Established in 2012, the CME STEM Leadership Awards™ represent the premier honors conferred by Chemical Marketing & Economics (CME), a forward-looking 501(c)(3) nonprofit with roots dating to 1954. Guided by its inspiring motto—“Celebrate today’s leaders and enable those of tomorrow”—these awards recognize exceptional visionaries across diverse sectors who harness the transformative power of STEM—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—to drive sustainable innovation in energy, materials, life sciences, and beyond, ultimately benefiting humanity.

What sets CME apart is its deliberate mission to unite visionaries from industry, finance, government, academia, philanthropy, and fundamental research. This cross-sector approach fosters rare collaboration and real-world impact, bringing together seven Nobel Laureates (including double Nobelist Barry Sharpless, Frances Arnold, Carolyn Bertozzi, and others) with iconic CEOs of global giants like Pfizer, Dow, Merck, BASF, Air Products, Honeywell, Solvay, Arkema, and Regeneron; finance luminaries such as Henry Kravis (KKR), Len Blavatnik (Access Industries), and Daniel D’Aniello (The Carlyle Group); government leaders including former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Director Kim Budil, NREL Director Martin Keller, and Argonne National Laboratory Director Paul Kearns; educational figures such as UChicago President and inventor Paul Alivisatos and Smithsonian Institution Secretary David Skorton; and philanthropists like Jon M. Huntsman, and James and Marilyn Simons.

In an era that demands integrated solutions to humanity’s grand challenges, the CME STEM Leadership Awards stand as a beacon of inclusive leadership—bridging discovery, commerce, public service, and benevolence to accelerate progress for generations to come.

For information write to contact at cme-stem dot org