UMass Boston’s “Green” Chemist Named “Distinguished Chemist of the Year”

By Melissa Fassel

Amid shelves and walls covered with awards and recognition rests Professor John Warner’s latest honor, the “Distinguished Chemist of the Year” award from the New England Institute of Chemists, the local branch of the American Institute of Chemists. The award was presented to Warner at an awards ceremony in April.

Warner is perhaps best known for advancing the study and practice of “Green Chemistry, both worldwide and at UMass Boston. This relatively new field offers industry environmentally sound methods of production and a competitive advantage and UMass Boston is the center for top research in the field. The university currently offers the only PhD program in the world, as well as an undergraduate honors course, in green chemistry. The campus is also home to the new Green Chemistry Laboratory, for Research and Education in Sustainable Innovation and was the recent host of the Commonwealth’s first-ever green chemistry symposium, held in collaboration with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs. The driving force behind all this activity is John Warner, professor of chemistry and director of the green chemistry program.

“Most of our work involves understanding how molecules organize and react in natural systems,” Warner says of his research group. “We believe that if one wants to build a material that is environmentally benign and safe, drawing inspiration from nature is a good starting point, because it has already evolved within a sustainable ecosystem.”

Warner and his team are currently working on developing solar energy devices, drug delivery systems, immunosuppression pharmaceuticals, anticancer compounds, antibiotics, microelectronics, holography, and renewable plastics. In 2001, they filed patent applications for sustainable technologies in semiconductor film processing and biorenewable plastics.

A founding stakeholder of the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award Program, Warner is also co-author of Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice and serves on the Governor’s Science Advisory Board for Toxics Use Reduction. A frequent presenter at green chemistry conferences worldwide, Warner is the External Advisor of the Australian Green Chemistry Centre, the educational activities chair of CHEMRAWN XIV [Chemical Research Applied to World Needs], and a member of the Governor’s Science Advisory Board for Toxics Use Reduction. Warner is a UMass Boston alumnus.

When asked for his reaction to receiving the award, Warner responded, “I see this award as a recognition not so much of me personally, but of green chemistry.” The award represents the innovative field’s next step in being recognized.

Photo by Harry Brett

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