Current Recipient

This year’s Dickson Prize awardee, Jean M. J. Fréchet, is considered among the vanguard of chemists. His research focuses on organic synthesis and polymer chemistry as applied to nanoscience and nanotechnology, specifically the design, fundamental understanding, synthesis and application of functional macromolecules. His discoveries have significantly impacted—and continue to impact—varied fields of science, including polymer chemistry, microelectronics and biomedical engineering.  

Among his many accomplishments, Fréchet developed chemical amplification, a method which enabled the production of modern photoresists and integrated circuits, components key in the development of the modern computer and other electronics. His most recent work focuses on using polymers for therapeutic uses including targeted drug, vaccine and DNA delivery.

Fréchet holds the Henry Rapoport Chair of Organic Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, where he is a professor of chemical engineering. He is also the director of the Organic and Macromolecular Facility for the Molecular Foundry at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He holds more than 70 U.S. patents, and has co-authored some 750 papers in the scientific literature. Among his numerous awards and honors include multiple recognitions from the American Chemical Society, from whom he received the Award in Applied Polymer Science, Award in Polymer Chemistry, Salute to Excellence Award and Arthur C. Cope Award. Fréchet is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering.