Photo: Yale School of Public Health
Paul Anastas, MA’87, PhD’90, aka the “Father of Green Chemistry,” has received the Volvo Environmental Prize for 2021. This award is given annually to those who have made “outstanding innovations or scientific discoveries, which in broad terms fall within the environmental field.” In Volvo’s press release, the prize jury stated that the research of Paul Anastas “is revolutionizing the chemical industry, a key contribution to meeting the sustainability challenge”.
Over the course of his career, Anastas has worked as a staff chemist at the Environmental Protection Agency, served as an advisor in the Obama White House and co-authored the book 12 Principles of Green Chemistry This book is used by high school, college and graduate students around the world. He is currently the director of Yale University’s Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering.
He received the 2012 Alumni Achievement Award from Brandeis.
Anastas did his graduate work in synthetic organic chemistry in the lab of the late Robert Stevenson, Professor Emeritus. He earned his B.S. in chemistry from the University of Massachusetts Boston and his M.A. and Ph.D. in chemistry from Brandeis University.
