Donald W. Breck Award

Donald W. Breck of the Union Carbide Corporation was a major figure in the early development of synthetic molecular sieves and one of the founders of the IZA.  His landmark book published in 1974, “Zeolite Molecular Sieves: Structure, Chemistry, and Use”, summarized the first 25 years of zeolite science and technology, and occupies a special place in the library of any molecular sieve scientist.

Following his untimely death in 1980, the Union Carbide Corporation proposed the establishment of an award in his memory to be sponsored by Union Carbide Corporation and administered by the International Zeolite Association.  The first award was presented in 1983 at the Sixth IZC in Reno, NV. In 1988, with the formation of a joint venture between the Union Carbide CAPS Division and UOP LLC, sponsorship was assumed by UOP LLC.  The award, in the amount of $12000, is presented at each IZA conference “to an individual or group for significant contribution to molecular sieve science and technology achieved since the last conference.” 

A Nominating Committee is appointed by the IZA Council for the subsequent meeting and a call for nominations will appear in early Conference circulars.

The IZA Protocol for the Donald W. Breck Award can be viewed here.

Breck Award Recipients:

2022
 Suk Bong Hong
for developing innovative synthetic methodologies including the synergistic use of organic and inorganic structured-directing agents that resulted in new zeolite framework types.

2019Stephen K. Brand, Joel E. Schmidt, Michael W. Deem, Frits Daeyaer, Yanhang Ma, Osamu Terasaki, Marat Orazov, Mark E. Davis
for the discovery of enantiomerically enriched STW zeolite.  

2016Svetlana Mintova and Valentin Valtchev
CNRS, Laboratory of Catalysis and Spectroscopy, Caen, France
for the understanding the nucleation of organic-free hydrogel systems leading to rational design of industrially relevant zeolites
  2013
 Jürgen Caro and Michael Tsapatsis
Leibnitz University, Hannover and University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
for the assembly and processing of zeolite and MOF nanostructures enabling separation membranes
  2010 Yushan Yan and Ryong Ryoo
University of California, Riverside and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
for their respective contributions in advancing the science of zeolite thin films and the direct synthesis of zeolite nanosheets
  2007 O. Terasaki, L.B. McCusker and Ch. Baerlocher
Stockholm University, Sweden and ETH Zurich, Switzerland
for their outstanding contribution to the structural elucidation of inorganic molecular sieves
  2004 A. Corma
Instituto de Tecnologia Quimica, UPV-CSIC, Valencia, Spain
for the development of tin-containing zeolites and their application in Baeyer-Villiger oxidation and the innovative use of germanium to synthesize new zeolite structures
  2001 S. Zones
Chevron Research Company, Richmond, CA
for his fundamental studies on organic structure directing agents and their influence on molecular sieve preparations that have led to new insights on synthesis, new materials and new commercial processes.
  1998 P.A. Jacobs, D. De Vos, P.P. Knops-Gerrits, I.F.J. Vankelecom, D. Tas and R.F. Parton
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
for having advanced our knowledge on ship-in-the-bottle syntheses of transition metal complexes in molecular sieves and for the use of such materials as enzyme-mimicking catalysts in oxidation and enantioselective hydrogenation reactions
  1996 M.M.J. Treacy
Exxon Research and Engineering Company, Annandale, NJ
NEC Research Institute, Inc., Princeton, NJ
for his contributions to the characterization and elucidation of intergrowths in FAU/EMT zeolites
  1994 C.T. Kresge, M.E. Leonowicz, W.J. Roth, J.C. Vartuli and J.S. Beck
Mobil Research and Development Corporation, Princeton and Paulsboro, NJ
for preparing the first ordered mesoporous silicate and aluminosilicate materials containing pores in the range of 16 to 100 Å
  1992 G. Bellussi, M. Clerici, V. Fattore, B. Notari, G. Perego, F. Buonomo, A. Esposito, F. Maspero, C. Neri and U. Romano
Enirecerche S.p.A., Milan, Italy
for advancing our knowledge of the structures and properties of titanium MFI zeolites and for demonstrating both the potential and applications of these novel catalysts for partial oxidation reactions
  1989 M.E. Davis, C. Saldarriaga, C. Montes, J. Garces and C. Crowder
Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, VA
for the recognition of VPI-5 as the first 18-ring molecular sieve
  1986 H. Pfeifer, D. Freude, J. Kärger
Karl-Marx-Universität, Leipzig, GDR
and M. Bülow, Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR, Berlin, GDR
for NMR investigations of acidity and molecular transport in zeolites
  1983 S.T. Wilson, C.A. Messina, T.R. Cannan, B.M. Lok and E.M. Flanigen
Union Carbide Corporation, Tarrytown, NY
for the discovery of aluminophosphate molecular sieves

last updated: 1-November-2016