Biochemist Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠) has received a Chemical Pioneer Award for his outstanding contributions in the field of chemistry, Academia Sinica said in a statement yesterday.
The American Institute of Chemistry, a non-profit aimed at advancing chemical science, on March 31 announced that Wong and Alison Butler, a University of California chemistry professor, were this year’s recipients of its annual award.
Wong, who was president of Academia Sinica from 2006 to 2016, is a Scripps family chair professor in the Department of Chemistry at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego and a research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Genomics Research Center.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
First presented in 1966, the Chemical Pioneer Award recognizes chemists or chemical engineers who have made outstanding contributions that have had a major impact on advances in chemical science and/or the chemical profession, the Institute of Chemistry said.
Wong was the first scientist to develop innovative chemoenzymatic methods, including the automated synthesis of oligosaccharides and glycoproteins, which are aimed at developing cancer vaccines, sugar chips, and antiviral and antimicrobial agents, Academia Sinica said.
The latest honor adds to a long list of awards that Wong has received, including the Welch Award in Chemistry from the US-based Welch Foundation last year and the UK-based Royal Society of Chemistry’s Robert Robinson Award.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
RSS