Press Statement - October 12, 1999

PS 99-21
Media contact:	Amber Jones	(703) 292-8070	aljones@nsf.gov

Statement by Dr. Rita R. Colwell
Director
National Science Foundation

On Award of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry

I congratulate the Nobel Laureate for 1999 in chemistry, Professor Ahmed H. Zewail, California Institute of Technology, whose studies of the transition states of chemical reactions have revolutionized the field by allowing scientists to understand and predict the detailed course of reactions. The National Science Foundation is proud to have been a major supporter of his research for over 20 years.

Zewail is receiving the award for his pioneering investigations of chemical reactions, particularly for showing that it is possible with very short-pulsed laser techniques to see how the atoms in a molecule move. While advancing our fundamental understanding of chemical processes, his work has also contributed to multidisciplinary efforts to study and control the chemistry of living systems.

Since the NSF was established in 1950, it has supported more than half of the 39 U.S. Nobel Laureates in chemistry. Their groundbreaking research has contributed greatly to scientific advances that have improved people's lives, strengthened industry and the economy, and helped maintained the nation's leadership in basic research.