Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Bernard L. Feringa Appointed as Yang Shixian Distinguished Lecturer at Nankai University

On November 19, Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry and renowned organic chemist Bernard Lucas Feringa—a Foreign Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Fellow of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Member of the Academia Europaea, Foreign Associate of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as well as a professor at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands—was appointed as the Yang Shixian Distinguished Lecturer at Nankai University. President Chen Yulu presented the appointment letter and gifted a bronze statue of Mr. Yang Shixian to Professor Feringa.

Academician Zhou Qilin introduced Professor Feringa’s academic background, reviewed his major achievements, and recounted his pleasant experiences during previous visits to Nankai.

Professor Feringa expressed his honour at being appointed as the Yang Shixian Distinguished Lecturer and delivered a captivating academic lecture titled The Joy of Discovery following the ceremony.

Professor Feringa began his talk by sharing his childhood experiences growing up on a farm, where his close connection to nature sparked his curiosity about science. He highlighted his research journey leading to the Nobel Prize-winning work on molecular machines, explaining in detail the progress of using light excitation to induce double-bond isomerization in organic molecules, thereby enabling directional motion from single molecules to polymers. He also pointed out the broad application potential of this research in fields such as materials science and medicine. Additionally, by sharing his cutting-edge explorations and fruitful achievements in his field, he offered unique research perspectives, key technological breakthroughs, and future development directions, providing both academic inspiration and innovative vision for the audience, as well as a new research perspective for promoting cross-border academic exchanges and cooperation.

It is reported that the Yang Shixian Lecture is an important academic lecture series established by Nankai University in 2005 to commemorate Mr. Yang Shixian, a former president of the university, a titan in the field of chemistry, and a renowned educator. The series aims to inherit and promote Mr. Yang’s patriotic and innovative spirit, continuing to advance Nankai University and its chemistry discipline in contributing to the nation’s scientific and educational endeavors and economic and social development. Recipients of the Yang Shixian Distinguished Lecturer title are all top scientists in the field of chemistry from around the world, including 23 members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences or Chinese Academy of Engineering and Nobel laureates.

Bernard Lucas Feringa, born in the Netherlands in 1951, primarily focuses on research in organic synthetic chemistry, stereochemistry, asymmetric catalysis, molecular switches, molecular motors, molecular self-assembly, and molecular nanosystems. In 1999, his research team reported the first synthetic molecular motor, providing a novel approach for the field of molecular machines. Throughout his academic career, Professor Feringa has received numerous prestigious scientific awards, including the Kolhofer European Science Prize (2003), the Netherlands’ highest science award, the Spinoza Prize (2004), the Paracelsus Medal (2008), the Chiral Medal (2009), the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Organic Stereochemistry Award (2011), the Humboldt Research Award (2012), the Nagoya Gold Medal (2013), the American Chemical Society’s Science Communicator Award (2015), the Solvay Prize for Future Chemistry (2015), the August Wilhelm von Hofmann Medal (2016), and the Tetrahedron Prize (2017). In 2016, he was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with French scientist Jean-Pierre Sauvage and American scientist James Fraser Stoddart for their outstanding contributions to the field of molecular machines.

Source: Nankai University News Network