The Anselme Payen Award
Awards and Fellowships
The Anselme Payen Award is international, and all scientists conducting research in the field of cellulose are eligible for nomination. This award includes a bronze medal and an honorarium of $3,000, given by the ACS Cellulose and Renewable Materials (CELL) Division to honor and encourage outstanding professional contributions to the science and chemical technology of cellulose and its allied products.
Selection of the awardee is based on the application package. These are individually ranked by a panel of nine judges who are appointed by the current Chair-Elect and are unknown to each other. Three judges rotate off the panel each year. The identity of all members is known only to the Chair of the awards committee who compiles the results. After the awardee accepts, the Chair of the Awards Committee announces the winner at the next Spring ACS meeting. The awardee for that year is honored at the following Spring ACS meeting at a Symposium and Banquet. The award bears the year the winner was announced. It is presented the following year to allow time for organization of the Symposium and Banquet.
Nomination Form
A Nomination Form has been developed as a guide and should not restrict the scope of the nomination.
The complete nomination package for this Award should consist of:
- A Nomination Form (maximum 5 pages)
- 2 support letters
compiled into one pdf and submit via email to the division’s awards chair by July 1.
History of the Award
This award is named for the distinguished French scientist who discovered cellulose, and pioneered in the chemistry of both cellulose and lignin. He was the first to attempt separation of wood into its component parts. After treating different woods with nitric acid he obtained a fibrous substance common to all which he also found in cotton and other plants. His analysis revealed the chemical formula of the substance to be C6H10O5. He reported the discovery and the first results of this classic work in 1838 in Comptes Rendus. The name “cellulose” was coined and introduced into the scientific literature in 1839.
Past Winners
| Year | Awardee | Institution |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Lars Berglund | KTH |
| 2022 | Christoph Weder | Adolphe Merkle Institute and University of Fribourg |
| 2021 | Yoshiharu Nishiyama | CNRS and Grenoble Alpes University |
| 2020 | Run-Cang Sun | Dalian Polytechnic University |
| 2019 | Ann-Christine Albertsson | KTH |
| 2018 | Orlando Rojas | Aalto University |
| 2017 | Junji Sugiyama | Kyoto University |
| 2016 | Kevin Edgar | Virginia Tech |
| 2015 | Akira Isogai | University of Tokyo |
| 2014 | Thomas Rosenau | University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences |
| 2013 | John Ralph | University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| 2012 | Hans-Peter Fink | Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research |
| 2011 | Lina Zhang | Wuhan University |
| 2010 | J. Thomas Heinze | Friedrich Schiller University of Jena |
| 2009 | Alfred D. French | USDA, ARS, Southern Regional Research Center |
| 2008 | Fumiaki Nakatsubo | Kyoto University |
| 2007 | Fumitaka Horii | Kyoto University |
| 2006 | Charles Buchanan | Eastman Chemical Company |
| 2005 | Peter Zugenmaier | Clausthal University of Technology |
| 2004 | Dieter Klemm | Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena |
| 2003 | Deborah P. Delmer | The Rockefeller Foundation |
| 2002 | R. St. John Manley | McGill University |
| 2001 | Liisa Viikari | VTT Biotechnology |
| 2000 | Wolfgang G. Glasser | Virginia Tech |
| 1999 | John Blackwell | Case Western Reserve University |
| 1998 | Rajai H. Atalla | USDA Forest Products Laboratory |
| 1997 | Joseph L. McCarthy | University of Washington |
| 1996 | S. Haig Zeronian | University of California, Davis |
| 1995 | Josef Gratzl | North Carolina State University |
| 1994 | Geoffrey N. Richards | University of Montana |
| 1993 | Derek Gray | Paprican, McGill University |
| 1992 | Josef Gierer | Royal Institute of Technology |
| 1991 | Henri Chanzy | CERMAV, Grenoble |
| 1990 | Junzo Nakano | University of Tokyo |
| 1989 | Anatole Sarko | SUNY College of Env. Sci. & Forestry |
| 1988 | Bengt Ranby | Royal Institute of Technology |
| 1987 | Takayoshi Higuchi | Kyoto University |
| 1986 | R. Malcolm Brown, Jr. | The University of Texas at Austin |
| 1985 | Orlando A. Battista | The O. A. Battista Research Institute |
| 1984 | Jett C. Arthur, Jr. | USDA, ARS, Southern Regional Research Center |
| 1983 | Reginald D. Preston | Leeds University |
| 1982 | Erich Adler | Chalmers University of Technology |
| 1981 | Stanley P. Rowland | USDA, ARS, Southern Reg. Res. Center |
| 1980 | Olof Samuelson | Chalmers University of Technology |
| 1979 | Kyosti V. Sarkanen | University of Washington |
| 1978 | W. Howard Rapson | University of Toronto |
| 1977 | W. Kyle Ward, Jr. | The Institute of Paper Chemistry |
| 1976 | Robert H. Marchessault | University of Montreal |
| 1975 | J. K. N. Jones | Queens University |
| 1974 | V. T. Stannett | North Carolina State University |
| 1973 | D. A. I. Goring | McGill University |
| 1972 | Conrad Schuerch | SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry |
| 1971 | Tore E. Timell | SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry |
| 1970 | Wilson A. Reeves | USDA, ARS, Southern Regional Research Center |
| 1969 | Stanley G. Mason | McGill University |
| 1968 | Alfred J. Stamm | USDA Forest Products Lab |
| 1967 | Roy L. Whistler | Purdue University |
| 1966 | Wayne A. Sisson | American Viscose |
| 1965 | Carl Johan Malm | Eastman Kodak |
| 1964 | Harold Morton Spurlin | Hercules |
| 1963 | Clifford Burroughs Purves | McGill University |
| 1962 | Louis Elsburg Wise | The Institute of Paper Chemistry |
Recent Winner
Contributing Companies
- American Cyanamid Company
- AVC Division of FMC Corporation
- Buckeye Cellulose Company
- Continental Can Company
- Crown Zellerbach Foundation*
- The Dow Chemical Company*
- Eastex Incorporated
- FMC Corporation
- The Gillette Research Institute
- Eastman Kodak Company*
- Hercules Incorporated
- International Paper Company
- Midland-Ross Corporation (Industrial Rayon Division)
- Monsanto Charitable Trust
- Olin Mathieson Chemical Corporation
- Pennwalt Chemical Foundation
- Rayonier Incorporated
- Stauffer Chemical Company
*Contributed twice
Societe de Chimie Biologique and the membership of the Division have contributed funds for a mold for the medal.
Vision and Mission