of new academy members is a rigorous process and demands a consensus of agreement between the Presidium and the Senators of the academy,” says Gerald Haug, PhD, president of Leopoldina.
Among her many accomplishments, Blackmond pioneered the development of a technique called Reaction Progress Kinetic Analysis (RPKA), a method for streamlining chemical reactions that is now becoming an industry-wide standard for pharmaceutical research and development. In addition, Blackmond’s groundbreaking work on the molecular geometry that exists in the building blocks of the natural world—a property known as “chirality”—has implications ranging from designing effective therapeutics to the very origins of life on earth.
“Leopoldina is a highly respected organization which has done so much to promote the importance of scientific understanding in society,” says Blackmond. “I am deeply honored to have been elected.”
Founded as a classical scholarly society, Leopoldina currently has 1,600 members from almost all branches of science. It champions the freedom and appreciation of science, with the goal of a scientifically enlightened society for the benefit of humankind and the natural world. The academy represents the German scientific community internationally and provides policymakers and the public with science-based advice.
Blackmond earned her doctorate in chemical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 1984. She has held academic positions in the US, Germany, and the UK, and she joined Scripps Research in 2010. She has received numerous honors and awards throughout her career, including receiving the Max-Planck Award for Outstanding Women Scientists, the IUPAC Award for Distinguished Women in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, and election to the National Academy of Engineering in 2013 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2016.
For more information, contact press@scripps.edu