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Nominations are open for the 2026 Linus Pauling Medal Award

The American Chemical Society Portland, Puget Sound, and Oregon Local Sections together are accepting nominations for the2026 Linus Pauling Medal Award until May 1, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. (PDT). These local sections jointly present the award annually to acknowledge outstanding contributions to chemistry that merit national and international recognition—in the spirit of and in honor of Linus Pauling, who grew up in the Pacific Northwest. They will present the medal at a symposium in the fall of 2026 in the Portland area.

Nominations of women and other people from historically marginalized groups are especially welcome. Submit nominations as PDF attachments by email topauling2026@acsportland.org. Direct any questions about the award or nomination process to Jim Tung, 2026 Pauling Medal Award Chair, atjimtung@gmail.com.

Dr. Joseph S. Francisco,
2025 Pauling Medalist

The2025Pauling Medalwas awarded toProfessor Joseph S. Francisco, President’s Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania. 

Information about the 2025 Pauling Medal Award Symposium and Banquet

The2025 Pauling Medal was presented toProfessor Joseph S. Francisco at the 2025 Pauling Medal Symposium on October 18, 2025, atSeattle University in Seattle, WA, in recognition of his pioneering studies of the chemistry of Earth’s atmosphere. Professor Francisco’s groundbreaking research reshaped our fundamental understanding of atmospheric processes, including pioneering air-water/microdroplet chemistry. 

The symposium included lectures by eminent scientists and the awardee (titles below), a student poster session including 25 posters from around the Pacific Northwest, a reception, and an evening banquet with presentation of the Pauling Medal to Professor Francisco. Download a press releasehere. All events were free and open to the public except for the evening banquet, which was a ticketed event.

Banquet registration closed on October 3rd. Please email Ann McNally (mcnallya@seattleu.edu) if ask about cancellations or late availability. Attendance at the afternoon symposium is free and does not require registration.

Banquet registration closed on October 3rd.
Please email Ann McNally (mcnallya@seattleu.edu) if ask about cancellations or late availability.
All are welcome at the afternoon symposium. The Symposium is free and does not require registration.

A Seattle University Campus Map ishere.Download a flyerhere.

Symposium Speakers

Introduction of the Awardee

Peter Stang
University of Utah

Organometallic Complexes and Molecular Oxygen: Developing Mechanistic Understanding for Sustainable Oxidation Catalysis 

Karen Goldberg
University of Pennsylvania

Adventures at Interfaces with Molecules, Water and Sunlight

Veronica Vaida
University of Colorado

Why Swamp Gas Bubbles Burst into Flame 

Richard Zare
Stanford University

Water in the Atmosphere: The Molecule that Changes Everything 

Joseph S. Francisco
2025 Pauling Medalist
University of Pennsylvania 

Here are some links with information about Professor Francisco.

University of Pennsylvania Department of Chemistry
University of Pennsylvania Department of Earth and Environmental Science
American Academy of Arts and Sciences

The 2025 Pauling Medal Symposium is being organized by Seattle University colleagues Ann McNally, Kristy Skogerboe, Eric Watson, and Isa Galligar. For questions and other information about the 2025 Pauling Medal Symposium, please contact the Symposium Co-Chairs Ann McNally (mcnallya@seattleu.edu) or Eric Watson (watsone1@seattleu.edu). For questions about the poster session, please contact Doug Latch (latchd@seattleu.edu). Many thanks in advance to our Seattle University colleagues for hosting the 2025 symposium.

ThePauling Medal Award recognizes outstanding achievement in chemistry and is presented annually by thePuget Sound,Oregon, andPortlandSections of theAmerican Chemical Society. The award is named after Dr. Linus Pauling, a native of the Pacific Northwest, in the spirit of and in honor of Linus Pauling, who grew up in the Pacific Northwest. A nominee shall have made outstanding contributions to chemistry of a character that have merited national and international recognition. A list of past recipients, a number of whom have also won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, is below.

For information about nominating someone for a future Pauling Medal Award, please seebelow.

Information about the 2024 Pauling Medal Recipient

The 2024 Pauling Medal was awarded to Professor Younan Xia

The 2024 Pauling Medal was awarded toProfessor Younan Xia, Brock Family Chair and GRA Eminent Scholar in Nanomedicine at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

The award was presented to Professor Xia at the Pauling Medal Symposium onOctober 12, 2024. The symposium was held in theLinus Pauling Science Center on the campus of Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon.

Go to the2024 Pauling Medal Symposium website for further information.

The Poster Session, Symposium Talks, and Reception were free and open to the public. The Awards Banquet was a ticketed event. Use the2024 Pauling Medal Symposium website to register to present a poster and to purchase a ticket for the banquet.

Here is aflyerfor the 2024 symposium.

For information about the 2024 symposium, please contact:
Dr. Richard L Nafshun
Richard.Nafshun@oregonstate.edu
Department of Chemistry
Oregon State University

The American Chemical Society Portland, Puget Sound, and Oregon Local Sections jointly sponsor this annual award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to chemistry that merit national and international recognition.  This award is named after double Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling, who grew up in the Pacific Northwest.

For information about the 2023 award and symposium, please visit the2023 Pauling Medal Symposium page.

Recipients of the Linus Pauling Medal Award

• 1966 – Linus Pauling
• 1967 – Manfred Eigen
• 1968 – Herbert C. Brown
• 1969 – Henry Eyring
• 1970 – Harold C. Urey
• 1971 – Gerhard Herzberg
• 1972 – E. Bright Wilson
• 1973 – E. J. Corey
• 1974 – Roald Hoffmann
• 1975 – Paul Doughty Bartlett
• 1976 – F. Albert Cotton
• 1977 – John A. Pople
• 1978 – Dudley Herschbach
• 1979 – Daniel E. Koshland
• 1980 – John D. Roberts
• 1981 – Henry Taube
• 1982 – George Pimentel
• 1983 – Gilbert Stork
• 1984 – John S. Waugh
• 1985 – Harold A. Scheraga
• 1986 – Harry B. Gray
• 1987 – Harden M. McConnell
• 1988 – Keith Ingold
• 1989 – Neil Bartlett
• 1990 – James P. Collman
• 1991 – Rudolph Marcus
• 1992 – Kenneth B. Wiberg
• 1993 – Richard N. Zare
• 1994 – James A. Ibers
• 1995 – Alexander Rich
• 1996 – Kyriacos C. Nicolaou
• 1997 – Ahmed H. Zewail
• 1998 – Allen J. Bard
• 1999 – Peter B. Dervan
• 2000 – Gabor A. Somorjai
• 2001 – Tobin J. Marks
• 2002 – John I. Brauman
• 2003 – Robert H. Grubbs
• 2004 – Martin Karplus
• 2005 – George Whitesides
• 2006 – Peter J. Stang
• 2007 – Jacqueline K. Barton
• 2008 – Thomas C. Bruice
• 2009 – Stephen J. Lippard
• 2010 – Armand Paul Alivisatos
• 2011 – Larry R. Dalton
• 2012 – Robert Cava
• 2013 – Chad Mirkin
• 2014 – Stephen Buchwald
• 2015 – Barry M. Trost
• 2016 – Timothy M. Swager
• 2017 – Christopher C. Cummins
• 2018 – Geraldine Richmond
• 2019 – Catherine Murphy
• 2020 – Paul J. Chirik
• 2021 – No medal awarded (Covid)
• 2022 – Cynthia J. Burrows
• 2023 – Laura Gagliardi
• 2024 – Younan Xia
• 2025 – Joseph S. Francisco

For general information about submitting nominations for future Pauling Medal Awards, please contact the chair of one of the sponsoring ACS local sections:Puget Sound,Portland, andOregon.

For further information about Linus Pauling, please see the Pauling Archives and Research Center at Oregon State University.

The Pauling Medal web page is hosted by thePuget Sound Section on behalf of the three ACS local sections that sponsor the award (Puget Sound,Portland, andOregon). For information about this page contact acspugetsoundsection at gmail.

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