Technion graduate Prof. Arieh Warshel, Distinguished Professor of\u00a0Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Southern California\u00a0has won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, together with Michael\u00a0Levitt and Martin Karplus for “the development of multiscale models\u00a0for complex chemical systems.”<\/p>\n
The three scientists won the world’s highest honor for research which lay the foundations for future computers to understand complex chemical processes from the purification of exhaust fumes, through to photosynthesis.<\/p>\n
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in a statement, when awarding the prize of 8 million crowns ($1.25 million), that Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt and Arieh Warshel had pioneered the use of computer models that mirror chemical reactions.\u00a0The work also has applications in the use of complex processes in the development of drugs.<\/p>\n
“Chemical reactions occur at lightning speed; electrons jump between atomic nuclei, hidden from the prying eyes of scientists,” the academy stated.\u00a0“The Nobel Laureates in Chemistry 2013 have made it possible to map the mysterious ways of chemistry by using computers. Detailed knowledge of chemical processes makes it possible to optimize catalysts, drugs and solar cells.”<\/p>\n
Israel Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu\u00a0called new Nobel laureate Arieh Warshel today: “This is exceptionally impressive. We’re proud of you & people at Technion & Weizmann,” he said.<\/p>\n
Arieh Warshel was born 1940 in Kibbutz Sde-Nahum in Israel. \u00a0He earned his undergraduate degree at the Faculty of Chemistry (now the Schulich Faculty of Chemistry), class of 1966 \u2013 which was the same year Distinguished Prof. Dan Shechtman (Nobel Laureate 2011) completed his BSc in mechanical engineering at the Technion.<\/p>\n
In 1965, Prof. Warshel was awarded the “Technion Award \u2013 Best Third-Year Student in Chemistry”. He graduated Summa Cum Laude.\u00a0Warshel went on to comlete advanced degrees at the Weizmann Institute of Science, and was an associate professor at Weizmann until 1978, when he moved to the University of Southern California.<\/p>\n