Northwestern University’s Center for Catalysis and Surface Science (CCSS) announced that the 2024-2025 Vladimir N. Ipatieff Lectureship in Catalysis has been awarded to E. Charles Sykes, the John Wade Professor of Chemistry at Tufts University. Sykes is the 23rd recipient of the prestigious honor, since the lectureship was established by CCSS in 1988 to enhance the educational experience of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers at Northwestern. The lectureship is named after Professor Vladimir N. Ipatieff, the father of high-pressure heterogeneous catalysis and founder of the Ipatieff High Pressure Laboratory at Northwestern.
Sykes is an internationally recognized expert in surface science and catalysis. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and a team member on the 2022 Faraday Division Horizon Prize for the development of single-atom alloys, a new class of catalysts that play a prominent role in the energy and sustainability fields.
“We are thrilled to welcome Professor Sykes to Northwestern this spring,” remarked Justin Notestein, Chair and professor of chemical and biological engineering at Northwestern and Director of CCSS. “His remarkable research and unique insights into the field will serve as an inspiration for our students as they prepare to become future leaders in the field of catalysis.”
The Sykes group utilizes state of the art scanning probes and surface science instrumentation to study many technologically important systems. Of particular interest is the addition of individual atoms of a reactive metal to a relatively inert host. In this way reactivity can be tuned, and provided the energetic landscapes are understood, novel bifunctional catalytic systems can be designed with unique properties that include low temperature activation and highly selective chemistry.
“As a surface scientist by training I was delighted to be selected for this very prestigious catalysis lectureship. I’m excited to have more than the usual day or two visit and to learn more about the exciting research at Northwestern” said Sykes, who is also a professor of chemical and biological engineering at Tufts.
Sykes will present his anticipated lecture at Northwestern in April 2025, when he will spend up to one month on campus working with faculty and staff within CCSS.