2026 CME STEM Leadership Award for Extraordinary Fundamental Research

Keynote of the CME STEM Leadership Awards Gala Luncheon on December 11, 2026, New York.

Omar Yaghi is a transformative force in modern science, redefining chemistry to tackle humanity’s urgent challenges. Raised in Jordan amid economic hardship, he pioneered reticular chemistry, revolutionizing materials science with metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs). His work drives advances in carbon capture, clean energy storage, atmospheric water harvesting, and environmental remediation, delivering practical solutions in a time of global need.

A committed researcher and mentor advancing fundamental knowledge for societal benefit, Yaghi earned his B.S. in Chemistry from SUNY Albany (1985) and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1990), with postdoctoral work at Harvard. He is the James and Neeltje Tretter Chair Professor of Chemistry at UC Berkeley, Founding Director of the Berkeley Global Science Institute, and Co-Director of the Kavli Energy NanoSciences Institute and Bakar Institute of Digital Materials for the Planet.

His work has generated thousands of novel materials enabling climate solutions, water access in arid regions, and beyond. As noted by peers and award committees, his stewardship of reticular chemistry drives discovery and cross-disciplinary impact for humanity. Yaghi received the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (shared), along with the Wolf Prize (2018), Albert Einstein World Award (2017), Tang Prize (2024), Balzan Prize (2024), and election to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.