Noyori Ryoji

Born in Kobe, Ryoji Noyori was educated at Kyoto University and spent a postdoctoral year at Harvard University. He has long enjoyed education and research of chemistry at Nagoya University and now holds the status of University Professor. He served as President of RIKEN in 2003–2015 before moving to the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) as Director-General of the Center for Research and Development Strategy (CRDS). He was President of the Chemical Society of Japan and a Member of the Central Council for Education and Chair of the Science and Technology Council of Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).
Noyori is best known for his development of asymmetric catalysis, now widely used at research and industrial level for the synthesis of pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, flavors, and fragrances. His achievement was recognized with numerous awards including the Order of Culture, the Wolf Prize in Chemistry, and the 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Noyori was elected a Member of the Japan Academy and the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and a Foreign Member of, among others, the National Academy of Sciences in the USA, the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Royal Society in the UK, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.