The Future Is Now

Chad Mirkin

Chad Mirkin '86

Chad Mirkin ’86 honored once again for his pioneering work in nanotechnology

Picture of Chad Mirkin

by Tony Moore 

Chad Mirkin ’86 (chemistry) is a leading global figure in the field of nanotechnology, and he has most recently won the prestigious Dan David Prize in the Future Time Dimension for his work.

The international Dan David Prize, based at Tel Aviv University, awards three $1 million prizes each year for outstanding achievements in the three time dimensions—past, present and future. Mirkin shares the prize with Sir John Pendry of Imperial College London and Paul Alivisatos of the University of California, Berkeley.

The team’s innovative, cross-disciplinary research seeks to make strides in the health sciences through unique couplings of human DNA and nanotechnology. Dan David recipients ensure that their innovative spirit is carried on, giving 10 percent of the prize money to graduate students in their respective fields.

Mirkin is no stranger to accolades from the scientific community, having been recognized with more than 100 awards, nationally and internationally. He has previously won the Lemelson-MIT Prize, the National Institutes of Health’s Director’s Pioneer Award, the Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology and the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Prize in Convergence Research. Mirkin is one of only 12 people to be elected to all three U.S. national academies—the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Engineering—and he is a member of President Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

The world's foremost authority in nanomedicine and a widely cited chemist, Mirkin is the founding director of Northwestern University's International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN) and was named the 2013 Chemistry World Entrepreneur of the Year.

At Northwestern, Mirkin is the George B. Rathmann Professor of Chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, a professor of medicine at the Feinberg School of Medicine and a professor of chemical and biological engineering, biomedical engineering and materials science and engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science.

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Published February 23, 2016