On October 16, Professor Benjamin List, 2021 Nobel laureate in Chemistry and researcher at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung (Max Planck Institute for Coal Research) in Germany, was appointed as an Honorary Professor at HUST. The appointment ceremony was held at Siyuan Hall, Wutongyu Academic Exchange Center. You Zheng, President of HUST, attended the ceremony and awarded the appointment letter to Prof. List.

Prof. List, the member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and the Austrian Academy of Sciences, specializes in the field of organic catalysis and synthesis. He won the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry together with American chemist David MacMillan for their groundbreaking development of asymmetric organocatalysis.

President You expressed his warm welcome to Professor List and spoke highly of his pioneering achievements in the field of asymmetric organocatalysis. He pointed out that HUST has a long history of cooperation with German organizations, having worked with more than 30 German universities and institutes in talent training and research. He expects the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of HUST to further cooperate with Professor List on disciplinary construction, innovative talent training, and cutting-edge scientific research. The partnership is expected to yield more landmark achievements, contributing to the development of chemistry.

Professor List thanked HUST for the warm reception, highly commended HUST’s achievements and expressed his pleasure to be an honorary professor at the university. He spoke highly of China’s achievements in economic as well as scientific and technological development and recognized the spirit of Chinese scientific researchers. He also expects further cooperation with HUST in academic exchanges, scientific research, talent training and other fields.

Tan Bi’en, Dean of the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, introduced Professor List’s academic achievements and his cooperation with the school, hoping the two sides to continue in-depth and pragmatic cooperation in scientific research and talent training, and to promote disciplinary construction and development of HUST.

After the ceremony, Professor List delivered a special lecture titled “Asymmetric Organocatalysis”, with nearly 400 teachers and students attending.

Written by: Chai Linshan                                      

Edited by: Feng Siyu, Chang Wen, Peng Yumeng