Ahmed Zewail
Awards & Honours
3
Awards Won
11
Honours
2
Records
Zewail's list of honors is remarkable for its breadth and prestige. He was the first Egyptian, Arab, and African to win a Nobel Prize in a scientific field, a historic first that resonated across the developing world. His election to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and his appointment as a science envoy for the United States reflect the international respect he commanded.Beyond the Nobel, he received the King Faisal International Prize and the Albert Einstein World Award of Science. France awarded him the Légion d'Honneur, and Egypt bestowed the Order of the Grand Collar of the Nile, its highest state honor. Six universities granted him honorary doctorates, recognizing his contributions to science and education.
Awards
Honours & Distinctions
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Awarded for studies of transition states of chemical reactions using femtosecond spectroscopy.
King Faisal International Prize
For his scientific contributions.
Albert Einstein World Award of Science
For pioneering the field of femtoscience and contributions to physical biology.
Légion d'Honneur
France's highest honor.
Order of the Grand Collar of the Nile
Egypt's highest state honor.
Honorary Doctorate
Honorary doctorate.
Honorary Doctorate
Honorary Doctor of Science.
Honorary Doctorate
Honorary doctorate.
Honorary Doctorate
Honorary doctorate.
Honorary Doctorate
Doctorate of Humane Letters.
Honorary Doctorate
Honorary doctorate in science.
Records & Feats
First Egyptian and Arab to win a Nobel Prize in a scientific field
Zewail's 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry made him the first Egyptian and Arab to win a Nobel in science, and the first African to win in Chemistry.
First Caltech faculty member named Linus Pauling Chair of Chemical Physics
He was the first to hold this named chair at Caltech.