“There is a very reasonable suspicion that you are so busy doing the things that Nobel Prize winners do that you are actually only giving half your mind to science.”
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John Polanyi
John Charles Polanyi is a German-born Canadian chemist. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research in chemical reaction dynamics.
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science · German-born Canadian chemist · chemist · physicist · university teacher · also John Polanyi, John Charles Polanyi, John C Polanyi, Polanyi
Born 23 January 1929 · Q237825
47 published statements · 0 followers
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2026· 1 entry
2012· 1 entry
Won Helmholtz Medal (2012).
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2010· 2 entries
Awarded Faraday Lectureship Prize (2010).
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The Toronto District School Board voted to change the name of Sir Sandford Fleming Academy to the John Polanyi Collegiate Institute to coincide with a move to a new location
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2009· 1 entry
Polanyi and his colleagues published a paper in Nature Chemistry, entitled "Cooperative molecular dynamics in surface reactions
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2007· 2 entries
Won Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering (2007).
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Polanyi was awarded the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering
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1994· 1 entry
Won Royal Society Bakerian Medal (1994).
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1992· 1 entry
Polanyi was appointed to the Queen's Privy Council of Canada
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1990· 1 entry
Awarded honorary doctorate of Concordia University (1990).
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1989· 1 entry
Won Royal Medal (1989).
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1988· 3 entries
Won Polanyi Medal (1988).
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Awarded Killam Prize (1988).
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Awarded honorary doctor of the University of Manchester (1988).
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1987· 1 entry
Awarded honorary doctorate at the Laval University (1987).
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1986· 2 entries
Awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry — for their contributions concerning the dynamics of chemical elementary processes.
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Awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1986).
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1982· 2 entries
Awarded Wolf Prize in Chemistry (1982).
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Awarded honorary doctor of Harvard University (1982).
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1979· 2 entries
Awarded Companion of the Order of Canada (1979).
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Awarded Guggenheim Fellowship (1979).
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1978· 1 entry
Awarded Remsen Award (1978).
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1977· 2 entries
Won Henry Marshall Tory Medal (1977).
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The Wolf Prize in Chemistry in 1982 (shared), the Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Prize in 1988, the Royal Medal of the Royal Society in 1989, and the John C
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1976· 1 entry
Won Chemical Institute of Canada Medal (1976).
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1974· 3 entries
Awarded Order of Ontario (1974).
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Polanyi was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
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Was named University Professor, an honorary title he has retained since
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1970· 3 entries
Awarded Guggenheim Fellowship (1970).
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Produced a film entitled Concepts in Reaction Dynamics, and he co-edited a book called The Dangers of Nuclear War
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Harvard University in 1982, Ottawa in 1987, and Queen's in 1992
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1965· 1 entry
Awarded Steacie Prize (1965).
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1964· 1 entry
Awarded Centenary Prize (1964).
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1962· 2 entries
Awarded Marlow Award (1962).
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Centenary Medal of the British Chemical Society in 1965, the Steacie Prize for Natural Sciences in 1965 (shared), the Noranda Award of the Chemical Institute of Canada in 1967, the Henry Marshall Tory Medal of the Royal
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1960· 1 entry
And served as the chairman for the group from its inception until 1978
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1958· 1 entry
Polanyi married Anne Ferrar Davidson (1929–2013)
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1957· 1 entry
Associate professor in 1960 and becoming a full professor in 1962
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1956· 1 entry
And he remains there as of 2025 as University Professor Emeritus
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1954· 1 entry
Studied at University of Toronto (1954).
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1952· 2 entries
Studied at University of Manchester, Doctor of Philosophy (1952).
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And did postdoctoral research at the National Research Council in Canada (1952-1954) and Princeton University in New Jersey (1954-1956)
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1946· 1 entry
Studied at The Manchester Grammar School (1946).
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1933· 2 entries
Partly as a result of the persecution of Jews under Adolf Hitler
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To the United Kingdom where he was subsequently educated at the University of Manchester, achieving his Ph
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1929· 2 entries
Born 1929-01-23.
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To Michael and Magda Elizabeth Kemény Polanyi in Berlin, Germany
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