Prize Recipient

Jesús M. Velázquez
University of California, Davis

"For transformative research accomplishments advancing the production of solar fuels, elucidating fundamental design principles underpinning negative emissions science, and for articulating a bold vision of a sustainable chemical industry using CO2 instead of fossil fuels as the primary feedstock."

Jesús M. Velázquez is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at UC Davis. He leads a research program centered on the design of solid-state materials for energy conversion devices and environmental remediation. Characterization of the physicochemical properties of these materials involves a combination of microscopy, spectroscopy, electrochemistry and synchrotron-based methods to facilitate the development of structure—function correlations. He received his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey (2004) and earned a doctoral degree in Chemistry from SUNY Buffalo (2012). He was a Postdoctoral scholar at the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Caltech (2012-2016) prior to starting his independent career at UC Davis. Recent recognitions for his research program include a NSF CAREER Award, Cottrell Scholar Award, C&EN Talented 12, two separate Scialog Fellowships, the University of California CAMPOS Scholar distinction, and acknowledgment as a Journal of Materials Chemistry Emerging Investigator and Chemistry of Materials “Up and Coming” early career scientist.

Maria Chan, Argonne National Laboratory