U Chemistry Professor Peter Stang has something in common with Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and Sen. Edward Kennedy.
Stang, who is also the dean in the College of Science, was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences on April 23.
“The AACS was established in 1780 and includes Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. That’s good company to be in,” Stang said.
The AACS was created to “cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest, honor, dignity and happiness of a free, independent and virtuous people,” according to its charter.
In 2000, Stang was elected into the National Academy of the Sciences, a private organization that advises the federal government on science and technology issues.
For many scientists, election into the NAS is one of the highest honors in their field, but for Stang, induction into the AACS is particularly significant.
“What’s special is that this one [the AACS] includes members of the arts as well as the sciences,” he said.
Literary notables Ralph Waldo Emerson and Daniel Webster have been inducted into the AACS, as have Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein, George Washington and John Hancock.
“I think art is essential in the lives of every human being,”Stang said.
In addition to his induction into the AACS, Stang has also been credited with being the ninth most cited chemist worldwide in his field of research.
Stang specializes in molecular self-assembly, which involves chemical building blocks that assemble themselves into larger molecules.
Stang is also the editor of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, which was the second most cited journal for chemists in the world.
In addition, the U ranked 11th out of 1,628 institutions worldwide where molecular self-assembly research is conducted.
Stang will be officially inducted into the AACS during an Oct. 5 ceremony at the society’s headquarters in Cambridge, Mass.